The three shapes against the same axis of time. A retainer is a repeating claim on a few days a month, open-ended and cancellable — the shape you want when a programme has to be held rather than delivered. A fixed scope is one bounded block with a start, an end and a written answer at the far side, and no obligation after it. An hour is an hour. What the drawing is really showing is where the commitment ends in each case, which is the thing worth knowing before the first call.
The three shapes
- On retainerA senior quality lead a few days a month, holding the program and reachable when something goes sideways.
- Fixed scopeA defined look at one problem, a defined amount of time, a written answer. No obligation after.
- By the hourAn hour with someone who has built the thing you are asking about. Straight answers, no deck.
What this covers6 areas, and where each one bites
- On retainerA senior quality lead a few days a month, holding the programme and reachable when something goes sideways. Open-ended, cancellable.
- Fixed scopeA defined look at one problem, a defined amount of time, a written answer. No obligation after it closes.
- By the hourAn hour with someone who has built the thing you are asking about. Straight answers, no deck.
- What I turn downWork needing a clearance or a bond, remediation at volume, bids I would not place myself, and anything one person cannot do properly.
- Before work startsScope in writing, the decision points named, and what happens if the answer turns out to be that you do not need me.
- The referralIf the honest answer is that this is not a fit, you get that answer and a direction to go instead. That part is free.
No rates are published anywhere on this site. A number quoted without the scope behind it is wrong for someone, and usually for you.
What I turn downstated up front, so nobody finds out on a call
- A remediation factory. Section 508 here is advisory scoping; if you need pages fixed by the thousand I will say so and point you elsewhere.
- Bids I would not place myself. Half the value of capture work is the no.
- Work that needs a security clearance or a bond. I hold neither and will not pretend otherwise on a form.
- Anything one person cannot do properly. There is no bench, so there is no “we will staff it”.
What holds this workstandards we know, not certifications we hold
- Scope firstAgreed in writing before work starts, including what is not in it. Changes are a conversation, not an invoice surprise.Every engagement
- No follow-onA fixed scope ends when it ends. There is no invented next phase attached to the back of it.Fixed scope
- No lock-inSource, documents and deploy control are yours throughout, so leaving is a decision rather than a project.Every engagement
- The noWork outside what one engineer can do properly is declined up front. Half the value of capture work is the bid you talk yourself out of.Before the start
Where it stopsan empty row is work this firm does not take
Capacity
One engineer is the capacity and the constraint, and both are stated before the scope is written rather than discovered inside it. Machines carry the reading and the drafting, which is what makes the ground one person covers wider than it looks.
There is no bench and no staffing plan. If a scope needs more than that, the answer is a name to call instead, and it costs nothing.
How the work gets doneevery engagement, every page
Bots read the portals
SAM, the state portals and the subcontracting boards, every day, so no opportunity depends on someone remembering to look.
Models do the first pass
The reading, the mapping and the first draft of document-heavy work, where a machine is fast and tireless.
A person decides and signs
Every judgement call, every commitment and every signature is human, and the record says who.
One engineer, fixed scope
You get the person you evaluated, on a scope agreed before the work starts, and no invented follow-on.
Start a conversationTell me the problem. If it is not a fit you get that answer and a direction to go instead, free.
One standard, more than one verbwhy these are four sheets and not four firms
- NQA-1NQA-1 — Build: we write toNQA-1 — Prove: we write toNQA-1 — Automate: does not applyNQA-1 — Win: does not apply
- 10 CFR 50 App. B10 CFR 50 App. B — Build: we write to10 CFR 50 App. B — Prove: we write to10 CFR 50 App. B — Automate: does not apply10 CFR 50 App. B — Win: we write to
- ISO 9001ISO 9001 — Build: we write toISO 9001 — Prove: we write toISO 9001 — Automate: does not applyISO 9001 — Win: does not apply
- CMMC Level 2CMMC Level 2 — Build: we write toCMMC Level 2 — Prove: we write toCMMC Level 2 — Automate: does not applyCMMC Level 2 — Win: we write to
- NIST SP 800-171NIST SP 800-171 — Build: we write toNIST SP 800-171 — Prove: we write toNIST SP 800-171 — Automate: we write toNIST SP 800-171 — Win: does not apply
- WCAG 2.1 AAWCAG 2.1 AA — Build: does not applyWCAG 2.1 AA — Prove: we write toWCAG 2.1 AA — Automate: does not applyWCAG 2.1 AA — Win: we write to
- Section 508Section 508 — Build: does not applySection 508 — Prove: we write toSection 508 — Automate: does not applySection 508 — Win: we write to
- FARFAR — Build: does not applyFAR — Prove: does not applyFAR — Automate: does not applyFAR — Win: we write to
- Audit trailAudit trail — Build: we write toAudit trail — Prove: we write toAudit trail — Automate: we write toAudit trail — Win: we write to
Audit trailThe one line that crosses all four. Every practice here ends in a record of who decided what, because none of the others survive without it.