Validation and Review

Validation is a recorded operation on a selected model revision. It creates a durable run and step trace, marks the model Validated and raises a pending independent review decision. That sequence matters: the reviewer must see the exact revision and the work performed on it before deciding whether a simulation should proceed.

A Process Owner may believe a revised intake path is ready. The Model Designer has ordered the nodes and linked the scenario. Validation runs against that revision, and the Independent Reviewer checks its recorded steps and supporting evidence. If the reviewer returns it, the team corrects the model and presents a new revision for review. A pending decision is a queue for judgment, not permission to run.

• Validation trace. A run records the operation key, source revision, input hash and outcome.
• Independent decision. The review record links the revision, reviewer, decision, reason and evidence reference.
• Change history. State history preserves the status transition, actor and reason.

Name who prepares a model and who may act as Independent Reviewer. They should be distinct for a meaningful review. Decide what evidence a reviewer must inspect for a routine change and for a change that affects external execution. Agree how a returned or rejected decision is handled: the owner should update the model deliberately rather than changing the content under a previously reviewed revision.

The team also needs a convention for operation keys and evidence references. These let the reviewer connect a decision to the validation attempt and to the material inspected. A failure or unknown step needs an explicit investigation before an approval. The status of the model and the status of the run answer different questions; both should be visible in a review.

Use an intake model with a changed specialist handoff. Have the Process Owner choose the new revision and request validation. Inspect the recorded run’s revision and input hash, then walk through its steps. Open the pending review decision and compare its source revision with the run. Ask the Independent Reviewer to record a reason and evidence reference with the decision.

Return one case for a node correction, then validate the corrected revision separately. Confirm the first decision remains attributable to the earlier version. Approve a separate case only when the evidence supports it. A Simulation Operator should be able to identify the reviewed revision and the scenario to use without asking which version was approved in conversation.

• Pending review decisions — See revision, reviewer and evidence reference before deciding.
• Run timeline — Inspect the validation run and its start and completion times.
• Model revision workboard — See which models have moved into the validated state.

Use validation and review for the decision sequence and simulation execution for the next handoff.