NovSources and methodology
This page is a detailed companion to the Trust Center and to "How we check projects." It sets out what's usually hidden under the hood: the full source hierarchy by type of claim, how often different data updates, how we handle source conflicts — and a list of the main official and institutional resources we rely on.
Give every source a stable identifier
Store a source as its own record rather than a repeated link inside prose. The minimum card includes a source, organisation, title, document type, jurisdiction, language, URL or storage location, retrieval date, accessibility, usage rights and linked claims. One source can support several fields, but each use needs its own scope.
For a downloaded PDF, price list or table, preserve the original file, version and file integrity check. DCAT 3 supports identifiers, version relationships and file integrity checks that can show whether a file changed. NovAsia can use this as an internal catalog model; it is not a standard imposed on developers.
A fact can need four different dates
Retain the document publication date, date the rule or offer takes effect, date of the observed condition and editorial review date. A validity or recheck date may also apply. One updated label cannot answer all of these questions.
A tax instrument can be published now, take effect later and be reviewed by the team afterwards; a construction image can be uploaded today but captured a month earlier. The visible date should belong to the claim rather than only to the HTML page.
Source hierarchy
A source's priority depends not on convenience but on the type of claim. We use two different orders.
For law, taxes, visas, banking and government procedures
- the text of the law, a government source or an official regulator;
- an official bank or state payment system;
- a specialist legal or tax firm with dated material;
- practical commentary from Elvira, Valeria or Pointer Property;
- a reputable secondary source.
We don't use listing catalogues or video blogs as the sole basis for a legal, tax or visa claim.
Original text, translation and editorial explanation are separate layers
For a law or official record, retain the original language, translation status, translator or publisher, version date and relationship between texts. An unofficial English translation is useful for navigation and research, but a categorical legal conclusion should be checked against the current Khmer text by a qualified adviser.
The Russian and English NovAsia pages should point to one source while offering independent explanation for their audiences. Translating a figure, definition or exception must not change its meaning; retain a disputed term in the original beside the working translation and note.
For specific project terms and commercial data
- 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;
- official social accounts of the project or developer;
- stable local catalogues (e.g. realestate.com.kh) — as a secondary reference;
- two or more independent secondary sources;
- NovAsia's internal logic — only for structure, calculation and clearly labelled analysis, never as a source of fact.
The four types of claim we separate
Readers easily blur things of different natures. We try to give them separately and label them:
- Fact from a source — what is stated directly in a developer document or official source.
- Partner confirmation — dynamic data confirmed by a local partner (current price, availability, an active program).
- NovAsia calculation — arithmetic based on confirmed inputs: a month-by-month payment plan, full cost, a return scenario.
- NovAsia analysis — our judgement on who the project suits and its limitations.
A contractual income (GRR) or buy-back program is always presented as an obligation of the developer or operator, not as a property of the market. Market references (e.g. expected rent) are marked as a scenario with visible assumptions. That's why in our calculations "total return" and "net profit" are always different, separated figures.
How often data updates
Different fields go stale at different speeds. We set different freshness windows for them; once a window expires, the value is kept with its original date but marked "requires confirmation," and the call to action changes to "request current data."
| Type of data | How often it can change | What we do when stale |
|---|---|---|
| Availability of specific units | Very fast (days–weeks) | We don't publish a "live" count; we mark the check date and confirm on request |
| Current price and discount | Fast (weeks–months) | Kept with a date; when stale — "requires confirmation" |
| Income / buy-back program | Medium | Verified with developer or partner before publishing changes |
| Construction status, timelines | Medium (quarters) | Updated when a new official source appears |
| Ownership type, quota | Slow | Verified on source conflict or doubt |
| Taxes, law, visas | Slow, with occasional reforms | We track government sources; we record the material's date |
What we do when sources conflict
A single current, unambiguous primary source can be sufficient. A second independent source is required when sources conflict, data is ambiguous, the cost of error is high, the claim touches law or taxes, or there's doubt about currency. If the discrepancy can't be resolved, we don't pick a figure arbitrarily: we show cautious wording or a range and flag that the data requires confirmation. Material discrepancies on price, ownership, timelines or contract terms go to a separate check rather than being smoothed over.
Propagate corrections through the data relationships
Link sources to claims, pages, project cards, comparison tables, calculators and generated PDF or JSON outputs. When a source changes, identify affected materials and return dependent conclusions to review rather than correcting only the visible page.
The correction log should retain the old and new value, date, reason, initiator, reviewer and effect on earlier calculations. If a conflict remains open, preserve both versions and their scope in the editorial review. The public record can be shorter but should not imply the error never existed.
Use of artificial intelligence
AI helps us with drafts, structure, translation, checking calculations for consistency and technical work. But AI is not a source of fact: project, legal and tax data must have their own verifiable source, and the team makes the publication decision. We don't use AI to create fictional authors, quotes, first-hand experience, false claims of verification or guaranteed return forecasts.
Publish a machine-readable source manifest without an SEO promise
Public material can expose JSON-LD or a separate JSON manifest with the page identifier, modified date, author, sources, citation, isBasedOn, versions, languages, claim types and verification states. DCAT 3, PROV-O and DQV model catalogs, provenance and quality, while Schema.org supplies citation and isBasedOn. This improves interoperability for search and AI systems but does not guarantee ranking or citation.
Use ClaimReview only where a page actually evaluates a specific claim made by another party and reaches an assessment. In 2026 Google is phasing out ClaimReview support in normal Search while retaining it in Factcheck Explorer. It should not be added across project, pricing or methodology pages merely to pursue rich results.
Corrections
If you find an inaccuracy, write to info@novasia.estate with a link to the page, the disputed passage and a supporting source. We re-check the original source, correct the material, update the date and note where needed, and then check related pages. The full procedure is in the editorial policy.
The main sources we rely on
The list is not exhaustive and grows as we research specific projects and topics. Priority always goes to a primary, official source over a secondary catalogue.
Government and regulatory
- National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) — currency regulation, the Bakong payment system, banking rules.
- General Department of Taxation of Cambodia — tax rates, stamp duty, property tax, CGT status.
- Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction — property registration, strata title, co-ownership.
- Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) — investment regulation and statistics.
- General Department of Immigration — visa categories and long-stay rules.
Institutional and market
- World Bank, ADB, IMF — macroeconomics, GDP growth, country reports.
- Specialist real-estate market reports — with the period and methodology stated, as a dated reference.
Project and commercial
- Official developer materials — SPA, price lists, brochures, floor plans, specifications, official project websites and social accounts. A breakdown of developers is in the "Developers" section.
- Pointer Property — data from the local institutional partner. The profile is on the Pointer Property page.
- Stable local catalogues (e.g. realestate.com.kh) — as a secondary reference labelled "catalogue data / requires confirmation."
Mapping and infrastructure
- OpenStreetMap, Google Maps and official institution websites — to verify location and nearby points (schools, clinics, malls).
We don't present a secondary catalogue as a primary source, and we don't use web archives as evidence of current status — only for change history. The phrase "verified by NovAsia" describes the editorial cross-check process, not a legal opinion on the property.
Link a source to the exact supporting passage
For every claim, retain the PDF page, section, table row, registry field or exact quotation with brief preceding and following context. The W3C Web Annotation model provides a Text Quote Selector using exact, prefix and suffix so a passage can be distinguished from repeated wording.
For a dynamic page, retain the retrieval time and an editorial snapshot within the applicable usage rights. A snapshot proves what was displayed at the time, not current official status. For private records, publish a safe bibliographic card without personal or commercially sensitive content.
A market benchmark needs a sample card
For price, rent, vacancy or marketing period, state the period, geography, building or segment, property type, stage, currency, area basis, asking or achieved data, sample size, source, deduplication method and limitations. An average mixing districts, grades and periods should not appear precise for the selected unit.
Where only listing data are available, call them observed asking prices rather than completed transactions. A range without a disclosed sample remains an editorial benchmark. A new report should not automatically replace an older series where methodology, coverage or the metric definition changed.
Make every calculation reproducible
For each calculator, retain a calculation, formula version, input values and sources, currency, FX rate and date, units, rounding, taxes, costs, timeline, scenario and reviewer. An unknown input remains unknown rather than becoming zero to produce an answer.
The result should allow the arithmetic to be repeated and show which conclusions change after a new price, rent, date or tax rule. PROV-O distinguishes source entities, processing activities and responsible agents and can record that a result is derived from an earlier version. This is lineage rather than a guarantee that the assumptions are sound.
Need the source for a specific figure or term? Contact us — we'll show where the value for the project in question comes from and, if needed, confirm it with the developer.
Request a data sourceOpen "How we check"