The method
The verification gate
A value that came out of a tool has no standing as data until someone checked it against an authoritative source. Until then it is a draft. It does not enter a signed document, a submission, or a decision.
Three stages in a fixed order. One gate.
- 1Do it yourself
A first pass with no tool: an estimate, a manual reading, a rough draft. Five to twenty minutes. The aim is a recorded independent judgement, not an exact one.
- 2Ask the tool
A structured request: role, context, task, constraints, source, missing-data instruction. A request without constraints and without a missing-data instruction is not a request under this method.
- 3The gate
Every item against one authoritative source. The gap is recorded. The result goes into the verification log.
An output with one blocked item is not a deliverable. Partial verification is not a state.
The gate stands between the tool output and any commitment: a signature, a submission, a purchase order, a work instruction.
An output with one blocked item is not a deliverable. Partial verification is not a state.
The decision rule at the gate
| Item state | Action |
|---|---|
| Verified, matches the source | It passes. The source and the location in it are recorded. |
| Verified, a gap was found | It is corrected against the source. The original output, the source, the correction and the gap type are recorded. |
| Cannot be verified | Blocked. The item does not enter the deliverable. If the deliverable depends on it, the deliverable stays a draft. |
| The tool wrote "missing" | Correct behaviour. It is recorded as such. |
Seven failure types
They share one property: the output carries no outward sign of an error. So verification cannot rest on suspicion. It runs on every item and leaves a record.
G1 Table from image
A query on a photographed table is far less accurate than the same query on the table as text.
Example: a photographed manufacturer data table, and the value is read from the neighbouring row.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- From a photograph of the data table, the tool gave the value on the requested model's row.
- Correction
- In the same table as text, the value on that row is different. The tool read a neighbouring row.
- Verification source
- Maker A's data sheet as text, not as a photograph.
- Item type
- number
G2 Analogue gauge
Digits and labels are read well. Pointer position is misread.
Example: a pressure gauge read as 6 bar instead of 4.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The tool gave the pressure gauge reading from the photograph.
- Correction
- The needle position in the photograph points to a different value. The digits around the arc read correctly; the needle did not.
- Verification source
- A second reading of the gauge against its own scale, and against a calibrated instrument.
- Item type
- number
G3 Standard clause
Clause numbers and content are invented in a plausible structure.
Example: a test requirement that looks standard, and does not exist in the text.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The tool quoted a clause number and a test requirement, in standard-looking language.
- Correction
- The binding text of the standard has no such clause, and the requirement does not appear in it.
- Verification source
- The binding copy of the standard, at the clause number and the page where it was checked.
- Item type
- standard-clause
G4 Fault code
Interpreted from memory. The same code means different, even opposite, things across manufacturers.
Example: E3 is high pressure at one maker and low pressure at another.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The tool read E3 as high pressure.
- Correction
- At maker B the same code marks low pressure. The meaning depends on the maker and the model.
- Verification source
- The fault-code table in maker B's service manual, for the model in the field.
- Item type
- fault-code
G5 Direct arithmetic
Errors in calculation performed inside the model, on formula selection and on unit conversion.
Example: a CFM to cubic metres per hour conversion that multiplies by the wrong factor.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The tool ran the conversion inside its answer and gave a flow in cubic metres per hour.
- Correction
- The conversion factor it used is not the right one, so the result is wrong.
- Verification source
- The conversion redone by hand against a units table, and the formula checked in the engineering source.
- Item type
- number
G6 Silent completion
A part number, date, model or action that was never supplied is filled in with full confidence.
Example: a report describing an inspection that never happened, with a date.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The report carried a part number, a date and an action performed.
- Correction
- None of the three were given to the tool. They were filled in, and presented like the rest of the report.
- Verification source
- The signed service ticket and maker C's parts list.
- Item type
- part-model
G7 Right answer - wrong reasoning
Correct result with an incorrect justification.
Example: the number is right, and the reason points to a completely different phenomenon.
Item checked
- What the tool said
- The tool gave a result, and next to it a line of reasoning that explains it.
- Correction
- The result is correct. The reasoning points to a different phenomenon, so it does not hold under other conditions.
- Verification source
- The reasoning checked against the engineering source, separately from the result.
- Item type
- other
The gate is the primary control for six of the seven. G7 is caught in stage 1 and in the error-hunt exam.
The five-level scale
The organisation labels every task before the work starts. The level follows the consequence of an error, not the difficulty. The default for an unlabelled task is level 0.
| Level | Name | What is allowed | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | No tool | No use of a tool | None |
| 1 | Ideas only | The tool suggests directions, structure, questions. All content is written by hand | A declaration |
| 2 | Editing | The tool improves text written by hand: wording, translation, summary | A declaration |
| 3 | Verified draft | The tool drafts the deliverable. Every item passes the gate | A declaration and a full log |
| 4 | Full, with approval | Wide use including analysis and organisation. Only with the explicit approval of the supervisor | A declaration, a log, and written approval |
An organisation may tighten a level. It may not loosen it beyond what the method allows.
What the method is not
- It does not detect hallucinations and it does not rank tools. It sets the order in which the engineer and the tool work.
- It does not promise the deliverable is correct. It states that someone checked every item against a source and recorded the result.
- It does not replace competence or professional responsibility. Responsibility stays with the person who signs.
The instrument
The live verification log
One row, thirteen fields, five of them closed lists. Fill a row, add it to the log, and watch what the bar above it does.
The column labels and the closed-list terms below are the paper's Hebrew terms, synchronised from the tool. They are data, not copy, and are deliberately not translated.
A demonstration. Rows live in this tab's memory only: a reload clears them, nothing is stored and nothing is sent.
Blocked
2 verified1 blocked6 average minutes · average over 3 timed rows
| Row state | מזהה תוצר | תאריך | דיסציפלינה | סוג התוצר | הפריט שנבדק | סוג הפריט | מה הכלי אמר | מקור האימות | מיקום במקור | תוצאה | סוג הפער | מה תוקן | זמן אימות (דק׳) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifiedexample | MECH-14 | 2026-09-01 | מכונות | חישוב | לחץ עבודה מרבי | מספר | 118 psi | דף נתונים של היצרן | עמוד 12 · טבלה 3 | תואם | 4 | ||
| Verifiedexample | HVAC-09 | 2026-09-02 | מיזוג | דוח | E3 | קוד תקלה | לחץ נמוך | ספר השירות של היצרן | טבלת קודי תקלה | פער | G4 קוד תקלה | חיווט שלט | 7 |
| Blockedexample | SPEC-02 | 2026-09-03 | אחר | מפרט | ת״י 1001 · 5.2.3 | סעיף תקן | נדרש גילוי אש בכל קומה | לא אומת | 6 |
The verification log: thirteen fields, five of them closed lists. Each row is one verified item. The closed lists are what make the log countable.
The full document with a DOIThe paper
The instruments are licensed CC BY 4.0. Attribution: the verification gate, M. Melchior, 2026.