How BecSpec handles data.
These rules are the same for every category BecSpec covers. Each selector also publishes its own sources page listing the specific datasets behind it.
What we will and will not ingest
BecSpec does not assume that data being publicly visible makes it legally reusable. Manufacturer websites, distributor catalogues, product PDFs and third-party specification databases are not ingested unless we have established that their terms permit the reuse we intend, including automated extraction where relevant.
Sources we will use:
- Government and open data with explicit commercial reuse rights.
- Open datasets under compatible licences.
- Standards-derived facts where we are entitled to reproduce or use them.
- Manufacturer or supplier data where permission or licensing explicitly allows it.
- Fields BecSpec calculates itself from legitimately obtained source data.
Where reuse rights are unclear, the source is treated as unavailable until that is resolved. This is a real constraint rather than a stated aspiration: it is why the motor finder has no shaft dimensions, and why some categories we would like to cover are not built despite being straightforward to design.
Nothing here is scraped
Every dataset behind BecSpec is a file its publisher distributes for download under an open licence. No selector is built by crawling a site that did not offer its data.
How a value is labelled
Every specification BecSpec holds carries its own origin. Two products on the same results page can show the same number against a field for entirely different reasons, so origin travels with the value rather than with the record.
| Origin | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Read directly from the source dataset, meaning unchanged. | Rated power, pole count, energy consumption |
| Normalised | From the source, but cleaned into a consistent form. The original text is kept. | 100 L (foot) → frame 100L |
| Derived | Calculated by BecSpec. Always states what it was calculated from and by what rule. | Synchronous speed = 120 × 50 Hz ÷ poles |
| Not in source | The dataset does not carry this field. Never inferred, never filled in. | Motor shaft dimensions |
Registration families
Several of our sources are regulatory registration databases, where one registration can cover a family of products rather than a single part number. Where that happens, fields like voltage or mounting list every option across the family — not the configuration of the specific model shown.
BecSpec marks these family-level and ranks them below model-specific matches. It means a compliant variant exists in that family. It does not mean the model number shown is that variant.
Vendor neutrality
Ranking is produced entirely by published matching rules. There is no paid placement, no commercial weighting, and no supplier relationship influencing which products appear or in what order. BecSpec currently has no commercial relationship with any manufacturer or distributor.
If that changes — through affiliate arrangements, sponsored placement or supplier integrations — it will be labelled on the results themselves, not disclosed only here.
Freshness
BecSpec ships dated snapshots rather than querying sources live, so figures reflect the ingestion date shown on each selector's sources page. Where a source records registration expiry, lapsed entries are flagged on the result rather than silently dropped.
What BecSpec is not
BecSpec is a search and comparison tool over open datasets. It does not assess whether a product is suitable for your application, and a result is not a recommendation. Selection and installation decisions should be confirmed with the manufacturer, the supplier, or a qualified professional.