1 Architecture Principles: These are general rules and guidelines, intended to be enduring and seldom amended, that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission1. They reflect a level of consensus among the various elements of the enterprise, and form the basis for making future IT decisions1.
2 Architecture Contracts: These are the joint agreements between development partners and sponsors on the deliverables, quality, and fitness-for-purpose of an architecture2. They are used to ensure that the architecture is implemented and governed according to the agreed-upon specifications and standards2.
3 Request for Architecture Work: This is a document that is sent from the sponsoring organization to the architecture organization to trigger the start of an architecture development cycle3. It defines the scope, schedule, budget, deliverables, and stakeholders of the architecture project3.
4 Architecture Requirements Specification: This is a set of quantitative statements that outline what an implementation project must do in order to comply with the architecture4. It defines the requirements for each architecture domain, as well as the relationships and dependencies among them4.
References: 1: Architecture Principles 2: Architecture Contracts 3: Request for Architecture Work 4: Architecture Requirements Specification