diff --git a/content/docs/build/automation/approvals.mdx b/content/docs/build/automation/approvals.mdx
index 35b0fe2..964b9ce 100644
--- a/content/docs/build/automation/approvals.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/build/automation/approvals.mdx
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Each entry in `approvers` names a `type` and a `value`:
 | `team` | Members of a flat collaboration team |
 | `field` | The user id held in a field on the triggering record |
 | `user` | One named user id |
-| `org_membership_level` | An org-membership tier (`owner` / `admin` / `delegated_admin` / `member`) |
+| `org_membership_level` | An [org-membership tier](/docs/configure/users#organization-membership-tiers) (`owner` / `admin` / `delegated_admin` / `member`) |
 | `expression` | A CEL expression resolved at node entry — see below |
 
 Prefer the indirect bindings (`manager`, `position`, `department`,
@@ -84,8 +84,9 @@ should no longer see them.
 
 > **Warning — `position` vs the membership tier.**
 > `{ type: 'position', value: 'finance_manager' }` routes to the holders of a
-> position (`sys_user_position`). The org-membership tier (`sys_member.role`:
-> `owner`/`admin`/`delegated_admin`/`member`) is addressed as
+> position (`sys_user_position`). The
+> [org-membership tier](/docs/configure/users#organization-membership-tiers)
+> (`sys_member.role`: `owner`/`admin`/`delegated_admin`/`member`) is addressed as
 > `type: 'org_membership_level'` since 16.0; the old spelling `role` is a
 > **deprecated alias for one release** — it still loads and resolves
 > identically, with a warning, and is removed in the next major. A position name
diff --git a/content/docs/configure/notifications.mdx b/content/docs/configure/notifications.mdx
index 5788af1..28b47e3 100644
--- a/content/docs/configure/notifications.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/configure/notifications.mdx
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ selector string goes through the same resolver. Whether either belongs in a
 standing subscription is an open question the platform has not settled.
 
 > **`role:` here means the organization-membership tier, not a job function.**
-> The tiers are `owner`, `admin`, `delegated_admin`, and `member` — the standing
+> The tiers are [`owner`, `admin`, `delegated_admin`, and
+> `member`](/docs/configure/users#organization-membership-tiers) — the standing
 > a user holds in the organization. Job function is a
 > [position](/docs/configure/permissions/positions), and position names are not
 > addressable here: `role:sales_manager` matches nobody. *Role* is retired
diff --git a/content/docs/configure/users.mdx b/content/docs/configure/users.mdx
index a34ee70..94d5d46 100644
--- a/content/docs/configure/users.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/configure/users.mdx
@@ -87,6 +87,63 @@ breakdown.
 Payloads, password policies, and phone-only accounts are covered in
 [Authentication → Admin user management](/docs/configure/authentication#admin-user-management-objectstack-143).
 
+## Organization-membership tiers
+
+Every membership row (`sys_member`) carries a **tier** — the standing a
+user holds in the organization. The vocabulary is closed and owned by
+the platform (ADR-0108): these four values, and nothing an app declares
+widens them.
+
+| Tier | What it means |
+|---|---|
+| `owner` | Top standing in the organization. May invite at any tier, and is the only tier that may remove another owner |
+| `admin` | Administers the organization. May invite at any tier except `owner` |
+| `delegated_admin` | May issue organization invitations **without** being an org admin. That reach is the whole of it — the tier itself resolves to no permissions; see below |
+| `member` | Ordinary standing. No administrative reach; access arrives through positions and permission sets, like everyone else's |
+
+> **Two different records are called a "membership" on this page.**
+> `sys_member` answers *which organization do you belong to, and at what
+> tier*. `sys_business_unit_member` —
+> [the next section](#place-people-in-the-org-tree-memberships) —
+> answers *which business unit do you sit in*. Placing someone in the
+> org tree changes no tier, and changing a tier places nobody.
+
+The tier is chosen on the invitation (`sys_invitation.role`) and stored
+on the membership row (`sys_member.role`). Both fields are the same
+fixed four-value select, so an application's own business role
+(`sales_manager`) cannot be stored in either, and an invitation naming
+one is rejected before any row is written. Job function is a
+[position](/docs/configure/permissions/positions).
+
+Two rules bound who may hand out which tier: an invitation may never
+confer a tier above the issuer's own, and an issuer below `admin` may
+invite only as `member`.
+
+**A tier is a grade that decides what you can *reach* — never a bundle
+of what you may *do*.** The visible power of `owner` and `admin` comes
+from a separate mechanism: memberships at those two tiers are
+automatically granted an organization-admin permission set scoped to
+that organization. That permission set carries the authority; the tier
+only decides who receives it.
+
+### `delegated_admin` is not delegated administration
+
+Two mechanisms with near-identical names. Reaching for the wrong one is
+the mistake this section exists to prevent:
+
+| | `delegated_admin` (a membership tier) | [Delegated administration](/docs/configure/permissions/permission-sets#delegated-administration) (a permission set) |
+|---|---|---|
+| Lives on | `sys_member.role` | An `adminScope` carried by a permission set |
+| Answers | *Can you reach the invitation flow at all?* | *What may you actually grant* — which business units, which permission sets |
+| On its own | Lets you invite a plain member, and place nobody | Lets you administer through the ordinary assignment path, but not issue invitations |
+
+The two are **doubly opt-in and independent**: someone must set the
+membership tier **and** grant an `adminScope` before a scoped delegate
+can issue an invitation that also places the new person in a business
+unit with positions. Granting one is not granting the other — holding
+`delegated_admin` confers none of the powers listed under
+[delegated administration](/docs/configure/permissions/permission-sets#delegated-administration).
+
 ## Place people in the org tree (memberships)
 
 Placing a person in the org tree is a separate record: a **Business