Cookie Policy
1. What cookies are
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They let a site remember things between visits or pages — like keeping you signed in, remembering your search filters, or understanding how the site is used. BuildRelay uses cookies and similar technologies (such as local storage) for the purposes below.
2. The categories we use
Strictly necessary
Required for the Platform to work — you can't opt out of these, though you can block them in your browser at the cost of the site not functioning properly. These include cookies that keep you logged in, remember items in an active listing form, protect against cross-site request forgery, and support secure checkout via Stripe.
Functional
Remember your preferences — such as your last search location and radius, or your notification settings — so you don't have to reset them every visit. Optional, but disabling them makes the Platform less convenient.
Analytics and performance
Help us understand how BuildRelay is used, so we can find and fix problems and improve the Platform — for example, which pages are visited, how search is used, and where people drop off before completing a listing. We use aggregated or pseudonymised data for this wherever possible. Optional.
Marketing
If used, help us measure and improve our own marketing (for example, understanding which channel brought you to BuildRelay) and, if you've agreed to marketing emails, tailor what we send you. BuildRelay does not allow third parties to use these cookies to serve you adverts on the Platform. Optional.
3. Cookies in use
[This table is a representative example — replace with your actual cookies once your analytics and consent tooling are implemented, and keep it up to date.]
- br_session — Strictly necessary. Keeps you signed in. Duration: Session. Set by: BuildRelay.
- br_csrf — Strictly necessary. Security — prevents cross-site request forgery. Duration: Session. Set by: BuildRelay.
- br_cookie_consent — Strictly necessary. Remembers your cookie preferences. Duration: 12 months. Set by: BuildRelay.
- br_search_prefs — Functional. Remembers your last search location and radius. Duration: 3 months. Set by: BuildRelay.
- __stripe_mid / __stripe_sid — Strictly necessary. Fraud prevention during payment. Duration: Up to 12 months. Set by: Stripe.
- br_analytics_id — Analytics. Distinguishes users for aggregated usage reporting. Duration: 12 months. Set by: BuildRelay / analytics provider.
- br_mkt_ref — Marketing. Records which channel referred a visitor. Duration: 3 months. Set by: BuildRelay.
4. Cookies set by others
Some cookies on BuildRelay are set by third parties who provide services to us, not by BuildRelay directly. The main one is Stripe, which sets cookies during checkout and identity verification to prevent fraud and keep payments secure. Stripe's use of cookies is described in Stripe's own privacy policy.
If we add analytics or marketing tools in future, we'll update this policy and the table above, and ask for your consent before those cookies are set, in line with section 5.
5. Managing your preferences
When you first visit BuildRelay, you'll be shown a cookie banner where you can accept all cookies, decline everything except strictly necessary cookies, or manage categories individually. You can change your choice at any time from [Cookie preferences] in the site footer, or by clearing your cookies and revisiting the site.
You can also control or block cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers let you see what cookies you have and delete them individually or block cookies from particular or all sites — check your browser's help menu, as the exact steps vary. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will stop parts of BuildRelay working correctly, including sign-in and checkout.
6. Changes to this policy
We'll update this page if the cookies we use change. Where a change means we start using a new category of non-essential cookie, we'll ask for your consent again.
7. Contact us
Questions about this policy: [contact@buildrelay.co.uk]
See also our Privacy Policy for how we handle personal data more broadly.