Contact and corrections

Corrections and questions about BuildersCalcs will be accepted at an email address that will be published on this page. It has not been set up yet. Until it is, this page explains what to include in a correction so it can be checked quickly, and what we do with it.

What should a correction include?

Three things let us check a report against its source without writing back to you:

  1. The page and the figure. The page address, and the number or sentence you think is wrong. For a calculator, include the inputs you used, the units setting (US or metric) and the result it gave.
  2. What you think is right. The figure you expected, with its unit.
  3. Your source. The document that supports it: a code section, a standard, or a manufacturer's data sheet or installation instructions, with the edition or date if you have it.

A source matters more than anything else. We change a figure when a primary document supports the change, not because another calculator or website gives a different answer. The formulas and data sources page explains which sources we use and in what order.

What happens after you report an error?

The figure is checked against the source you sent and the sources already on file. If it is wrong, it is corrected in the fact file it comes from. That one change reaches every calculator and page that uses the figure at the next build, and each page's updated date changes to match. If a calculator's answer changes, its check cases are updated too, so the same error cannot come back unnoticed.

If the sources disagree, the page may end up showing both figures with the name of each source, rather than picking one. The people who maintain the fact base are described on the editorial team page.

What can we not help with?

We cannot review plans, approve a design or say whether a particular job meets your local code. Spans, footings, retaining walls and anything that needs a permit belong with your local building department or building control body, or a structural engineer. We cannot give prices or quotes either, because the site stores none.

Where else can you look?

Most questions about a result are answered on the calculator page itself, in its worked steps, formula and assumptions. You can browse every construction calculator or see every page on one list. For who runs the site and how it is funded, see about this site. Anything you send us is covered by the privacy policy.