HCDI Foundation Certificate

Chapter 8. Finding, score, gate, recommendation and decision

HCDI governance ruleHCDI governance rule (Units 1.3, 1.7 and 1.8). Five words are often confused. Keep them apart. A finding records what the assessment found about an area, with its evidence. A score is a number given by a person to an indicator, against a written description, with a recorded rationale. A gate is a separate control from the score. What it is and how it works is Methodology Protected (Unit 1.5). At this level, know that a report can carry a gate alongside a score, that neither is a verdict, and that the platform provides no control to close a gate by hand. A recommendation is corrective-action text proposed to address a finding. It is drafted with AI assistance, and a human reviewer must approve or edit it before it can appear in a report. A decision is yours. The report informs it and never makes it. A report records what was found. An action plan records what should happen. The Action Tracker records what happened. None of them changes the original score. A completed action does not change a score, and expected outcomes are not evidence that a gap has closed.

A report conclusion does not make the decision#

Basis - general professional knowledge and editorial explanation. External references are identified explicitly; this section adds no HCDI rule.

A finding narrows uncertainty about an observed matter. A decision also incorporates alternatives, duties and risk appetite. Corrective actions describe intended change and need later evidence of their own. A polished plan cannot retrospectively strengthen the original finding. The public source distinctions are retained without protected gate mechanics. Identify which statement belongs to the assessment and which belongs to an accountable decision-maker.

Figure 1.8 A report conclusion does not make the decision. Original conceptual illustration; arrows organise the discussion and do not establish a validated causal effect or a scoring procedure.

Original exercise L1 E08#

Basis - original fictional exercise. The organisation, events and any numbers are invented for learning. No HCDI result is assigned.

A committee writes that an action plan approved its acquisition, although price and integration costs have not been considered.

Question - Rewrite the committee conclusion.

Worked answer: Part G, exercise L1 E08.