Editorial standards
What we will publish, what we will not, and what happens to a field nobody has verified. These rules are the reason the site is smaller and slower to build than it could be.
We do not generate facts to make the site look complete. Where verified information is unavailable, the field reads “Information not yet provided” and the page is visibly incomplete. A directory where every cell is filled and some of them are guesses is worse than one with gaps, because a reader cannot tell which is which.
What we never invent
None of the following is ever generated, estimated, inferred from marketing copy, or filled in to make a page look finished. If it is not verified, it does not appear.
- Builder rankings, or a position in one
- Review scores or aggregate ratings
- Client testimonials
- Awards or industry recognition
- Certifications or accreditations
- Licensing status or licence numbers
- Project costs attributed to a specific builder
- Years in business or founding dates
- Project names, locations or completion years
- Construction timelines attributed to a specific builder
- Warranty provider affiliations
- Counts of completed homes
- Team members, leadership or ownership
What we do publish without full verification
Two categories, both clearly framed as what they are:
- Editorial judgement. Assessments of what distinguishes a builder’s work, which buyers a builder may suit, and what a buyer should still ask. These read as judgement, use defensible language, and avoid unsupported superlatives — no “number one”, no “most trusted”, no “guaranteed quality”, no “unmatched craftsmanship”.
- Cost estimates. Indicative bands for framing a conversation, labelled on every surface as editorial estimates rather than surveyed data or quotes. Cost tables cannot be rendered on this site without that notice attached — it is built into the component, not left to whoever is writing the page.
Sourcing
- Every regulatory or statutory claim carries a citation with the date the source was consulted.
- Every builder fact traces to a listed source or to the builder’s written confirmation.
- External sources are linked so you can check them rather than take our word for it.
- Where a source is a builder’s own material, it is identified as such rather than presented as independent.
Editorial independence
- Builders confirm facts. They do not review, approve or negotiate editorial text.
- Sponsorship is labelled wherever it appears and has no effect on ranking.
- A sponsored builder is not protected from an accurate unfavourable statement.
- No builder receives advance notice of an editorial change affecting a competitor.
- Commercial relationships between the editor and any builder are disclosed on that builder’s profile.
Corrections
We get things wrong. Corrections are recorded with the date and the substance of the change rather than edited silently, and the correction link appears on every substantive page. See the corrections policy.
Structured data
We do not emit review or rating schema, and we will not unless the underlying ratings become genuine, visible on the page, attributable to identified reviewers and eligible under current policy. We also emit no organisation markup for a placeholder record — structured data is a machine-readable assertion that a business exists, and making one for a reserved position would be a lie told to a machine that repeats it.
What each status actually means
Shown as a badge on every builder profile and in the comparison table.
| Status | What has happened | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Builder confirmed | The builder reviewed the factual fields and confirmed them in writing. | The strongest status available. Editorial text remains independent. |
| Desk verified | Facts checked against primary public sources. The builder has not confirmed them. | Reliable on the checkable facts; may be incomplete. |
| Not yet verified | A company is named but nothing has been checked. | Treat every field as unconfirmed. Verify independently before relying on anything. |
| Placeholder record | A reserved editorial position with no company attached. | Not a business. No factual claims are made, and nothing is recommended. |
Questions about our standards
Why do so many fields say “Information not yet provided”?
Because they have not been verified. A field is either confirmed against a primary source or confirmed in writing by the builder — or it stays visibly empty. Filling a gap with something plausible about a real company is a fabricated fact with commercial consequences for that company, and it is the single most common failure of directory sites.
Does “Information not yet provided” mean the builder does not offer that service?
No. It means nobody has checked. Those are different statements and conflating them would publish a negative claim about a real business that nobody established.
Why are there no review scores?
Because an aggregate score that cannot be attributed to identified reviewers is trivially manipulated, and republishing one would launder it. We also do not emit review or rating structured data, which under current policy would be ineligible and would risk a manual action on a site whose entire product is credibility.
Why is there no photography?
Because an unattributed photograph next to a builder’s name reads as that builder’s work. On a page that ranks builders, that is a misrepresentation of a real company and the most likely source of a legitimate complaint. Every graphic on this site is a drawn diagram, and each one says so.
Who writes the editorial text?
Cody Tritter writes and reviews it. Builders confirm the factual portion of their profile; they do not review, approve or negotiate the editorial assessment. That separation is what makes the rankings worth anything.
How are sponsored placements handled?
Labelled on the card, in the comparison table and on the profile, and visually separated from editorial selection. Sponsorship has no effect on ranking, and a sponsored builder is not protected from an accurate unfavourable statement.
Found something wrong?
Tell us. Corrections are free, open to anyone, and published with the date and the substance of the change.