OPS.8.1:4.3 - Test what capacity the next start leaves

Begin with the simplest consequence that can decide the question. In a fixed horizon, the known remaining occupancy, the proposed job’s occupancy and a chosen allowance for returns can be compared with usable resource time.

For example, a resource with five usable hours cannot complete two hours of existing work, two hours of a protected return and two hours of new work within that horizon. Passing the total-hours comparison is only a necessary condition: readiness, precedence, joint resources and uninterrupted windows may still prevent placement. OPS.10.2 constructs that schedule or obstruction.

Match the comparison to the promised protection:

• For a stated return scenario, place that return and the new work with their readiness, access and deadlines.
• For protection over a bounded family, show that the selected response can handle every member of that family.
• For a probability requirement, use the joint model and the operating policy through OPS.10.1; a mean return load alone does not determine a service probability.

A policy that reacts to feedback must use information available at the time of its choice. If release is allowed before inspection, the policy needs an executable response when inspection later requires a return. It cannot choose an early start only in retrospect for the outcomes in which no correction was needed.

A workload-control norm can instead be a calibrated congestion-control quantity. Retain its definition and units: a route-position-weighted load is not the same quantity as occupied hours available before a deadline. Use its operating comparison for its intended purpose, and a finite schedule when the deadline question requires one.