A clear explanation.
An evidence trail.

Start with a useful question.

A guide should help you understand a material, construction detail or possible mechanism. It should make the next enquiry clearer and show where the explanation has limits.

Buildology focuses on the technical explanation. Linked Surveyology guides focus on observation, recording and investigation. An explanation of a general mechanism does not establish what is happening in a particular property.

Keep the source close to the claim.

Our publishing workflow prioritises original research, official guidance, applicable regulations and standards, and identifiable product information. Source notes should make the link between evidence and explanation traceable.

• Applicability matters. Check the nation, building type, work proposed and relevant edition. Guidance for one situation may not fit another.
• Different evidence has different jobs. A manufacturer’s data describes its identified product. An observation records what was seen. An interpretation explains what that observation might mean.
• Uncertainty stays visible. Conflicting sources, unconfirmed material identities and gaps in inspection should remain explicit.

Source dates and versions travel with the guide. Changing regulations and product information need to be checked again when relied on for a project.

Publication is one stage.

Working guide

The explanation is available for development and review. Read the stated scope, limitations and outstanding questions.

Sources checked

The guide records which evidence was inspected and when. A selected-passage check should not be read as a review of an entire publication or standard.

Professional review and field use

These are separate checks. Where they are pending, the guide says so. A real building may need further investigation or specialist advice before a conclusion or repair decision can be made.

Images should explain a detail.

Illustrations help compare components, layers and relationships. They may simplify construction and are not necessarily to scale. They are teaching material, not photographs of a surveyed property.

Expandable image notes retain creation details, including AI generation where used, source credits and limitations. Reference photographs retain their attribution and context. Neither an illustration nor an unverified photograph establishes a material’s composition.

Hypothetical exercises are labelled so that a worked example is not mistaken for a real case.

Better evidence should change the answer.

If an explanation is unclear or evidence contradicts it, send guide feedback with the page, section and relevant source. A useful correction should also prompt a check of connected guides that rely on the same point.

The library is intended to grow from research, regulations, practical questions and considered contributions. Existing conversations can help identify questions; they are not the boundary of the knowledge base.