| situation family | The recurring class of receiving Work and conditions for which criteria are intended, with important variation and exclusions explicit. |
| receiving Work and result | The dated Work occurrence or intended occurrence and the professional result it must produce or preserve. They are not the Method. |
| required Method contribution | A reusable action, result, or preserved condition needed from one Method or from named Method relations, stated before assigning it to a candidate. |
| criterion subject | The actual object or relation constrained by a criterion: Method/account content, MethodDescription, performer capability, covering Work assignment, permission relation, decision-authority relation, performed Work, decision result, support/access, responsibility, cultural relation, or another domain subject. |
| performer capability | An ability needed to enact or judge a contribution. It is distinct from responsibility, access, assignment, permission, and decision authority. |
| Work assignment | A named assignment occurrence whose holder is one admitted System and whose scope and window cover specified Work. The assignment alone establishes neither permission, decision authority, performed Work, nor a decision result. |
| permission relation | An independently supported relation permitting a named System to perform a specified act within a stated subject, scope, window, and basis. It does not create an assignment, prove performance, or confer decision authority beyond that exact permission. |
| decision-authority relation | An independently supported direct relation under which a named System may issue a named decision result. Its subject, decision scope, window, basis, and evidence for reliance are explicit; assignment, performed Work, capability, responsibility, access, and acceptance need separate evidence. |
| allowable variation | A range or branch that may change while the receiving result and non-negotiable conditions remain protected. |
| burden limit | A bound on time, attention, capacity, delay, coordination, cost, or another named burden at its actual participant, scope, and window. |
| evidence need | The observation or record required before a later decision may rely on criterion satisfaction. It is not satisfaction by itself. |
| acceptance or stop observation | The observable condition under which the criterion can be passed to a later decision or must stop that route. It does not accept a Method or product by itself. |