Editorial Policy

Readers use guides like ours to decide how to spend real money on their homes, sometimes with safety at stake. This policy explains how Enlighten SME decides what to publish, how we check it, and what we do when we get something wrong.

What We Publish and Who It Is For

We publish practical guides for UK homeowners on plumbing, electrical work, building and extensions, garden projects, hiring tradespeople and managing a renovation. You can see the subjects we cover on the Topics page. Guides are written for people who do not work in the trades, so we explain terms, say plainly when a job should not be attempted at home, and avoid claiming more certainty than the subject allows.

Who Is Behind the Guides

Guides are published by the Enlighten SME editorial team. We do not present our writers as qualified electricians, gas engineers, surveyors, architects, solicitors or financial advisers, and nothing on the site should be read as coming from one. Where a guide depends on a regulation or a safety standard, it points to the official body that publishes it so you can read the source yourself.

How Guides Are Researched

Each guide starts from a specific question a homeowner would realistically ask. Statements about the law, safety or registration, such as who may carry out gas work or which building work needs approval, are checked against official UK sources before publication. Regulations differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we say so when it matters. We do not publish guesses presented as facts.

How We Handle Costs

Prices vary by region, by property and by the state of the market, so our cost guides give ranges and explain what pushes a figure up or down. They are an aid for judging whether a quote is in a sensible area, not a quote of their own, and they never replace written quotes for your own job.

Use of Software Tools

Software tools may be used to help draft, structure or edit text. They do not replace editorial judgement: our standard is that safety, legal and cost statements are checked by a person against reliable sources before they are published, and that nothing is copied or lightly reworded from another website. News stories and published statistics that prompt an article should be credited, and the commentary on them should be our own.

Independence

We do not take payment, free work or hospitality in exchange for a positive mention of a tradesperson, product or supplier, and we do not publish sponsored reviews. The site carries Google advertising, which is kept separate from editorial content and has no say in what we write. The Advertising Disclosure explains how the site is funded.

Keeping Guides Current

Rules, safety guidance and typical prices change. We revisit published guides when we learn of a relevant change or when a reader flags a problem, and we update or remove pages that have become inaccurate or unhelpful rather than leaving them live.

Corrections

If you find a factual error, an out-of-date reference or a statement that could mislead, please tell us. We check each report against the source and correct the page where the report is right. A correction that affects safety is treated as urgent.

General Information, Not Advice

Our guides are general information. They are not a substitute for professional advice, a survey, an electrical or gas safety inspection, or a conversation with your local planning or building control team.

Contact the Editorial Team

For corrections or editorial questions, use our contact page or email info@enlightensme.com. Last reviewed: October 2026.