Legal & Disclaimer

Legal information and disclaimers.

Important information about the scope and limitations of The Bench and this website.

What The Bench provides

The Bench provides evidence-led technical review and written guidance based on the information, documents and project details supplied.

Our work may include reviewing product data sheets, test reports, classification reports, certificates, Agréments, drawings, project comments, construction build-ups and other technical documents.

No certification or approval

The Bench does not certify products, approve systems, provide statutory approval, act as Building Control, provide fire engineering approval, take design responsibility, approve installation or guarantee project compliance.

The Bench is not a certification body, testing laboratory, notified body, approved body, statutory authority or product approval service.

Any written output from The Bench should be read within its stated scope, assumptions, limitations and evidence basis.

No Building Control approval

The Bench does not act as Building Control and does not provide Building Control approval. Where The Bench supports a response to a Building Control or approved inspector query, the output is intended to help explain the evidence position for project discussion. Acceptance, rejection or further review of any evidence remains a matter for the relevant Building Control body, approved inspector, authority, duty holder or project professional.

No fire engineering approval

The Bench does not provide fire engineering approval, fire strategy approval, statutory fire safety sign-off or fire engineering design. Where fire-related evidence is reviewed, the review is limited to the documents provided and the technical question asked. Fire strategy, fire engineering judgement, statutory fire safety compliance and project fire safety responsibility remain with the relevant appointed professionals and duty holders.

No design responsibility

The Bench does not take design responsibility for construction details, specifications, systems, installations or project designs. The Bench may review whether available evidence appears to align with a proposed product, system, construction detail or build-up. This does not transfer design responsibility to The Bench. Final design and specification decisions remain with the relevant designers, consultants, contractors, clients and project duty holders.

Evidence dependency

The Bench relies on the documents and information provided for review. A review may be limited if the project detail is incomplete, drawings are missing or unclear, product evidence is incomplete, test evidence does not match the proposed build-up, certificates or classifications do not cover the proposed use, site conditions are not confirmed, or third-party requirements are not provided.

Technical review limitation

The Bench reviews the evidence provided against the technical question asked. The outcome of a review depends on the accuracy, completeness and relevance of the information supplied. Where evidence is missing, unclear, incomplete, inconsistent or outside the scope of the question, The Bench may identify this as a limitation or evidence gap.

Project-specific use

The Bench outputs are prepared for the specific enquiry, question, documents and project context stated. A review prepared for one project, product, build-up or technical question should not be assumed to apply to another project, product, build-up or question without further review.

Website content limitation

The information on The Bench website is provided for general information only. Website content should not be treated as project-specific advice, certification, approval, statutory guidance, design advice or a substitute for professional judgement. Project-specific questions should be submitted through the enquiry process for review.

Use of reports and written outputs

Reports, review notes, technical responses and other written outputs from The Bench should be read in full. Extracts should not be used out of context. Each output should be considered alongside its scope, evidence reviewed, assumptions, limitations, exclusions and stated purpose.

Confidentiality and document sharing

Users should only upload or share documents they are authorised to provide. Project documents, drawings, technical evidence, correspondence and site information may contain confidential or commercially sensitive information. The Bench will use submitted information for enquiry triage, evidence review and preparation of agreed outputs. Additional confidentiality terms may be required for some enquiries.

Launch note

Before website launch, this wording should be reviewed alongside the final website structure, privacy policy, cookie wording, contact form handling and any formal terms of business.