The search is good at one thing: finding the rule that applies and putting it in front of you in language you can read. There are several things it is not for, and knowing where the line falls will save you relying on it at the wrong moment.

It does not make rulings

It can tell you what a rule says. It cannot tell you how that rule will be applied to your particular circumstances. Decisions about eligibility, approvals, disciplinary matters and appeals are made by the people and committees the rules appoint - never by a search box.

It does not know your situation

It has never seen your registration, your age group, your division, your entries or your competition. If a rule turns on any of those, you will be told what it depends on - but you have to supply the detail, and you have to be right about it.

It only knows the rules

It searches the Rules of DanceSport, the Code of Conduct and the Rules of Para Dance Sports. It does not search the DSA Constitution, the policies, the approved syllabus, entry conditions for a particular competition, or anything a state branch publishes. If your answer lives in one of those, it will not be found here.

It can be wrong about emphasis

The summary is generated from the clauses listed beneath it. It will not invent a rule, but like any summary it can leave out a qualification that turns out to matter to you. That is precisely why the clauses are printed underneath in full, and why every one of them is a link.

When to ask a person instead

• The answer will cost you money, an entry, or a placing.
• Your situation is unusual, or falls between two rules.
• You have found two rules that seem to contradict each other.
• Somebody has told you something different and you need it resolved.
• You are about to put something in writing that other people will rely on.

In all of those, contact the DSA office. That is what it is there for.