Waits attach to any record, not just findings

Adopting a rule is nobody's finding; neither is registering a canon kind
or publishing a document. Each obligation that lived outside the
mechanism was invisible to it. RISK-WP-0001 now carries both of its
custodian waits, and the escalation-rule one has the register's most
uncomfortable default pointed inward: unadopted by 2026-09-17 means
recorded as de facto in force but unratified, said on the face of every
escalation sent under it. A draft that quietly governs is exactly what
this register exists to notice.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

WORK-RECORDS.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | workplan | RISK-WP-0001 | active | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0001-make-the-register-decidable.md |
 | workplan | RISK-WP-0002 | active | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0002-publication-handover.md |
-| workplan | RISK-WP-0003 | active | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
+| workplan | RISK-WP-0003 | blocked | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
 | workplan | RISK-WP-0004 | finished | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0004-run-the-register.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0001-T01 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0001-make-the-register-decidable.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0001-T02 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0001-make-the-register-decidable.md |
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@
 | task | RISK-WP-0002-T01 | progress | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0002-publication-handover.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0002-T02 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0002-publication-handover.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0002-T03 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0002-publication-handover.md |
-| task | RISK-WP-0003-T01 | todo | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
+| task | RISK-WP-0003-T01 | wait | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
-| task | RISK-WP-0003-T02 | todo | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
+| task | RISK-WP-0003-T02 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
-| task | RISK-WP-0003-T03 | todo | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
+| task | RISK-WP-0003-T03 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
-| task | RISK-WP-0003-T04 | todo | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
+| task | RISK-WP-0003-T04 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0003-regulatory-intake.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0004-T01 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0004-run-the-register.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0004-T02 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0004-run-the-register.md |
 | task | RISK-WP-0004-T03 | done | — | workplans/RISK-WP-0004-run-the-register.md |

docs/method/dependencies.md

@@ -112,6 +112,25 @@ So the waiting list is built from **every** finding, not from the watched ones.
 A closed record with an open obligation is precisely the thing that goes quiet,
 because nothing is prompting anyone to look at it any more.
 
+## A wait is not a findings-only idea
+
+Adopting a rule is nobody's finding. Registering a canon kind is nobody's
+finding. Publishing a document is nobody's finding. All three are obligations
+someone owes, and each one that lived outside the mechanism was invisible to it.
+
+So waits attach to **any** record this repo keeps — findings, regulatory
+records, workplans — and `make check` reports them together. `RISK-WP-0001`
+carries two: the escalation rule that is producing decisions while still
+`status: proposed`, and the canon question about what kind of thing a finding
+is.
+
+The first of those has the most uncomfortable default in the register, and it
+points inward: **if the rule is not adopted by 2026-09-17, it is recorded as de
+facto in force but unratified, and every escalation sent under it says so on
+its face.** That is worse than either adopting or rejecting it, which is the
+point — a draft that quietly governs is the thing this register was built to
+notice.
+
 ## Where the waits are visible
 
 `make check` reports every open wait with its age, its owner and its default

tools/register_check.py

@@ -124,8 +124,9 @@ def main() -> int:
     # Waits: typed, dated, and defaulted (docs/method/dependencies.md).
     waiting, due_defaults, deep = [], [], []
     # A closed finding can still owe something — RISK-F-0001 is `fixed` and
-    # still waiting on its publication entry. Waits outlive statuses.
+    # still waiting on its publication entry. Waits outlive statuses, and they
-    with_waits = [f for f in lib.findings() if f.get("waiting_on")]
+    # are not a findings-only idea: adopting a rule is nobody's finding.
+    with_waits = lib.records_with_waits()
     waiting_ids = {f["id"] for f in with_waits}
     for f in with_waits:
         for w in (f.get("waiting_on") or []):

tools/register_lib.py

@@ -86,6 +86,19 @@ def regulatory() -> list[dict]:
                   key=lambda r: r.get("id", ""))
 
 
+def workplans() -> list[dict]:
+    """Workplans carry waits too — adoption of a rule is nobody's finding."""
+    d = REPO / "workplans"
+    if not d.exists():
+        return []
+    return sorted((load(p) for p in d.glob("*.md")), key=lambda w: w.get("id", ""))
+
+
+def records_with_waits() -> list[dict]:
+    """Every record that owes or is owed something, whatever kind it is."""
+    return [r for r in findings() + regulatory() + workplans() if r.get("waiting_on")]
+
+
 def notes() -> list[dict]:
     if not NOTES.exists():
         return []

workplans/RISK-WP-0001-make-the-register-decidable.md

@@ -8,7 +8,20 @@ status: active
 owner: the-custodian
 topic_slug: risk-nexus
 created: "2026-08-19"
-updated: "2026-08-19"
+updated: "2026-08-20"
+waiting_on:
+  - who: the-custodian
+    what: "adopt docs/method/escalation.md, which is producing decisions while still status: proposed"
+    since: "2026-08-19"
+    would_change: "the rule stops being a draft that looks like coverage; the spend thresholds become the operator's numbers rather than ours"
+    default: "recorded as de facto in force but unratified, and every escalation sent under it says so on its face"
+    default_at: "2026-09-17"
+  - who: the-custodian
+    what: "register finding / note / regulatory-record as canon work-record kinds, or rule that the register is a different ontology"
+    since: "2026-08-20"
+    would_change: "C-31 stops being a standing warning; the estate's work-record backbone gains four species it currently cannot name"
+    default: "C-31 documented as expected noise for this repo, and the register stops treating it as a gap it can close"
+    default_at: "2026-09-17"
 ---
 
 # RISK-WP-0001 — make the register decidable