Brikalo brings together building and DIY calculations: slopes, staircases, quantities of concrete, mortar, paint, tiles or plasterboard. This page explains where the rules and figures come from and how they are checked.
Who publishes the site
Brikalo is published by José PEREZ, who is also the publication director. Contact details and hosting: legal notice. To write to us: contact@joseperez.fr.
Where the rules come from
Geometric formulas (slope, area, volume) are exact and hold in any country. Trade values come from published documents that are opened and read before they are used: for the English pages, the Approved Documents on GOV.UK, legislation on legislation.gov.uk and the technical data sheets of manufacturers of cement, paint, adhesives or boards, with Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland named where their rules differ. Where a rule changes from one country to another, each language applies its own country’s rule and says so; a French rule is never presented as a UK requirement. A value with no source that can be checked is not shown.
How the calculations are tested
Every formula goes through automated tests on cases worked out by hand: a rise of 1.20 m over 4 m gives 30%, or 16.70°. To make sure those tests are worth something, they are also run against a deliberately broken version of the calculator, which they have to catch. The tables printed on the pages are calculated by the same code as the calculator.
What happens to what you type
The measurements you enter are processed by your browser. They are neither sent to nor stored on our servers.
Advertising
Ads may appear to pay for the site. They sit below the calculator, never above it, and have no effect on results or text. The site contains no affiliate links.
Our editorial method
Open, cited sources. Each calculator lists, in its “Method and sources” section, the documents and data sheets its values come from, with a link. A value that depends on the product (the coverage of a paint, how much adhesive is used) is given for the product named, and the calculator lets you enter the one on your own data sheet.
A verification date. Each page shows when its text or formula last changed, and the date on which its sources were checked.
No fake experts. No text is presented as written by a builder, an architect or an engineer. Results are estimates of quantities and reminders of rules: for structural work (foundations, floors, roofs), have the dimensions checked by a professional.
Correcting mistakes. An error reported through the contact page (mention the tool, the values you entered and the result you expected) is checked against the source. If it is confirmed, the page is corrected and its update date changes.