AskSprut Search Tips

The key to using the platform is refining your searches to match your needs. The AskSprut Platform has about 2 million regulations. So here are some helpful tips to get you started on the AskSprut Platform to better find what your company needs are.

1. Filtering

  • Along with the text search, you can also sort your searches by Country/State, Status, Sectors, and Industries. These will help limit your results to only the areas that matter most to you.
    • Countries and States/Provinces
      • Only look at countries and states/provinces you sell in. You can select just one state if you want to take an in depth look at just that one state, or select all the states and/or countries that apply.
    • Status
      • Regulatory bodies often keep repealed regulations in their active codeset as a way to archive past regulations. Many regulatory bodies also have a different term when a regulation. Just searching for an active regulation will cut down the list of results.
      • This is also a good way to look to see if a regulation has been repealed. If you were always using a certain regulation, but you don’t see it anymore, there is a chance it was repealed. 
    • Sectors and Industries
      • A single search term can apply across multiple sectors and/or industries. By refining your search here, you can target the one sector or industry that matters most to you.
        • Ex. Milk. There are different regulations for each step that milk takes from going to the cow to you buying it in a grocery store. Milking the cow, pasteurizing the milk, bottling the milk, labeling the milk carton, storing the milk, and selling the milk all can follow different regulations depending on the country/state.



2. Multi-Select

  • When trying to find every regulation that applies, sometimes you need to search multiple places at once. You might want to search all the markets you are in without getting regulations for markets you are not yet. Or maybe your product or service applies to different sectors or industries. By selecting multiple items per filter, you can make your searches more complete.
    • There are many things you need to consider when looking up regulations to make sure you are compliant. Limiting the number of searches you need to do and manage will help you catch new and updated regulations faster that may affect your business.
    • Depending on your business, you might not operate in every US State. Or you are looking to enter markets in new countries. You might only want to see the laws regarding your products in what markets you are currently in, or what new markets you are planning to launch. By selecting every Country, State, or Providence you care about, you get a full picture of what regulations you need to meet.
    • Your product/service might also be in multiple sectors/industries.
      • Ex. You are a farm that produces milk. The regulations that apply to you are not only those around the sale of milk. You also need to know what to feed your cow, the living conditions of the cows, how to pasteurize the milk, etc.



3. Creating new searches with related search terms

  • Many regulatory bodies use different words to mean the same thing, such as manufacturing/production and milk/dairy. Each body uses their own terms when writing regulations. So to do a full, comprehensive search, you may need to do multiple searches with similar terms to make sure you are looking at all necessary regulations.
    • e.g. Some US States use the term “Device Manufacturing” while others use “Device Production” to mean the process at which an entity builds a product.



4. When to Use Quotes when Searching

  • When searching for a term, it is often best to put “Quotes” around the term. This will help you search each regulation for that term as a whole rather than separate words. This will help you get the regulations that better apply to you faster.
  • Just by adding quotes, we went from 905 results to only 11 without doing any other filtering. This can save you tons of time and get you exactly what you need.

5. Other Useful Tips

  • Just like Google searches everything, we search every regulation in our platform. The better your searches are, the quicker you can get to the regulations that matter faster.
  • Use multiple of the above tips together to create better refined searches. The best thing to do it to limit the vast number of regulations into digestible chunks.
  • There are many parts to your business, not just what your products and services are. There are also the regulations about your employees, what products and services you use to run your business, and other general business regulations. Make sure you are following the regulations that apply to you elsewhere in your business.
  • Check frequently. You can sort by the “Last Updated Date” to see what new and updated regulations there are. This will save you time when you have to do your routine checkups to see if anything new possibly affects your business.