SYSE.36:4.4 - Agree an objective and its use

Use observed task difficulty, user needs, failure consequences and feasible provision to propose a target and interval. Current performance can inform a starting proposal but does not determine what users should accept. Avoid importing another service’s percentage or assuming that a more demanding number is always a better choice.

Agree the target with the people depending on and providing the service, including the holder who can make the relevant trade-offs. Define the error budget in the same event/time basis and the actions that follow material consumption or exhaustion. Those actions need actual authority and capacity; a dashboard configuration does not create either.

A policy can prioritize repair, restrict a class of changes or require a decision before further risk. Choose its scope for the task and consequences. The budget is not permission to cause any kind of harm up to a numerical allowance, and it does not cancel independent constraints.

If agreement, meaningful timing or adequate observation is missing, return a proposal and its unresolved condition rather than claiming an operative SLO.