How an entry is checked

Sources

Every entry names the documents the desk read. Those documents are public and checkable: permit pages and fee schedules from the City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles, California building and residential codes, fire authority clearance guidance, water district notices, product literature from roofing, insulation, glazing and cooling manufacturers, and open research on soils, heat and indoor air.

When an entry gives a number, it gives the unit and the document the number came from. Where the documents disagree, the entry says so and states which one governs the address in question.

Dates of record

Every entry carries the date it was last checked. A change in a code, a fee, a clearance rule or a product line means the entry is read again and the date moves. The date shows when the desk last compared the entry against its sources, not when the page was first written.

Corrections

A correction starts with the address of the entry and the document that contradicts it. The desk reads the document, checks the entry against it, and either corrects the entry or says why the entry stands. The correction notice stays on the entry so a reader can see what changed.

Writing rules

The desk writes in the third person, plain American English, answer first. It states what a household in the valley can do and what a document requires. Trades, suppliers and agencies appear as sources and examples, each named with the entry or the document that cites them, and a reader can check every one of them at its source.