D.4:4.2 - Keep a useful decision when a stronger claim is unavailable

A comparison has two feasible options under an agreed value frame: retain the current arrangement or make a reversible change. The available basis bounds the change’s net benefit between 2 and 4 units for every scenario retained in the comparison; all relevant constraints and affected concerns are already included in this stipulated example. The present question is which option is preferable under that basis, not what its precise effect will be.

The change is preferred throughout the supplied range. A study costing 5 of the same units solely to select between these options cannot improve their choice: its possible refinements within that range leave the selected option unchanged and impose that cost. C.11.DUA therefore supports the bounded recommendation without the study. The conclusion retains its conditional range and makes no precise-effect claim.

If a newly identified consequence can reverse that preference, or the intended use now needs a supported precise effect, the question changes. Examine that missing contribution and the feasible investigation that could supply it. The earlier decision does not authorize a stronger claim or ignore a newly affected party.