Editorial policy

How verification works

A listing earns the Verified badge only when the business appears on a recognised certifying body's published member list. Independent of payment. Independent of how the listing was sourced.

The principle

Most directories sell visibility. A business pays for a featured listing, a top spot, a verified-looking badge. Buyers cannot tell what was earned and what was bought. found.rocks treats that as a problem to solve, not a revenue model to copy.

The Verified badge here means one specific thing: the business is on the published member list of a body that vets its members independently. We did not place the business there. The business did not pay us to be there. The badge is an external signal, surfaced.

Recognised sources, today

A business listed on found.rocks is shown as Verified if it appears on one of the following published member lists.

Stone Federation Great Britain

In use

The trade association for the natural stone industry in Great Britain, with over a century of activity. Membership is reviewed by the Federation; the member list is published openly.

stonefed.org.uk → Find a member

Ethical Stone Register

In use

A register specifically for ethical sourcing — created by Stone Federation Great Britain in response to the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Recently restructured into a single membership tier covering declaration, verification, and certification.

ethicalstoneregister.co.uk

What Verified does not mean

Not a quality endorsement by us. We do not inspect work, take references, or rate workmanship. The badge surfaces an external body's decision, nothing more.
Not a payment. No business pays found.rocks to be Verified. No business can.
Not a guarantee of every recognised body. An excellent business may belong to a regional or specialist body we do not yet treat as a Verified source. That does not reduce the business — it reflects the deliberate narrowness of the badge.
Not the only signal of quality. Many fine stonemasons and suppliers are not federated. Read the listing, look at the website, ask for project examples. The badge is one signal among several.

Common questions

Does a business pay to be Verified?

No. Verification is awarded only when a business appears on a recognised certifying body's published member list. It is independent of payment, independent of any advertising relationship, and independent of how the listing was sourced.

Why are most listings not Verified?

The Verified badge has a deliberately narrow definition. Most natural stone businesses across Ireland and the UK are not members of a recognised certifying body — that does not mean they are not skilled or reputable. The badge identifies a specific category of certification, not the only path to quality.

My business is on a body you do not yet recognise. How do I get Verified?

Send the body name, the membership URL, and the criteria for membership to hello@found.rocks. We add new sources when the body publishes a member list, the criteria are clear, and the certification is independent of payment to the body. New sources are reviewed and added on a rolling basis.

Will the verification policy change?

The list of recognised sources may grow over time as additional bodies are added. The principle — that Verified means independent membership of a published list, never paid placement — does not change.

Browse the directory

Search natural stone businesses across Ireland and the UK. The Verified badge appears next to listings that meet the criteria above.

Open the directory →