Institutional Data Integrity & Methodology

Marketplace Credibility

Data, Trust & Provenance.

TAFM is founded on total honesty regarding what we know, what we do not know, and how every data point was established. We do not invent market values, inflate approval statistics, or blur the boundary between asking prices and actual sales.

Core Data Model

The Four Explicit Data States

Every critical entity record on TAFM carries an explicit data provenance tag:

VERIFIEDProvenance Class

Status: VERIFIED

Independently confirmed by official OEM filings, certified auction records, or Companies House registries.

Operational Rule: Treated as established commercial fact. Eligible for public search indexing and formal criteria matching.
KNOWNProvenance Class

Status: KNOWN

Directly submitted by authenticated commercial suppliers, authorized dealers, or registered applicants.

Operational Rule: Treated as authoritative commercial claims subject to documentary review prior to formal underwriting submission.
INFERREDProvenance Class

Status: INFERRED

Derived, calculated, or parsed via AI extraction models, statistical regression, or algorithmic synthesis.

Operational Rule: Never treated as primary fact. Explicitly labelled so users and underwriters know it was computationally derived.
UNKNOWNProvenance Class

Status: UNKNOWN

Information gaps where authoritative data does not yet exist or has not met verification thresholds.

Operational Rule: TAFM states "Insufficient Data" rather than inventing or extrapolating an unverified estimate.
Empirical Market Data

Market Observation Taxonomy

Never combine asking prices, auction results, and book values into a single ambiguous "market value".

Absolute Rule: An Asking Price is Never Treated as a Sale Price

In commercial plant and equipment markets, asking prices on dealer portals can differ by 15% to 30% from actual transacted cash settlements. TAFM rigorously segments dealer listings from completed auction hammer results and bilateral sales.

AUCTION RESULTAUCTION_RESULT

Certified hammer price achieved at unreserved or public equipment auctions (e.g. Euro Auctions, Ritchie Bros). Represents an actual verified arm’s-length transaction.

Weighted with highest empirical confidence in secondary market valuation calculations.
SALE PRICESALE_PRICE

Documented bilateral purchase price between independent commercial parties, evidenced by invoices and proof of funds.

Treated as actual historic transaction evidence.
ASKING PRICEASKING_PRICE

Advertised retail price listed by commercial equipment dealers or online marketplaces (e.g. PlantTrader).

NEVER CONFLATED WITH SALE PRICE. An asking price reflects seller aspirations, not concluded transaction value.
DEALER PRICEDEALER_PRICE

Official list price or commercial quote provided directly by an authorized OEM dealership.

Used for benchmark replacement value, but adjusted for prevailing commercial discount margins.
FORMAL VALUATIONVALUATION

Independent plant and machinery appraiser report (desktop or physical inspection) produced by RICS/accredited valuers.

Only accepted when appraiser identity and methodology are formally recorded.
USER SUBMITTEDUSER_SUBMITTED

Price or valuation figure self-reported by an applicant prior to documentary verification.

Treated as provisional until substantiated by a formal supplier quotation.
Responsible Automation

The Role of AI on TAFM

We believe artificial intelligence is exceptionally powerful for structuring unstructured technical data, but must never substitute for human credit responsibility.

✓ What AI Does on TAFM

Extracts structured specifications from PDF quotes and engineering brochures. Categorises equipment into our 11 industrial taxonomies. Identifies model variants and standardises technical specifications for underwriting dossiers.

✕ What AI NEVER Does on TAFM

AI NEVER makes credit decisions. AI NEVER determines lender approvals or declines. AI outputs are NEVER treated as verified facts—they remain classified as `INFERRED` until reviewed by human specialists.

Underwriting autonomy and regulatory credit assessment remain 100% with authorized institutional lenders.
Verification Pipeline

How Provenance is Maintained

When a price, specification, or provider profile appears on TAFM, the question "Where did this number come from?" always has a definitive, timestamped answer.

  • 01Source Logging: Every observation references a specific DataSource ID, certified auction lot, or dealer URL.
  • 02Versioned Criteria: Lender underwriting criteria are version-controlled with effective-from dates and reason codes.
  • 03Immutable Audit Trail: Critical application milestones and data edits are logged permanently in audit records.

Explore Verified Marketplace Data

Experience TAFM’s data provenance in action on our verified entity records:

Verified Asset: Ruthmann STEIGER T 650 HFInspect separated auction hammer prices vs dealer asking listings.Verified Provider: Haydock Finance LtdReview verified FCA reference 716766 and published appetite criteria.