Architecture Review Board

The Architecture Review Board (ARB) is where significant architecture decisions are put to a vote and recorded. Lintel EA runs the whole cycle: people submit items, the secretariat triages and schedules them, an architect assesses them against the governance library, members vote, and the Chair records the decision, any caveats and any follow-up actions.

Most people only need to submit an item and watch its status. The secretariat and members use the meeting pages, and the Chair uses the decision form.

ARB decision log

Every decision the Board has made, with the outcome, the compliance recorded, the reasoning and any caveats. Dispensations show their expiry date.

1. Filter by outcome (Approved, Approved with caveats, Rejected, Deferred) and by year.
2. Press Filter.
3. Press Download CSV to take the list into a spreadsheet.

If the quorum was not met when a decision was made, the row says so. Everyone with access can read the log. It is the best place to answer “what did we decide, and why?”.

Dispensation register

A dispensation is a waiver: the Board accepts an exception to a standard for a limited time. This page lists each approved dispensation with its expiry and a status of Active, Expiring within 90 days, or Expired.

• An expired dispensation no longer covers the exception. Renew it through a new ARB item, or bring the solution back into line.
• Filter by status and download the list as CSV.
• The ARB secretary can switch on expiry email reminders, choose how many days before expiry to start, and how often to repeat. The submitter and the secretaries are emailed, secretaries as one digest. Reminders are off until switched on.

ARB schedule & outcomes

The ARB home page shows what is coming up, what needs triage, and what has been decided. Buttons at the top lead to submitting an item, the members and quorum, the decision log and the dispensation register.

1. Look at Upcoming meetings for the next date and its submission deadline.
2. Use Submit an item (contributors and above) to put something in front of the Board.
3. Follow any link in a table to open the meeting or the item.

Everyone who can sign in can read this page. Only contributors and above see Submit an item, and only the ARB secretary sees the meeting-creation form.

Upcoming meetings

A table of meetings that have not yet been held: date, time, whether it is ordinary or extraordinary, its status (Planned, Agenda issued, Held or Cancelled), how many items are on the agenda and the submission deadline.

• Click the date to open the meeting page, where the agenda, attendance and notes live.
• The deadline is two working days before the meeting for standard items, counted using UK bank holidays. Urgent items need 24 hours.

If the list is empty, no meetings have been created yet. The ARB secretary can create them in Create meetings.

Extraordinary meetings

Anyone can ask for an extra ARB when something cannot wait for the next regular meeting. The secretary or the Chair decides whether to schedule it.

1. Say why it is needed.
2. Optionally give a preferred date and the number of the ARB item it concerns (the number in the address of the item page).
3. Press Request a meeting.

The request then appears in Requests for the secretariat. You can follow its status there. Asking does not guarantee a meeting; a declined request carries the reason given.

Requests

A table of requests for an extraordinary ARB, showing who asked, why, the preferred date and the status. It is visible to everyone, and the controls are shown only to the ARB secretary and ARB members.

• Schedule: enter the date and the start and end times (the defaults are 14:00 to 15:30) and press Schedule. A meeting is created.
• Decline: give a reason (required, up to 500 characters) and press Decline. The reason is kept on the request.

Handle requests promptly, because the requester is waiting for an answer.

Create meetings

Visible to the ARB secretary only. The Terms of Reference say the ARB meets fortnightly but give no day or time, so the secretariat sets them here.

1. Enter the first date, start and end time.
2. Choose Ordinary or Extraordinary.
3. Say how many meetings to create and the number of days between them (14 gives a fortnightly series).
4. Add a location, for example a Teams link, and press Create.

The meetings appear under Upcoming meetings. Check dates against holidays before you create a long series.

Triage queue

All ARB items, newest first, with a filter above the table for each status: Submitted, Deferred (information required), Ready for agenda, On agenda, Decided and Withdrawn. The secretariat works from the Submitted filter.

• Click an item to open it.
• The table shows reference, title, type, urgency, status and the meeting it is booked to.

To triage an item, open it and use Triage and agenda. Items stay visible after they are decided, so this list doubles as a history.

My submissions

Appears when you have submitted items. It lists them with their current status so you can see whether the secretariat has asked for more information, put the item on an agenda, or whether the Board has decided.

• Click an item to read the triage note or the decision.
• If the status is Deferred, information required, read the triage note, add what is missing and ask the secretariat to look again.

You can also withdraw your own item from its page until it is decided.

Open actions

Actions created by the Board, typically from the caveats of an approval with caveats. Each shows its item, the action, the owner and the due date.

• Click the item to see the context and close the action when it is done.
• On the printable agenda and minutes the same list appears as the open actions at the foot of the pack.

Closing an action records who closed it and when, so the history is complete. Chase overdue actions with the named owner.

Recent meetings

The most recent meetings that have been held or cancelled, each with its date and the number of items. Click one to open its agenda, attendance and notes, or to print the agenda pack and minutes.

Use this list to find the record of a past decision quickly. For a searchable list of every decision, use the decision log instead.

Assessment against the governance hierarchy

An architect rates the solution against the principles, policies and standards in the governance library, and the result is summarised here with a suggested compliance level. Rows show how each item was rated.

• If nothing has been assessed yet, an architect should do it before the meeting.
• Use the link to open the full assessment, rate each item, and add notes.

The suggested compliance is a starting point. The Chair confirms or changes it when the decision is recorded.

Triage and agenda

Visible to the ARB secretary. Triage is the first check of whether an item is ready for the Board.

1. Choose Ready for the agenda, or Deferred, information required.
2. Tick Pack is complete when it is. If information is missing, a note is required, so the submitter knows what to supply.
3. Press Record triage.
4. For a ready item, pick a meeting and press Schedule. To remove it from an agenda, use Take off the agenda.

Respect the submission deadline: an item booked after it is late for that meeting.

Votes

Once an item is on an agenda, ARB members vote and everyone can see the tally and each vote with its note and time. Only members marked present at the meeting can vote.

• The tally counts Approve, Approve with conditions, Reject, Defer and Abstain.
• Deputies and guests may vote if they have an email recorded that matches their sign-in, but they do not count towards quorum.

Votes advise the Chair. They do not decide the item by themselves, see Record the decision.

Your vote

Shown to a member who is allowed to vote on the item.

1. Choose Approve, Approve with conditions, Reject, Defer or Abstain.
2. Add a note. It is required unless you are approving or declaring a conflict.
3. If you have a conflict of interest, tick the box. It is recorded as an abstention.
4. Press Record my vote.

You can change your vote until the Chair decides. If the form is not shown, you may not be marked present, or you may not hold the ARB member role.

Record the decision

The Chair decides after the votes. The decision is the Chair’s, informed by the votes. It is not the majority count.

1. Choose the outcome: Approved, Approved with caveats, Rejected or Deferred.
2. Confirm the compliance level. It is pre-selected from the assessment; change it if you disagree.
3. For approval with caveats, list one caveat per line. Each becomes a tracked action.
4. Give your reasoning. It is required if the vote was not unanimous.
5. For an approved dispensation, set the expiry date.
6. Press Record decision.

Once recorded, the item is locked and its assessment can no longer be edited.

Decision

The recorded decision: outcome, compliance, whether quorum was met, caveats, reasoning, expiry (for a dispensation), and who decided and when.

• Caveats appear as tracked actions on the item.
• The decision flows into the decision log and the Outputs dashboard.
• If the item came from an engagement, the engagement’s gate follows the decision.

A decision cannot be edited here. If circumstances change, submit a new item.

Actions

Follow-up work the Board has asked for. Actions are created from caveats and can also be added by hand with an action, owner and due date.

1. Fill in Action, Owner and Due, then press Add action.
2. When the work is done, press Close on the action.

Open actions across all items are listed on the ARB home page and on the printed minutes. Closing records who and when, so you do not lose the audit trail.

Discussion

A running set of notes on the item. Use it for questions from members, clarifications from the sponsor, and anything the minutes should capture.

• Type your note under Add a note and press Add note.
• Notes show who wrote them and when.

During a live meeting, avoid typing with auto-refresh switched on, because refreshing the page loses unsent text.

Agenda

The ordered list of items for this meeting, each with its status and, after the meeting, its outcome. Items are added from the item page, using Triage and agenda.

• Click an item to open it.
• If the agenda is empty, no item that is ready has been scheduled to this date yet.

Issue the agenda (set the status to Agenda issued) once the items are agreed, so attendees know what to prepare.

Attendance and quorum

Quorum is the Chair or the Deputy Chair plus any three other quorum members present. Deputies and guests may vote but do not count.

1. Tick Present for each person who attends.
2. Press Save attendance.
3. Check the banner: it says whether quorum is met and what is missing.

The attendance list opens the first time the secretary opens the meeting. Votes are accepted only from members marked present, so record attendance before voting starts.

Add a deputy or guest

Use this when someone attends who is not on the member list.

1. Enter their name and email. The email is needed if they are to vote.
2. Choose Deputy or Guest. For a deputy, choose who they are standing in for.
3. Press Add.

Deputies and guests may vote but never count towards quorum. Add them before you record attendance, so they can be ticked present.

Meeting notes

Free text for the discussion and anything the Board agreed that is not tied to one item. The secretary types the notes and presses Save notes.

• Notes appear on the printable agenda pack and minutes under Meeting notes.
• If nothing is recorded, the printed minutes say so.

Keep notes factual. Decisions belong on the item, where they flow to the decision log.

ARB members & quorum

The Board’s membership, taken from the Terms of Reference. It shows each member’s name, job title, ARB role (Chair, Deputy Chair, Designer, Reviewer, Secretary), email, whether they count towards quorum, and whether they are active.

• A member’s email links them to their sign-in so that they can vote. They also need the ARB member role, set in Users and roles.
• The secretary or a tenant administrator can edit rows, and remove a member.

Quorum is the Chair or Deputy Chair plus three other quorum members present.

Add a member

For the ARB secretary or a tenant administrator.

1. Enter the name and job title.
2. Choose the ARB role.
3. Enter their email. Without it they cannot vote.
4. Tick Counts to quorum if they do.
5. Press Add.

If the list is empty, there is a button to load the members named in the Terms of Reference in one step. Adding a person here does not give them access. Do that in Users and roles.

Submit to ARB

Contributors and above use this form to ask the Board for a decision.

1. Enter a clear title and choose the type: solution design, procurement or new supplier, dispensation, renewal, TIME disposition change, principle or standard change, compliance review, or other.
2. Choose urgency: Standard, Urgent (24 hours) or Chair’s action.
3. Add the sponsor and, optionally, their email so they are invited to the meeting.
4. Optionally link a repository element by its uid.
5. Describe what you are asking the Board to decide, then press Submit.

Standard items need a complete pack at least two working days before the meeting. The secretariat checks it and adds it to an agenda.

Summary

The top of an assessment page. It counts how many items were rated at each level, and shows a suggested compliance (Fully, Partly or Non-conformant). The worst rating among rated items sets the suggestion. The Chair confirms it with the decision.

• The assessor’s summary is a free-text overall view. Write it for the Board.
• Non-conformant items are listed so they stand out.
• The page notes who last saved it and when.

Assessment forms are locked once the item is decided. If there are no principles in the library yet, load them from Import and match.

An ARB item

The page for one submission. The top shows its status, type, urgency, sponsor, any linked engagement or repository element, the meeting it is booked to and the triage note. Below are the working sections: assessment, triage, votes, decision, actions and discussion.

• Sections appear only when they apply. For example, the voting form appears only for ARB members once the item is on an agenda.
• The person who submitted it can withdraw it while it is open.

Each section has its own guide in this page’s list.

An ARB meeting

The page for one meeting, where the secretary prepares the agenda, records attendance, and keeps notes. It also links to Run the meeting and to the printable agenda and minutes.

• The status moves from Planned to Agenda issued, Held or Cancelled. The secretary changes it with Update.
• The page reminds you of the submission deadline for this meeting.

The secretary manages the page. Everyone else can read it.

Run the meeting

A live view for chairing the meeting item by item. It shows an agenda strip, the current item with its assessment, votes, discussion and actions, the quorum banner and links to the minutes so far.

1. From the meeting page, press Run the meeting.
2. Move with Previous item and Next item.
3. Members vote and the Chair records the decision on the same page.
4. Optionally switch on auto-refresh every 20 seconds so watchers see changes.

Auto-refresh reloads the page, so anything you are typing is lost. Stop it before writing a note or reasoning.

Agenda pack and minutes

A printable page for the meeting. Before the meeting it is the agenda and pack: who is invited, each item with its summary, sponsor and governance assessment. After decisions it becomes the minutes: attendance, quorum, outcomes, reasoning, caveats, votes, actions and meeting notes.

• Press Minutes so far from a live meeting to see the minutes as they stand.
• To keep a copy, use your browser’s Print and choose Save as PDF.

Nothing is changed by opening this page.