37 records

What has to happen before this step is allowed?

37 records covering 35 steps, one fact each. Every value is transcribed from the source that states it and carries the sentence it was taken from: 6 sources across 3 sites, last checked 2026-11-10, due for re-check by 2027-08-11. Every record is listed below, each linking the page its value came from.

Cite as: What must pass before the next step: mandated step order in regulated processes, referencesource.org/prerequisite-sequencing-regulated-processes/, checked 2026-11-10.

3 records where two or more sources state different values. Both sides are reproduced on the record page, each with its own source and quote.

About this data

The mandated order of steps in multi-step regulated processes, from the authority that enforces the order: which inspection or filing must be approved before the next one may happen, what may not proceed until it passes, and the deadline attached to it. One record is one step in one authority's published sequence. Covers municipal building inspection sequences (the rough-in must pass before the wall closes; no concrete before the footing inspection) and the US import Importer Security Filing chain (ISF no later than 24 hours before lading; flexible filings finalised no later than 24 hours before arrival; cargo release withheld without an ISF). Answers 'did I need an inspection before drywall', 'what order do building inspections happen in', 'when does the ISF have to be filed', and 'what happens if the ISF is late'. The sequence is usually published only as prose on the enforcing authority's own page, one jurisdiction at a time; no comparison table exists anywhere.

The data

Where this came from

Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 6 sources this dataset was assembled from.

• cbp.govhttps://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/10_2faq_0.pdf
• cbp.govhttps://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2018-Nov/Updated%20ISF%20FAQ%20FINAL%2011282018.pdf
• code.mecknc.govhttps://code.mecknc.gov/inspections/schedule
• crevecoeurmo.govhttps://www.crevecoeurmo.gov/253/Sequence-of-Inspection-Page-2
• crevecoeurmo.govhttps://www.crevecoeurmo.gov/87/Sequence-of-Inspections-for-Wood-Decks
• crevecoeurmo.govhttps://www.crevecoeurmo.gov/86/Sequence-of-Inspections

Machine-readable

• data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
• Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
• data.csvThe same records as one flat table, for a spreadsheet or a dataframe. The last four columns are the source URL, the quoted sentence it was read from, the date we last checked it, and which columns are our reading rather than the page's words.
• How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.

From your own code

Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.

pip install refsource
refsource lookup prerequisite-sequencing-regulated-processes process="Importer Security Filing (ISF)"

npx -y refsource lookup prerequisite-sequencing-regulated-processes process="Importer Security Filing (ISF)"

Set your AI assistant up to use this

Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "referencesource": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project

Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:

When a question needs "What must pass before the next step: mandated step order in regulated processes", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `prerequisite-sequencing-regulated-processes`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.

What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.

37 records. last verified against source 2026-11-10. due for re-check by 2027-08-11.

Licence. Facts extracted from the freely published pages of the authorities that enforce each sequence — municipal building departments and US Customs and Border Protection — with a short attributed quote and a link back. Inspection order and filing deadlines are public regulatory facts. No source page used carries a restrictive notice; US federal documents are public domain.