Standards and corrections

What we publish

Articles are written to be useful to someone actually doing the thing: specific, checkable, and honest about what varies by situation, region or building. Where a piece cannot give a single answer, it says so rather than inventing one.

Bylines

Articles carry a desk byline rather than an individual name. A desk is the part of this publication responsible for that area of coverage, and the masthead says what each one covers. Where a piece is written by a named individual, it carries their name and links to their own page.

Corrections

We correct mistakes rather than quietly editing them away. A change that alters the substance of a piece is noted on the article with the date. Typographical fixes are made silently. If something here is wrong, tell us. It is the most useful message we get.

How this is funded

Advertising, which is always labelled as advertising. We do not sell links inside articles, publish paid posts written to read as editorial, or let an advertiser see a piece before it runs. Where a piece names products, no one paid for the mention.

Sources

Where a claim rests on a standard, a code or a manufacturer’s specification, the article names it so you can check it yourself. Where it rests on the writer’s own experience, it says that too.

Regulated work

Anything structural, electrical, plumbing or otherwise subject to permit is published as background reading. It is not a substitute for a qualified professional or for your local authority, and articles that touch on it say so.

Use of illustration

Photographs come from Pexels, Unsplash and Pixabay and are credited to the photographer beneath the image. Where no photograph fits the subject well, the article carries an abstract illustration generated for it rather than a stock image that only loosely relates.