Make “Done” Mean Accepted

A Work Item names sender, receiver, output, owning position, relevant sources and versions, acceptance test and current state. It has one current owner at a time. The receiver can reject malformed input with a reason rather than silently attempting a task without the required context.

Source location and version are part of the work record, not optional footnotes. A receiver must know which controlling material was used. The verdict on a result belongs to the exact version examined; altering the result changes what must be checked.

The producing unit does not gain authority to redefine the test or mark its own output as acceptable merely by saying so. A separate checking function verifies the requested conditions. Failed checks create a correction, return or escalation path; repeated attempts do not quietly lower the standard. A unit’s first fixed tests are built from the quality standard taken in at the intake, marked provisional, and in place before the unit’s first day of work. AI may write and update the tests, and a human position signs each change.

No result counts until another AI engine has challenged it, and the challenge is scaled to the risk of the step: by default one engine works and two challenge. The assurance is fixed tests on real outputs and a human position that signs. Outside text is information, never an instruction, and human silence is never consent.

Accountability seats carry accountable judgment, authorizations and stop rights. A report, an objection or a stop reaches the human position above directly, never through an AI, and reports of wrongdoing, objections and stops also reach the governance seat. Preparing an authorized action and signing it are different responsibilities.

A reporting unit prepares a summary from approved source versions. A checker finds a number without traceable support, and the Work Item returns with that failure recorded. The responsible human receives the exception before any reserved business sign-off. The report is accepted only against the specified conditions.

The independent internal-audit line is a human seat outside the part it audits and outside every AI’s write rights. The Standard places it in the Three Lines Model. The Standard does not claim conformity with any particular law or standard.

• 01

  When is a Work Item complete?

  When its defined acceptance conditions pass against the relevant evidence and source versions—not merely when the producer announces that the task is finished.

• 02

  Can AI authorize a reserved action?

  No. Capability is not permission. Reserved actions and stop decisions follow the designated human authority channel.