The Object Under Review
Not the project, but the specific commitment
Every engagement defines one action, threshold, evidence perimeter, authority condition and time boundary:
- Action: What is proposed, initiated or continuing?
- Commitment: What future decision structure would materially change?
- Boundary: When does preparation become commitment-bearing exposure?
- Authority: Who retains responsibility for action, reliance and outcomes?
The Five-Question Architecture
Each stage has its own jurisdiction and output:
1. Where does material exposure begin?
The Commitment Exposure Review locates the boundary and routes the case.
Outputs:
- Exposure Not Material
- Exposure Emerging
- Commitment Boundary Identified
- Commitment Already Emerging
2. What must be known before the threshold is reconsidered?
Minimum Evidence defines insufficiencies, evidence requirements, bounded learning and actions outside the current reliance perimeter.
Outputs
- Evidence requirements
- Insufficiencies
- Bounded learning
- Transition conditions
3. May the defined commitment enter governed consideration?
Instrument A is binary. Admissible means eligible for consideration under the frozen boundary; it does not mean approved.
Instrument A
- Admissible
- Inadmissible
4. Which posture remains governance-defensible?
Instrument B is available only after Instrument A returns ADMISSIBLE. Constraints may bound reliance but do not create a fourth output.
Instrument B
- Proceed-Compatible
- Deferral-Indicated
- Refusal-Required
5. Does the commitment remain within its admissible basis?
Instrument C tests persistence as evidence, assumptions, dependencies, authority, scope, time and precedent evolve.
Instrument C
- Maintain
- Constrain
- Re-Evaluate
- Terminate
Plausible states
The review preserves materially decision-relevant states that remain consistent with the disciplined evidence and model boundary. A commitment is unstable when plausible states imply incompatible architectures or non-tolerable outcomes.
- Resource State A - Favorable and accessible. May support the proposed architecture if verified at the relevant scale.
- Resource State B - Patchy or variable. May support limited use but not broad dependency.
- Resource State C - Diffuse or inaccessible. May invalidate the architecture even though the original signal remains real.
Authority and reliance
A governance record does not transfer responsibility. Every controlled use is decision-bound, evidence-bound, boundary-bound, authority-bound and time-bound.
- Decision Authorities retain responsibility for action, inaction, reliance, communication, execution and outcomes.
- Sustainable Exploration applies the controlled method to the frozen record without assuming the Decision Authority’s powers.
- Domain Reviewers confirm controlling technical facts within their own qualifications and scope