Define complete choices and different kinds of coupling
State the portfolio scope, requested result and horizon. Recover the alternatives and their eligibility from EAM.7–EAM.9. Identify which choices are mutually exclusive, mandatory, optional or dependent, and why. Include continued use or no new work when it is a qualified alternative. An omitted asset can still matter through a shared service or resource.
Distinguish three questions about a proposed combination. A prerequisite or exclusion determines which selections can coexist: a new unit may need an enabling connection, while two replacements for the same role may be mutually exclusive. A shared resource limit constrains the work or use at a particular time: two eligible jobs may need the same crew or exceed an outage allowance. A joint consequence changes what happens when the choices are taken together: common mobilization may reduce cost, while simultaneous demand can require additional provision. One arrangement can create all three, but each needs its own evidence.
For each material relation, identify the affected alternatives, its operating or engineering cause, the time and conditions under which it holds, and the resulting constraint or consequence. EAM.6 supplies service and dependency conditions. A promised saving cannot make a combination technically eligible.