Timeout log
Each expiry, how it resolved, and who it went to, for the monthly review with the clock's owner.
Hard clock
Give every state a case can occupy a declared maximum duration, so no one waits in pending forever. At the limit, the case fails safe or goes to a named person who must decide.
- 1 Evidence
- 2 Authority
- 3 Decision
- 4 Consequence acts here
- 5 Challenge
- 6 Reconsideration acts here
- 7 Correction
Where it acts
At Consequence and Reconsideration, two of the seven stages every consequential decision passes through. It caps how long a person waits in any state, and at the cap a named person has to decide the case again.
Steps
Put the mechanism in motion
3 steps, in order. Check each one off as it is done; the records below show the work was done.
0 of 3 steps complete
Records this mechanism keeps
What a team running this mechanism keeps, and what each record is for.
Reuse-ready snippets
Copy policy, audit, and incident language
Use these snippets in requirements, audits, and postmortems with the mechanism permalink.
Policy requirement
Policy requirement (MEC-04 Hard clock) - Every automated process declares a maximum duration and a human escalation path when it is exceeded. - Expired processes fail safe and keep the person's progress, so they can re-enter without starting over. Reference: https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock
Product requirement
Product requirement (MEC-04) - The declared maximum duration is visible before a person commits to the process. - Timeout events emit a receipt with the state, elapsed time, and escalation owner.
Audit evidence checklist
Audit evidence checklist (MEC-04) [ ] Each system state has a documented maximum duration. [ ] Timeout logs record expiry, resolution, and escalation owner. [ ] Monthly reviews were held by the clock's named owner.
Postmortem trigger
Postmortem trigger (MEC-04) Trigger review when a state exceeds its declared duration without failing safe or escalating.
How it plays out
A payments team caps identity review at 72 hours, shows the cap at submission, and routes anything still pending at expiry to a named reviewer who must release or refuse the hold.
Anti-patterns
Common failure cases and counterfactuals
Each case passes on paper and fails in operation. The counterfactual shows what would have worked.
Pending with no ceiling
A state has a target but no maximum, so slow cases accumulate with no escalation.
Counterfactual: Every state declares a maximum duration and a resolution at expiry.
Exception: A state the person controls, such as a draft they have not submitted, needs no ceiling.
Clock without a resolution
The timer expires and emits an alert, but the request stays in the same state.
Counterfactual: Expiry moves the request to a fail-safe outcome or to a named person who can change its state.
Exception: An internal state that holds no person's request, such as a batch retry, can end in an alert alone.
Diagnostics for this mechanism
Tools that size the risk this mechanism addresses.
Diagnostic
Delegation audit
Walks a team through one workflow against six questions and returns an exposure score, the permissions nobody can justify, and whether its decisions can be undone. Start here when the system keeps no decision records yet; use the record conformance checker once it does.
Cite this page · v1.2.1 · updated Oct 6, 2026 · CC BY-SA 4.0
APA
Ethotechnics Institute. (2026). Hard clock (MEC-04). Ethotechnics Institute. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock
MLA
Ethotechnics Institute. "Hard clock (MEC-04)." Ethotechnics Institute, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock.
Chicago
Ethotechnics Institute. "Hard clock (MEC-04)." Ethotechnics Institute. Oct 6, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock.
BibTeX
@misc{mechanism_hard-clock,
title={Hard clock (MEC-04)},
author={Ethotechnics Institute},
year={2026},
howpublished={Ethotechnics Institute},
url={https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock},
version={v1.2.1}
}
RIS
TY - WEB TI - Hard clock (MEC-04) AU - Ethotechnics Institute PY - 2026 UR - https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/hard-clock ER -