The rules we can be held to

Claims about how something performs, how much space it needs or how it must be installed are sourced to published standards, manufacturer documentation, building regulations or named trade bodies. Where a figure varies by country, the guide says which country it applies to instead of quietly picking one.

Where a claim rests on a practitioner rather than a document, the article says so in the sentence itself, so you can weigh it as experience rather than as regulation. Anonymous industry sources are not used. Press releases are treated as marketing, not as evidence, and a product spec sheet is only ever a source for the spec.

Other publications are not a source. If a number can only be traced back to another blog, it does not go in.

Every dimension in a guide is checked against a primary source or a physical measurement before publication, by someone other than the person who wrote it. The check covers three things: that the figure is right, that it is a minimum, a maximum or a typical value, and that the unit conversion is correct.

Measurements are metric first with imperial in brackets, for example a 900 mm (35 in) walkway. Conversions are rounded to the precision that matters on site, so a clearance is rounded down and an opening is rounded up rather than both being rounded to the nearest neat number.

Ranges are written as ranges. A worktop height given as 890 to 920 mm (35 to 36 in) is more useful than a single figure that will be wrong for most kitchens, and it stops readers treating a typical value as a rule.

This publication does not issue quotes and does not pretend to price your job. Labour rates, material availability and access all move faster than an article can, and they vary between two streets in the same city.

So costs appear in one of three forms: a broad range, a relative comparison such as one finish costing roughly twice another, or a breakdown of what drives the price. Where a range is given, the guide states the currency, the period it was gathered in and what is included, because a figure that excludes fitting is a different number entirely.

Cost ranges are reviewed when a guide is updated. If a range has gone stale and cannot be refreshed with confidence, it is removed rather than left sitting there looking current.

We do not publish a review that implies hands-on testing unless the item was genuinely used, and the article states how long for and in what conditions. Anything else is described as a comparison or a buying guide, based on published specifications.

Samples are occasionally requested from manufacturers so that a finish can be seen in person. A sample buys no coverage and no copy approval. Manufacturers do not see articles before publication, and no brand has the right to review, amend or veto anything written about it.

Writers and editors declare, before a commission is confirmed, any financial interest, client relationship, employment or family connection to a brand, supplier or practice that the piece would cover. A declared conflict usually means the piece is reassigned. Where it is disclosed instead of reassigned, the disclosure runs on the article itself, not on a policy page you have to go looking for.

There are no sponsored posts, no paid placements inside guides and no affiliate links on this site. Nothing we recommend earns us a commission. If that ever changes, the change will be announced on this page before any such content appears, and every affected article will be labelled.

Advertising, if it is ever sold, will be visually distinct from editorial and labelled as advertising. Advertisers will not be told what is being written, and will get no influence over it.

No article on this site is generated by a language model and published without review. We do not publish machine-written copy under a human byline, and we do not run automated content pipelines.

AI tools may be used for the same kinds of jobs as a spellchecker: suggesting alternative headline wording, flagging clumsy sentences, transcribing an interview recording, or producing a first pass at a description that a human then rewrites. Every sentence that reaches the page has been written or rewritten and checked by the named author, and the facts in it are verified against sources by a person.

AI is not used to invent measurements, prices, quotations, citations or case studies. Any illustration produced with generative tools would be captioned as such; at present the site uses drawn plate artwork and photographs instead, as set out on the image credits page.

Photographs carry a credit and a licence note where one is required, and are not edited in ways that change what the room actually looks like. Straightening and exposure adjustment are fine; removing an obstruction or compositing a different view into a room is not.

Where a guide needs a diagram, we draw one rather than borrowing a photograph that only half illustrates the point. Default cover artwork is generated architectural plate art, not stock photography, and the reasoning is set out on the image credits page.

Mistakes get fixed in the open. When a factual error is confirmed, the article is amended and a dated correction note is added at the foot of the piece saying what was wrong and what it now says. We do not silently edit a claim out of existence, and we do not delete an article to make an error disappear.

Three levels are used, and the distinction is deliberate. A correction covers a factual error, such as a wrong dimension or a misstated regulation. A clarification covers wording that was accurate but open to being misread. An update covers new information, such as a standard changing, and is dated so you can see how current the advice is.

Typographical fixes that do not change meaning are made without a note. Anything that changes the practical advice gets a note, even if the change is small.

To report an error, use the contact form and choose Correction. The most useful message names the article, quotes the sentence and says what the right figure is. Reports are read by an editor, and a confirmed error is corrected as soon as it has been verified against a source rather than on the strength of the report alone.