Evidence-based decision support
Original evidence comes before conclusions
Does public project status support declared approval and delivery milestones?
Priority source classes
- building permit
- municipal award
- contractor registration
| Named source | Use case | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov U.S. government contracting | building permit | Confirm identity, recency, original status and completeness before reliance. |
| USAspending official API | municipal award | Confirm identity, recency, original status and completeness before reliance. |
| US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission eLibrary | contractor registration | Confirm identity, recency, original status and completeness before reliance. |
Verification and negative evidence
- Confirm publication timestamp versus underlying record effective date.
- Do not infer no adverse record from an unsuccessful search; document search spelling and access.
- Use independent original records when a single platform aggregates primary material.
- Store source URL, date read, exact excerpt, jurisdiction and access constraints.
- Test at least one plausible contradictory hypothesis.