Unbroken Chain of Custody

Expectation. The building shall maintain an unbroken chain of custody for every item received on behalf of a resident — from the point of receipt through storage to retrieval or documented disposition.

Required.

• Every inbound item received by the building — whether deposited by a carrier, a courier, or a person — is logged into a record that associates the item with the intended resident. The record is created at the point of receipt. No item exists in the building's custody without a corresponding record.
• An item cannot be removed from the record without the resident retrieving it or the building documenting an alternative disposition — return to carrier, transfer to management, or disposal after the building's published retention period.
• The receiving system is available at all hours. An item delivered outside staffed hours is received and logged with the same reliability as one delivered during staffed hours.
• When an item cannot be received — the designated storage is full, the item exceeds size or weight limits, or the item requires conditions the building cannot provide — the carrier is informed at the point of delivery. The resident is notified that a delivery was attempted and could not be received, including the reason.
• When an item arrives addressed to a person who is not a current resident, the building does not accept the item into custody. The carrier is informed that the addressee is unknown.
• When the receiving system is changed, replaced, or upgraded, items already in custody remain accessible and the delivery record is preserved without gap or loss.

Recommended.

• The record includes a timestamp, carrier identification, and a visual reference — photograph or scan — sufficient to identify the item independently.
• When the building receives multiple items for the same resident in a single delivery, each item is logged individually.

In practice.

A carrier delivers three packages to the building at 2 AM. No staff is on site. Each package is deposited into the receiving system, which creates a record for each: timestamp, carrier, resident association. At 7 AM, the resident sees three items in their delivery list. All three are retrievable. The overnight arrival created no gap in the chain of custody.

A courier arrives with a large furniture delivery that exceeds the capacity of the building's receiving infrastructure. The system cannot accept the item. The courier is informed. The resident receives a notification: delivery attempted, item too large for receiving system, carrier retained the item. The resident contacts the carrier to arrange an alternative. The building did not absorb an item it could not store, and the resident was not left wondering where it went.

The building replaces its locker system with a new vendor. During the transition, all items currently in custody are transferred to temporary holding. The delivery record retains the original receipt timestamps and carrier information. No item is lost in the changeover and no record is reset.

A package arrives addressed to a former resident who moved out two months ago. The receiving system does not recognize the addressee. The carrier is informed: addressee unknown. The building does not accept the item. The former resident's name does not trigger a phantom record.

Failure modes.

Receipt without record. A carrier leaves a package in the building's receiving area. No scan, no log, no photograph. The carrier's tracking shows "delivered." The building has no record. The resident checks their delivery list — nothing. The package sits in a common area, unattributed, until it is taken by someone else or discarded. The building received the item physically but not systemically.

Misattribution. A package addressed to unit 4B is logged to unit 4D. The resident of 4D receives a notification for an item they did not order. The resident of 4B receives nothing. The package is retrieved by the wrong person or sits unclaimed. The error occurred at the point of record creation and propagated through every subsequent step.

Silent expiration. An unclaimed package remains in storage past the building's retention period. The item is returned to the carrier or disposed of. The resident receives no notification before or after removal. The item vanishes from their record. When they ask, no one can confirm what happened.

Migration loss. The building migrates its receiving platform to a new vendor. Items in custody at the time of migration are not transferred. The new system starts empty. Residents with items in the old system find their delivery records blank. The transition erased the chain of custody for every item in the building.

Test.

1. Deliver an item outside staffed hours. Confirm: a record exists associating the item with the correct resident, including timestamp.
2. Deliver an item that exceeds the receiving system's capacity. Confirm: the carrier is informed at the point of delivery, and the resident receives a notification of the failed receipt.
3. View the resident's delivery record after multiple deliveries over several days. Confirm: each item appears individually with its own receipt timestamp.
4. Attempt to remove an item from the record without resident retrieval. Confirm: the system requires documented disposition.
5. Deliver an item addressed to a person who is not a current resident. Confirm: the system does not accept the item and informs the carrier.