Input
Gather the base agreement, every amendment-package version, signature pages, actual delegations and any associated messages. Keep original locators and permitted access. Produce a completed conflict record and a short routing note; do not replace the record with a new amendment request.
Steps
- Preserve read-only copies of each supplied version and its original locator.
- Quote each effective-date instruction with its document, version and precise passage.
- Test whether the instructions contradict each other or merely leave information missing.
- Compare signer/initialer evidence against the actual delegation, retaining any authority gap.
- Record the supported consequence of each reading without choosing a governing date.
- Avoid independently changing duties while the conflict remains unresolved.
- Seek timely authorized interim direction for any immediately affected duty.
- Route the record to the authorized agreement owner for resolution with the counterparty.
Each numbered action is an investigation step, not a rule of contract priority. A filename, timestamp, signature date or system entry does not automatically control.
Worked Fictional Conflict
Amendment3 to Agreement R contains these exact invented instructions:
- Clause1: 'Amendment3 and its revised permission for Phase2 expenditure take effect December 1, 2026.'
- Annex1 in the same package: 'The effective date of Amendment3 and its revised permission for Phase2 expenditure is November 15, 2026.'
Both address the same amendment and expenditure permission. This is a genuine incompatibility, rather than an implementation start that could coexist with a different effective date. The package was signed November 20 and entered in the system November 24; neither date resolves the quoted conflict. Actual signer authority evidence is not supplied here, so request it rather than assume valid authority from the signature's presence.
Proposed Phase2 spending is 250 USD daily for November 15-30 inclusive. That is 16 days x 250 =4,000 USD of proposed spending whose permission depends on the resolved reading and actual terms. The interval November 15 to December 1 is 16 days. These figures establish exposure to the question, not eligible expenditure or a retrospective approval.
Output and Routing Note
Complete the linked record with exact passages, evidence gaps, consequences and pending status. Example note:
Agreement owner: Clause1 and Annex1 assign different effective dates to the same Amendment3 Phase2 permission. Please obtain the actual authority evidence and counterparty-confirmed resolution, and timely authorized interim direction for affected duties. The 4,000 USD proposed November 15-30 exposure remains flagged; no governing date or changed duty has been recorded by the investigator.
Exception: A Missing Date
A separate cover email states no effective date. Mark it missing information, not a third contradictory instruction. Request its relevance and any actual linked decision; do not manufacture a date or use its recency to settle the conflict.
Human Boundary and Sources
The authorized agreement owner resolves the issue through the actual counterparty route, with qualified review where needed. Keep interim direction, final decision and subsequent updates distinct. Tool 10 lists annex/signatory questions; the controlling agreement decides operative text, not the checklist.
Charity Commission decision guidance (November 2, 2020), Tool 10 (January 3, 2011), CC 8 (November 27, 2024), CC 26 (September 16, 2026) and CC 34 (March 7, 2024) inform records, authority, uncertainty and separate parties in England and Wales. The conflict test and sequence are OpenAid practice, not a universal legal ruling. Checked November 1, 2026.