Purpose is explicit
The stated purpose, public value, affected population, prohibited uses, and boundaries can be tested against actual operation.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYQA-02Inspection standards
A standard should tell you what to look for, what fails, and what proves repair.
These standards apply across institutions, policies, programs, political promises, procurement, and automated systems. Context changes the test depth; public consequence keeps the evidence and recourse floor intact.
Inspect the mechanism, not the confidence.
Each standard must be operational enough to produce evidence, a finding when it fails, and a verification test after correction.
Authority is traceable
A reader can follow legal, policy, budget, contract, and delegated authority to one accountable owner.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYClaims reveal their state
Observed facts, verified facts, inference, hypothesis, estimates, and unknowns do not collapse into one voice.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYBurden is measured least-powerful-first
The inspection begins with people least able to refuse, appeal, wait, exit, or recover.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYRights survive implementation
Notice, explanation, privacy, due process, accessibility, challenge, and remedy work in practice.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYAutomation never invents authority
Data and models remain bounded by legitimate purpose, explicit permission, independent testing, human ownership, and an external stop.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYA safer Door remains open
High-consequence action is reversible, staged, constrained, or delayed when evidence and recovery are inadequate.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYA finding names the mechanism
The deviation identifies the recurrent condition, not merely the nearest person or visible error.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYCorrection includes prevention
The current harm is addressed and the incentive, workflow, control, authority, or dependency that reproduces it changes.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYEffectiveness is independently testable
The threshold, evidence, reviewer, time window, and failure trigger exist before closure.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYCorrection history is preserved
The public can see what changed, why, when, and which downstream conclusions were reopened.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYThe receipt outlives the announcement
Sources, decisions, findings, dissent, owners, actions, tests, results, and open questions remain inspectable.
TEST · EVIDENCE · FINDING · CAPA · VERIFYThe same inspection lens, across different systems.
The standard set defines the floor. These dimensions organize the evidence and expose where a policy or system fails in operation.
Authority & mandate
Is the power being exercised lawful, explicit, bounded, visible, and matched to the stated purpose?
Evidence & claim integrity
Are decision-bearing claims sourced, current, reproducible, uncertainty-labeled, and open to counterevidence?
Access & burden
Who waits, pays, proves, travels, discloses, complies, or loses access—and can they realistically complete the process?
Rights & recourse
Are notice, explanation, privacy, due process, appeal, remedy, and recovery usable by the people most affected?
Delivery & capacity
Do staffing, funding, procurement, training, interfaces, and operational dependencies support the promised result?
Data, AI & automation
Are data use, objective, model limits, permissions, testing, human ownership, monitoring, stop authority, and retirement conditions visible?
Measurement & distribution
Are success, harm, quality, access, and unintended effects measured across groups without hiding people in aggregate averages?
Correction & public accountability
Can evidence change the system, is recurrence prevented, and does the public receive a complete record even when the result is poor?
REQUIRED OUTPUTReport each dimension separately. A critical failure is never averaged away.