10 U.S.C. § 8669c — Assessments required prior to start of construction on first ship of a shipbuilding program

(a) In General — The Secretary of the Navy cannot approve the start of construction on the first ship of a major shipbuilding program until 15 days have passed since the Secretary did three things: (1) sent Congress's defense committees a report on the results of a production readiness review; (2) certified to those committees that the review's findings support starting construction; and (3) certified that at least 95 percent of all the basic and functional design drawing packages for the ship have final approval. (b) Report — The report required by (a)(1) must cover: (1) how much of the detailed design and production drawings are done, matching the shipbuilding contract; (2) whether the shipyard's facilities and workers are ready to start building; (3) the Navy's estimated delivery date and any risks to that date; (4) whether good processes and metrics exist to track program risk; (5) for the first ship, the Navy's plans to oversee and document construction so the design supports the schedule; (6) a definition of "start of construction" for the first ship — one that does not mean a point after 5 percent of lightship displacement is complete, and does not mean advance procurement or advance construction; (7) any hull or superstructure fabrication that happens before the Secretary sends the certifications in (a)(2) and (a)(3); and (8) how much vendor and government information supports the design's maturity, including whether vendor selection and specifications are final for major systems and equipment, and the status of factory acceptance testing. (c) Definitions — For subsection (a): "Basic and functional design" means, for most vessels, computer-aided-model design, and for manned surface and undersea combatants, three-dimensional computer modeling, that supports the hull structure, sets the vessel's hydrodynamics, and positions and routes all major utility systems like electricity and water. "First ship" means either the first ship built under a shipbuilding program, or a ship built at a shipyard that has not previously started that program. "Major shipbuilding program" means a program to build combat and support vessels reported in the Navy's annual naval vessel construction plan under section 231. "Production readiness review" means a formal check, before construction starts, of whether the design is ready, engineering problems are solved, and the producer has planned adequately for production.