Boilingwater Transparent Delivery Standard (BWTDS)
Boilingwater's public delivery commitment for custom software and AI projects, built around explainable scope, traceable progress, verifiable results, and transferable assets.
Turning custom work into an accountable delivery process
Custom software is not a standard commodity, but its delivery can still be transparent. Wavesteam's delivery standard is built around four outcomes: scope can be explained, progress can be traced, results can be verified, and project assets can be handed over.
Transparency does not mean exposing every internal conversation. It means that the client can understand what was agreed, what has been completed, what remains uncertain, and what evidence supports acceptance.
The eight delivery records
| Record | Purpose | Typical contents |
|---|---|---|
| Project understanding | Establish a shared business picture | Objectives, users, context, constraints, success measures, and open questions |
| Scope boundary | Prevent assumptions from becoming hidden obligations | Included functions, exclusions, dependencies, client inputs, and acceptance basis |
| Price breakdown | Explain how the estimate was formed | Work packages, quantities, assumptions, third-party costs, options, and validity date |
| Milestone plan | Make sequence and ownership visible | Outputs, dates, dependencies, reviewers, and decision deadlines |
| Project update | Show progress through outcomes | Completed work, demonstrations, next work, risks, blockers, and decisions needed |
| Change record | Keep changes intentional | Request, reason, impact on scope, price and time, decision, and effective date |
| Acceptance evidence | Demonstrate the agreed result | Test results, scenario recordings, issue status, known limits, and sign-off records |
| Asset handover | Preserve client control | Source code, documentation, accounts, configurations, licenses, data exports, and access changes |
The format may change with project size, but the information should not disappear.
Three ledgers kept throughout delivery
The scope ledger records what is included and excluded. The decision ledger records important choices, alternatives, owners, and dates. The risk ledger records uncertainties, impact, mitigation, and escalation. Together they stop chat history from becoming the only source of truth.
Transparent discovery and pricing
An early estimate should show uncertainty rather than disguise it with false precision. Wavesteam states material assumptions, distinguishes our fees from supplier charges, and identifies optional or deferrable work. We do not omit testing, security, deployment, or handover simply to display a lower entry price.
When important facts are missing, the right output may be a range, a discovery phase, or a staged first release. The estimate becomes firmer as decisions and evidence accumulate.
Transparent engineering
Progress is demonstrated with working outcomes, not only percentages. Important conclusions are written down. Risks are raised when they can still be managed. The client can reach the people responsible for actual delivery through the agreed channel, while roles and meeting load remain proportionate to the project.
Quality and acceptance
Acceptance starts from agreed user scenarios, data, environments, and quality thresholds. Defects are separated from new requirements. Known limitations are recorded instead of hidden. Metrics such as performance, recovery, compatibility, and security are selected because the project needs them, not because a generic checklist contains them.
Additional evidence for AI and agent systems
AI output cannot be accepted by a single polished demonstration. The evidence should cover:
- representative task cases and expected outcomes;
- measured quality, latency, cost, and failure behavior;
- permissions, tool boundaries, confirmations, and fallback paths;
- production monitoring, feedback, and regression evaluation.
The project must also identify model and data sources, third-party constraints, human-review points, and actions the system is never allowed to perform automatically.
Data, accounts, and intellectual property
Account ownership is agreed before launch. Client business data is used only for the agreed purpose and access is minimized. Contract terms state ownership and licensing for source code, custom designs, reusable components, third-party software, models, and content. Assets of uncertain origin are not used to reduce cost.
Wavesteam will not conceal major risks, fabricate progress or test evidence, misrepresent a third party's fees as our own, use mismatched credentials, or promise approval by an external platform.
The client also has a role
Transparent delivery depends on timely access to business facts, reviewers, accounts, test data, and decisions. If client input is late or changes, the impact is recorded and the plan is updated. Disagreements first return to the signed scope, decision history, and acceptance evidence; unresolved issues follow the contractual escalation path.
The standard is versioned and improved from delivery experience. A new version does not silently change an already signed project's commercial terms.
Whether and how this standard applies to a specific project is governed by the signed contract, statement of work (SOW), or other written agreement.