Methodology
Show the working.
Not just the answer.
Every page in the homeowner guides is built on the same research base. Here's exactly how it's assembled, who decides what gets covered, and how we catch ourselves when we get it wrong.
- 01
Buyer-side research first.
104 buyer-research files from Reddit, Whirlpool, ProductReview, regulator complaint archives, and trade-specific forums. Every verbatim is logged with the source thread, the state, and the date. The roadmap follows the data — not the other way around.
- 02
Cluster 2,037 quotes into questions.
Verbatims deduplicated, clustered, ranked by frequency across all 33 trades. The pattern of questions across trades shapes the template every guide page follows.
- 03
Cross-reference the regulator.
Every answer that touches law — deposit caps, licence classes, compliance certificates, statutory warranty — cites the actual regulator: NSW Fair Trading, VBA, QBCC, Consumer Affairs Victoria, equivalents in WA / SA / TAS / NT / ACT.
- 04
Lock the template before writing.
Same question structure across every trade. Same evidence labels. Same "what working looks like / what cowboy looks like / what to ask" pattern. Read any guide and feel the same standard underneath.
- 05
No member input on guide content.
Need A Trade Members are not consulted on guide content, not given a preview, and not allowed to influence editorial decisions. Members appear nowhere inside the guides — not by name, not by example, not by photo.
- 06
Log every correction.
Date, page, what changed, why. The corrections log is public and timestamped on the guides site. If we got it wrong, we keep the record of getting it wrong.
What the guides don't claim
The guide isn't a verdict.
It's a checklist.
We don't rank tradies inside the guides. We don't tell you who's "best in your area." We don't claim to have inspected anyone's worksite. We tell you what to ask and what good answers sound like — the verdict you'll form yourself, with the proof in front of you.
The same applies on the membership side: a Member Profile shows the basics are stated and current. It doesn't predict the work will go well. The homeowner still does the verification the guides describe.