About risertools
Engineering calculators you can verify — and the people and sources behind them.
Editor of record
risertools is edited and operated by Vladimir Cepeda. Every calculator, citation, and editorial decision on this site is published under his name — the same operator credited in the site footer. If a number looks wrong, there is a named person accountable for it, and a one-click way to report it on every page.
How we source our numbers
Every calculation on risertools cites the source behind it. Sources are ranked by trust tier: published industry standards rank highest, then manufacturer-published vendor curves, then transparent first-party risertools consensus values used only where no single public standard exists. The legend below shows each tier with an example citation.
- Standards
- Published industry standards — BICSI, TIA, NEC, NFPA, AVIXA, IEEE.
- Vendor curve
- Manufacturer-published data — a lower trust tier than standards; verify against your AHJ.
- First-party risertools curve
- risertools-derived consensus values where no single public standard exists.
AHJ-specific code references and internal editorial notes use neutral, subtle styling.
We cite standards — we never reproduce them
Many of the standards we rely on are sold by their publishers. We respect that. risertools cites the standard, the specific section reference, and a link to the official source so you can verify the number yourself — but we never reproduce the paywalled text of a standard. Where a citation points at a purchasable document, we link to where you can view or buy the authoritative original rather than copying its contents here.
Trademarks & affiliation
BICSI, RCDD, AVIXA, NFPA, NEC, and other named standards and organizations are trademarks of their respective owners. We reference them descriptively, to identify the standards a calculation follows; nothing here implies endorsement, sponsorship, or any affiliation.
Not affiliated with BICSI, AVIXA, NFPA, or any vendor whose data appears in our calculators.