# OE-0007: Verification

**Status:** Draft
**Version:** 0.2.0-draft
**Depends on:** OE-0006 (Understanding)
**Phase:** The Bedrock Phase

## Overview

Verification is the process of testing understanding against reality.

## Definition

Verification applies to understanding that has been formed through observation and survey. It is the mechanism by which understanding earns confidence.

No amount of reasoning, no matter how elegant, substitutes for verification. An engineering model that has not been verified is a hypothesis — potentially valuable, but not yet reliable enough to base decisions on.

## The Verification Loop

Verification closes the loop with observation:

1. Observation provides the initial input (OE-0004)
2. Survey organizes observations (OE-0005)
3. Understanding forms a model (OE-0006)
4. Verification tests the model against reality
5. If the model fails verification, the practitioner returns to observation with new information

This loop is what drives spiral re-evaluation. Each cycle through the loop potentially deepens understanding.

## Relationship to Understanding

Verification is applied to understanding. It is not part of understanding's definition. Understanding (OE-0006) is the model. Verification is the test applied to that model. The dependency chain reflects this ordering: a model must exist before it can be tested.

## Single Responsibility

This document defines verification and its relationship to the observation loop. It does not define decision-making (see OE-0008). It references it.

## Applicable Laws

This document is governed by all Engineering Laws defined in `laws/engineering-laws.md`.