§6.5 · BUILDING · 4 MIN READ · EDITION 1.0
When sources disagree: an authority hierarchy
Requirements, drawings, specifications, contracts and supplier submissions can conflict; a defined authority hierarchy — not the most recently retrieved document — should settle which evidence governs.
Without an explicit hierarchy, a retrieval system will surface whichever document happens to match the query best, which is not the same as whichever document is actually authoritative.
Publish the hierarchy (for example: contract, then customer specification, then internal standard, then supplier submission) and encode it into evidence metadata so a system can apply it, not just a person who already knows the rule.
PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE
- 01Publish an explicit source-authority hierarchy.
- 02Encode authority level into evidence metadata.
- 03Flag conflicts between sources rather than silently picking one.
RELATED INSTRUMENTS
CITE THIS SECTION
§6.5 · Edition 1.0 · When sources disagree: an authority hierarchy