Tier 1 — Verified dimensional fit
Reserved for an exact configuration whose stored geometry is sufficient to verify the required site and object envelope for the current use case.
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How Carport Fit Scores Work
CarportFit separates three questions that should not be collapsed into one number: does the product physically fail a known requirement, how well does an eligible product align with the buyer's preferences, and how complete is the evidence behind that conclusion?
1. Hard exclusions happen before scoring
A high preference score cannot rescue a known physical non-fit. The Finder excludes an exact product when documented evidence proves that the exterior footprint cannot fit the entered site in an allowed orientation, usable width/length/height is below the required envelope, a required purchase path conflicts, or a selected non-negotiable structure/material requirement is documented as unavailable.
Missing evidence is not treated as failure. When at least some usable-clearance geometry can meaningfully screen the project, missing fields move the record toward a possible/unverified result instead of being converted to zero or guessed. When none of the usable width, protected length or usable-height fields is documented, the record is shown separately as documentation-limited and does not enter the Fit Score ranking.
2. Result tier outranks the numeric score
Tier 2 — Possible fit; verification required
Known values do not contradict the project and at least one usable-clearance dimension supports meaningful screening, but one or more critical footprint/clearance fields or record-level eligibility conditions remain incomplete or intentionally conservative.
Documentation-limited — not fit-ranked
No stored usable width, protected length or usable-height field can meaningfully screen the required vehicle envelope. The record may still be useful for research, but CarportFit does not assign it a Fit Score or call it a dimensional fit.
Tier 3 — Excluded
A known hard requirement fails. Tier 3 records do not enter the Fit Score ranking.
A Tier 2 result never outranks a Tier 1 result simply because its preference score is larger. Documentation-limited records sit below both fit tiers and are not Fit Score ranked.
3. The v1 Fit Score uses 100 points
| Criterion | Points | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle/object & access fit | 35 | Up to 28 points for documented usable width, height and protected length, plus 7 for application relevance in the stored use data. |
| Site footprint fit | 20 | Whether documented exterior/roof footprint fits the entered site, including allowed rotation. |
| Purchase / installation preference | 10 | Shipped/DIY vs installed preference. “Either” is neutral. |
| Structure / enclosure / roof fit | 10 | Required enclosure capability plus selected roof preference. |
| Climate evidence relevance | 10 | Availability of relevant manufacturer-published snow/wind evidence—not local approval. |
| Foundation / anchoring preference | 5 | Whether useful surface/anchor documentation exists for the selected surface. |
| Material preference | 5 | Steel/metal, aluminum/polycarbonate or fabric/portable preference. |
| Assembly / maintenance preference | 5 | Alignment with DIY or professional-installation preference. |
4. Neutral answers are actually neutral
“No preference,” “Either” and “Not sure” receive the full allocation for that optional criterion rather than silently penalizing every product. A visitor who does not select a climate concern is not punished because one manufacturer publishes more weather marketing than another.
5. Missing documentation reduces only what depends on it
If usable width is missing, the dimensional-fit component cannot behave as though the product has zero inches of clearance. The Finder keeps the field unknown and avoids a hard exclusion based on it. A record with one or two usable-clearance dimensions can still remain Tier 2 when the known values do not conflict with the project; a record with none of the three usable-clearance dimensions is separated from the Fit Score ranking entirely.
This is especially important with manufacturer ecommerce data because a page can contain a valid model identity and narrative specification while one structured field is malformed.
Use the score inside the actual matching context
The number is intended to explain ordering among Tier 1/Tier 2 records after known non-fits are removed—not replace the source evidence. Scored Finder cards show why the product stayed eligible and what still needs verification; documentation-limited cards explain why the record is not fit-ranked yet.
6. Data Confidence is separate
A product can align well with preferences while important evidence is incomplete. Data Confidence therefore remains a separate label:
- High: current sources cover the critical geometry and selected decision criteria well.
- Medium: one or more meaningful fields are incomplete/ambiguous, but the result remains useful.
- Low: a critical selected criterion cannot be verified from the stored evidence.
Confidence is context-sensitive. RV matching places more weight on full travel-path clearance than a low passenger car; a snow-priority visitor makes exact snow-claim evidence more relevant than a visitor who selected no climate concern.
7. Ties do not manufacture a winner
CarportFit uses “Best documented fit” only when a Tier 1 result has a genuinely higher Fit Score than the next Tier 1 result. When top scores tie, the Finder uses neutral data-confidence, verification-date and alphabetical ordering only to keep the display deterministic. It does not pretend that the first tied product is uniquely superior.
8. Price and compensation are excluded
Retail price does not contribute to the launch Fit Score because shipped-kit and installed-project pricing is not consistently comparable. Affiliate commission, lead value, dealer compensation and merchant priority never affect eligibility, Fit Score, Data Confidence, product order, provider order or tie-breaking.
9. Installed providers do not receive a synthetic “best provider” score
Provider matching is a different problem from exact-product scoring. At launch, providers are narrowed by stored service-area evidence and ordered neutrally by service-area certainty, category/support relevance, data completeness/freshness and then name. Final availability remains project/location dependent and may require ZIP confirmation on the provider's site.
10. What the score does not mean
A 92/100 result is not “92% safe,” “92% code compliant,” “92% quality,” or “92% likely to survive local weather.” It is a transparent buyer-fit ranking among Tier 1/Tier 2 records that survived known hard exclusions and contain enough usable geometry to be fit-ranked. The exact configured structure, foundation, anchoring, engineering, permits and local requirements still need confirmation.
Related methodology
For the source hierarchy, field-level provenance, nominal-versus-actual dimension rules and conflict handling behind the data itself, read How We Verify Carport Specifications.