The decision brief
Question: What changed, who approved it and what was paid when the project budget rose from $4.0 million to $4.6 million?
Decision now: do not call the $300,000 difference between the initial budget and construction award missing money. S01 allocation places $150,000 in professional fees and $150,000 in owner costs; S02 exclusions keeps them outside the contractor’s $3.7 million award.
Question still open: DR-02 exists, but this set does not show the signed owner instruction or item-level payment link for drainage CH-02. Request those records before treating an issued drawing as a cost approval. S03 limits; S06 CH-02.
The reviewed boundary
Six invented records for one project, 12 February to 30 November 2025. All figures are CAD excluding tax. Dates describe the fictional record or event, not collection dates. Every record below has a stable ID and passage anchors.
The set contains the two budget resolutions, contract award note, revision log, three-payment extract and a two-item change-register extract. It does not include the full contract, delegation, signed change instructions, receipt of the drawing, completion evidence, itemized payment applications or bank reconciliation. No interviews, legal conclusions or professional standard-of-care assessment are represented.
Six inspectable sources
Open any document. These are the complete short documents created for the example, not citations to a hidden archive. A passage anchor lets another reader check the exact statement.
| Source | Date | Type | Passage links |
|---|---|---|---|
| S01 / Initial budget resolution | 2025-02-12 | Budget resolution | Resolution, Allocation, Basis and limit |
| S02 / Contract award note | 2025-03-24 | Award and scope note | Award, Excluded from the award, Changes |
| S03 / Drainage revision log | 2025-09-08 | Issued-revision log | Issue entry, Estimate entry, What this record does not contain |
| S04 / Revised budget resolution | 2025-11-30 | Revised budget forecast | Forecast approval, Forecast allocation, Forecast is not payment |
| S05 / Three-payment extract | 2025-10-31 | Posted disbursement extract | P01 / 30 June 2025, P02 / 31 August 2025, P03 / 31 October 2025, Total and limits |
| S06 / Change approval register extract | 2025-11-30 | Change register extract | CH-01 / Loading-bay interface, CH-02 / Drainage alignment, Register boundary |
Read the fictional source catalogue as JSON. It identifies the same documents, passages and arithmetic assumptions.
A chronology with exact locators
| Event date | What the record states | Exact locator |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb | Initial $4,000,000 budget; construction is one of three categories. | S01 · allocation |
| 24 Mar | $3,700,000 construction award; fees and owner costs excluded. | S02 · award; S02 · exclusions |
| 15 Jul | CH-01 register records an $80,000 approved ceiling. Underlying instruction is not included. | S06 · ch01 |
| 08 Sep | DR-02 technical revision issued; CH-02 estimate is $120,000, subject to a separate instruction. | S03 · issue; S03 · estimate |
| 31 Oct | Three posted entries total $3,750,000; work-item allocation is absent. | S05 · total |
| 30 Nov | Revised budget is $4,600,000; CH-02 remains a provision and unresolved register entry. | S04 · forecast; S06 · ch02 |
Compare like money states
| State | Amount | Interpretation limit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial project budget | $4,000,000 | Whole project plan, not contractor payments. | S01 · allocation |
| Construction award | $3,700,000 | Excludes $150,000 fees and $150,000 owner costs. | S02 · exclusions |
| Award plus registered CH-01 | $3,780,000 | Award + $80,000 register ceiling; not independently validated legal authority. | S06 · ch01 |
| Three posted contractor entries | $3,750,000 | $1,200,000 + $1,100,000 + $1,450,000; allocation to work items missing. | S05 · total |
| Revised project budget | $4,600,000 | $3,780,000 construction + $220,000 fees + $200,000 owner costs + $280,000 contingency + $120,000 drainage provision. | S04 · allocation |
The $600,000 budget increase comprises $80,000 registered construction change, $70,000 additional fee allowance, $50,000 additional owner-cost allowance, $280,000 contingency and $120,000 drainage provision. This is a forecast reconciliation, not cash spent.
The posted total is $50,000 above the original award but $30,000 below award plus registered CH-01. Neither difference establishes which work was paid, contractual compliance or a recoverable loss. A numerical ceiling cannot replace item-level allocation and the underlying authority.
What the record supports
F01 / Ordinary explanation supported within this dataset
The apparent $300,000 budget-to-award gap compares different scopes. The two non-construction allowances sum to the difference. This explanation is supported by S01 · allocation and S02 · exclusions. It does not certify the whole project’s spending.
F02 / Approval and payment remain unresolved
The issued drainage drawing and its estimate are visible. The blank owner-instruction field and pending price entry are gaps in this set, not proof that authorization never existed. S03 · issue; S06 · ch02. The payment extract cannot identify a CH-02 payment. S05 · total.
Competing explanations: the instruction may exist outside the extract; work may not have been carried out; payment may relate only to baseline work and CH-01; or CH-02 may have entered a payment without the necessary instruction. The present set cannot choose between them. A drawing credit or a budget increase cannot identify an individual’s responsibility.
Three priority records
| Priority | Bounded record to request | Question it could answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 / Authority | The signed owner instruction for CH-02 / DR-02 revision 2, its attachments and the applicable approval limit. | Was the drainage scope and price actually instructed, by whom and on what conditions? |
| 2 / Payment | Itemized applications supporting P01–P03, with CH-01/CH-02 allocation, credits, retention and posted-payment reconciliation. | Which work and adjustments account for the $3,750,000? |
| 3 / Implementation | DR-02 revision 2 transmittal/receipt and the completion or field record for the same drainage location. | Was this revision received and carried out, and when? |
Ask the appropriate custodian through the lawful route. Record the search window and any response. Narrow the request or agree retrieval costs before commissioning a wider collection. Research does not pause a legal or safety deadline.
The next reviewer can check the work
The useful pack contains a question, reviewed boundary, source index, exact-locator chronology, money-state comparison, bounded findings and ranked gaps. A later record can change the answer. Note the new source, revise the dependent finding and preserve why it changed.
This model shows traceability, not an allegation or a guaranteed result. Private commissioned work is not automatically material for a public account or a newsroom. Agree authority and handling before sharing records.