NovHow we check projects
When a project page shows "Price verified: [date]" or "Verified by NovAsia", there is a specific editorial process behind it, not a marketing formula. Here we explain what exactly we check and how — and, just as importantly, what our checks do not replace.
Which sources we use
The priority depends on the type of claim. For a specific project's terms (price, installments, GRR, buy-back, timelines) the order is:
- a signed SPA, an official price list, an official letter or a current developer document;
- the official project website and the developer's official brochure;
- written confirmation from Elvira or Valeria;
- Pointer Property data;
- the project's or developer's official social accounts;
- stable local catalogues (for example, realestate.com.kh) — as a secondary benchmark;
- two or more independent secondary sources.
For legal, tax and visa claims the priority is different: the law and a government source, an official regulator or bank, a specialist law firm with dated material, and only then an expert's practical comment. We do not use catalogues or video blogs as the sole legal source.
Verification applies to an identified claim, not the whole page
Give every material statement its own claim and scope: legal entity, identified-unit price, availability, date, construction stage, permit, ownership route, rent, GRR or editorial judgement. One page can contain a verified seller, stale price, unconfirmed stock and scenario calculation at the same time.
The “Verified by NovAsia” label should open a compact record of what was checked, the date and document, reviewer, excluded scope and recheck trigger. A page-level green label should not extend to fields for which evidence is missing.
Every fact needs a provenance record
Retain the organisation, title, exact document or page, release and retrieval dates, version or file hash, relevant project, building and unit, language, supported field and reviewer. Where the source changes, preserve the earlier version rather than overwriting it.
W3C PROV describes provenance through an entity, an activity and an agent: which material existed, which verification or calculation occurred and who performed it. The public view can be compact while the editorial review holds the full record. A screenshot without an address, date and context is not reproducible evidence.
What exactly we cross-check
For each project we try to reconcile the following against the most authoritative source available:
- Developer and project identity — what company this is and whether it has a track record of delivered projects.
- Name, location and status — whether they match across sources.
- Price and its type — is it a developer price or a broker benchmark; discounted or full; per gross or net area.
- Unit availability — the availability of specific units (the fastest-changing field).
- Completion timelines — the completion year and the current construction stage.
- Ownership form — strata-title / freehold / leasehold, the foreign quota, land restrictions.
- Income and buy-back terms — who the guarantor is, what base the percentage is calculated on, for what term, what happens on early termination.
One source or two
One current and unambiguous primary source — for example an official contract, price list, brochure or developer website — can be sufficient. We treat a second independent source as mandatory when sources conflict, data is ambiguous, the cost of an error is high, the claim touches on law or taxes, or there is doubt about how current it is. If sources diverge and we can't resolve it, we show cautious wording or a range rather than picking a figure at random.
A source supports only a claim within its role
An official price list is primary evidence of the seller's offered price on that date, not market value or an achieved transaction. A brochure proves the seller made a claim, not automatically that construction, title or future income will occur. A state registry confirms its record, not authority to sell the identified unit or the company's financial strength.
A second source is independent only where its data have separate provenance. Two catalogues repeating one developer card are not two independent checks. Where sources conflict, preserve both versions, dates, coverage and the reason for the discrepancy; an editorial choice needs a written rationale.
Project identity is a chain of legal roles
The project review card uses a role map with the function, legal entity, registration number, supporting record, verification date, status and open question. Brand reputation remains a separate signal and is not automatically assigned to the seller, payee, landholder or company owing a GRR or buyback obligation.
Use Cambodia's official business-registration portal for entity existence and registration data, then connect each role to the contract, permit, land record, invoice or undertaking. Count earlier delivered projects only after connecting them to the same legal entity or a disclosed group structure.
Rights, permits, construction and commercial terms need separate states
The minimum matrix separates the project land basis, construction licence and approvals, approved design, physical progress, occupancy certificate, co-owned-building and private-unit status, foreign quota, price, stock, schedule, specification and contract programmes. A green state in one stream does not transfer to another.
Use the following confirmation statuses: confirmed by an official or executed record; seller-supplied and independently unchecked; expected at a later lawful stage; conflicting; stale; not applicable; or unknown. Unknown does not mean breach, but it remains an open condition and does not turn confirmed after a verbal promise.
Construction progress needs identifiable evidence
Every construction record should identify the project, building or phase, date, author, observation point or document, observed event and limitation. Photographs, videos and official posts support visible condition on a date, but not an exact completion percentage, permit compliance or concealed-work quality.
Cambodia's Law on Construction provides for progress reporting and licensed certification of compliance with approved design documents. A percentage or milestone should therefore be called confirmed only under a clear method and record; with visual material alone, NovAsia should publish an observation without an engineering conclusion.
Freshness belongs to each field and event
Price, stock, permit, stage, tax rule and legal entity change at different speeds. Give each field a source date, review date, freshness period and immediate recheck triggers: new price list, changed unit, seller or account, new phase, handover delay, law amendment, new SPA or conflicting document.
The Government Data Quality Framework separates accuracy, completeness, uniqueness, consistency, timeliness and validity. A value can be timely but incomplete, or valid in format but wrong in substance. Expiry should change only the affected field, while a new page date must not refresh the entire project automatically.
Second review, commercial relationships and corrections should be visible
High-risk claims—rights, tax, payee, permits, GRR, buyback and material return models—need review by another editor or relevant specialist. The AQuA Book recommends proportionate assurance and transparent assumptions and uncertainty. Retain the inputs, assumptions, calculation, reviewer comments and publication decision.
The project record should disclose when evidence came from a seller, partner or party that may receive compensation. A commercial relationship does not make data false, but it is not independent confirmation. Publish material corrections with the date, old and new value, reason and affected calculations rather than erasing the history.
How we separate a developer's promise from a NovAsia calculation
This is a matter of principle. We separate four different things and try not to hand the reader a mix of them:
- A fact from a source — what is written directly in the developer's document.
- A partner confirmation — what the local partner confirmed on dynamic data.
- A NovAsia calculation — arithmetic based on confirmed inputs (for example, a month-by-month payment plan).
- A NovAsia analysis — our judgement on who the project suits and where its limits are.
A contractual income programme is always presented as the developer's obligation, not a property of the market. A market scenario (for example, expected rent) is flagged as a scenario with visible assumptions, not a guarantee. This is exactly why, in our calculations, "total return over 5 years" and "net profit" are always kept apart — they are different figures.
The verification block: what the labels mean
On project pages and in the status board we show a compact verification block. Here's how to read it:
If the data's freshness window has expired, the value is kept together with its original date but marked as "to confirm", and the call to action changes to "request the current price". We do not present a stale figure as current.
Why availability and price are verified separately
Price, and especially the availability of specific units, are the fastest-changing data on the new-build market. We don't run the developer's online inventory, so we don't publish a "live" unit count. Instead we record the date of the last check and honestly flag the fields that need confirming before a deal. You can always request the current price and availability — we'll check them with the developer.
What our checks do not replace
NovAsia's editorial and factual verification relies on public and supplied materials. It is not a legal opinion on the property and must not be called one. Our checks do not replace an independent legal review of the specific SPA and title documents, verification of the financial backing of the developer's guarantees, or your own due diligence. Before a deal we recommend engaging an independent lawyer and studying the contract, not just the marketing materials.
The phrase "verified by NovAsia" describes exactly this editorial process. For example: NovAsia reconciled the key characteristics with the official brochure, the current price list and the local partner's public listing — this does not replace an independent legal review of the SPA and ownership documents.
Want the current price and availability for a specific project? Contact us — we'll check the latest data with the developer and send a calculation with caveats.
Contact usTelegramOpen the project status