Positional Continuity Protocol: Technical Guide

Scope

The Positional Continuity Protocol began as a placement method in 1987. Its continued use depends on the relationship among intended position, ordinary use, access and return.

INTENDED POSITIONOBSERVED POSITIONACCESS ENVELOPERETURN PATH

Figure 1. A positional review distinguishes the recorded position from the position established through ordinary use.

Method

Core definitions

Intended position is the position specified by a placement decision. Ordinary position is the position repeated use has established as expected. Return position is the position to which an element may be returned without creating a new review condition.

PCP treats displacement as a relationship, not a distance alone. A nearby position may alter the access envelope, return path or approach sequence and therefore may not be equivalent.

PCP field terms / current edition
Term	Application
Positional variance	Observed difference between intended and ordinary position considered with access and persistence.
Access envelope	Area required to approach, use, inspect or return an element.
Review condition	Change in use, access, sequence or persistence requiring a fresh determination.

Revision history

1987 / First issue
Established location, access and return as separate observations.

1994 / Clarification
Added the statement that a nearby position is not necessarily an equivalent position.

2006 / Field revision
Introduced persistence and review condition language.

2016 / Handoff revision
Added cross-divisional references.

2024 / Current edition
Aligned terminology with MCS-01 and SCR-6.

Related publications

PCP definitions are used by MCS-01, the Queue Technologies technical note and Reference Series 4.

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Document control
Printable web edition. A matching PDF is available: download PCP-87-24.pdf.