{"id":1263,"slug":"rule-commit-to-input-refresh-or-dont-ship","title":"R4 — Commit to a documented input-refresh schedule before shipping any customer-facing calculator; if you won't, don't ship it","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["customer-facing-tools","data-pipeline-maintenance","accuracy-risk-published-data"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Calculators are software, not signage. Before launching one, the client must own a written input-refresh schedule (quarterly minimum; monthly for rate-sensitive verticals; **never** for solar/incentive-sensitive). If the client will not commit to upkeep, do not ship the tool — ship a directional range with no embedded rates instead.\n\n**Why:** Prices and incentives drift; solar incentives change daily ([[solar-incentives-change-daily-staleness]]); the legal exposure of a stale calculator is real ([[misrepresentation-negligence-detailed-estimates]]); a stale calculator silently misleads every visitor. The general data-pipeline maintenance literature confirms this is the dominant lifecycle cost — see [[data-pipeline-maintenance]] topic.\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Refresh schedule written into the project scope, not assumed.\n- Calculator owner-of-record on the client side.\n- Reminder cadence (calendar invite, monitoring alert) set on launch day.\n- If client backs out of upkeep commitment, revert to directional-range variant before launch.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"misrepresentation-negligence-detailed-estimates","title":"A detailed online estimate with no reasonable basis can expose you to misrepresentation or negligence — even when labelled \"estimate\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"solar-incentives-change-daily-staleness","title":"Solar incentives can change daily — unmaintained solar calculators actively mislead","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-customer-facing-calculators-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: customer-facing calculators & tools for SMBs — the honest case (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"article-customer-facing-calculators-win-work-or-backfire","title":"Article (draft): A calculator can win you work — or quietly cost you the deal","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-budget-for-pipeline-maintenance-from-day-one","title":"R5 — Budget for pipeline maintenance from day one; if the client can't commit to upkeep, rent the managed version instead of building one","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-budget-20-30pct-annual-maintenance-from-day-one","title":"R4 — Budget 20-30% of build effort annually for maintenance from day one; assign a metric-definitions owner; audit quarterly and archive any dashboard unopened in 30+ days","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T16:50:09.689Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T16:50:09.689Z"}