diff --git a/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md b/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
index 85a60c8d..87f6cab6 100644
--- a/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
+++ b/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ There is **no maximum buffer size**. Messages accumulate in the buffer until del
 
 - Buffered messages are persisted to a **local SQLite database** on each site node.
 - The active node persists locally and forwards each buffer operation (add, remove, park) to the standby node **asynchronously** via Akka.NET remoting. The active node does not wait for standby acknowledgment — this avoids adding latency to every script that buffers a message.
-- The standby node applies the same operations to its own local SQLite database.
-- On failover, the new active node has a near-complete copy of the buffer. In rare cases, the most recent operations may not have been replicated (e.g., a message added or removed just before failover). This can result in a few **duplicate deliveries** (message delivered but remove not replicated) or a few **missed retries** (message added but not replicated). Both are acceptable trade-offs for the latency benefit.
-- On failover, the new active node resumes delivery from its local copy.
+- The standby node applies the same operations to its own local SQLite database but is **passive**: it never runs the delivery sweep. The retry sweep is **gated to the active node** (the oldest Up member / singleton host, re-evaluated every sweep tick), so only one node delivers at a time. The standby applies replicated operations purely to keep its copy warm for a future failover.
+- On failover, the new active node has a near-complete copy of the buffer. In rare cases, the most recent operations may not have been replicated (e.g., a message added or removed just before failover). This can result in a few **duplicate deliveries** (message delivered but its `Remove` not yet replicated) or a few **missed retries** (message added but not replicated). Duplicate deliveries are therefore confined to the **failover window** — an in-flight delivery whose `Remove` had not yet replicated — and never occur in steady-state operation (the standby's gate keeps it from delivering the same rows). Both are acceptable trade-offs for the latency benefit.
+- On failover, the new active node's gate flips to active within one sweep interval and it resumes delivery from its local copy.
 
 ### Operation Tracking Table (lives in Site Runtime, not here)
 
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Actors/AkkaHostedService.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Actors/AkkaHostedService.cs
index 8a5a61d7..0d5daed6 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Actors/AkkaHostedService.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Actors/AkkaHostedService.cs
@@ -859,6 +859,22 @@ akka {{
             cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
             await storeAndForwardService.StartAsync();
 
+            // Standby must be passive: only the active site node runs the S&F
+            // delivery sweep. Without this gate BOTH nodes deliver the same
+            // replicated Pending rows — systematic duplicate external calls and
+            // DB writes (arch review 02, Stability #2). Re-evaluated per sweep
+            // tick so failover resumes delivery within one RetryTimerInterval.
+            // IClusterNodeProvider.SelfIsPrimary is the canonical "this node is the
+            // oldest Up member (singleton host)" check from the cluster-infrastructure
+            // fix plan — the shared helper this seam was designed to accept. In a
+            // non-clustered test host the provider is unregistered, so the gate stays
+            // unset and the sweep is ungated (legacy behaviour, preserved).
+            var clusterNodeProvider = _serviceProvider.GetService<ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.HealthMonitoring.IClusterNodeProvider>();
+            if (clusterNodeProvider != null)
+            {
+                storeAndForwardService.SetDeliveryGate(() => clusterNodeProvider.SelfIsPrimary);
+            }
+
             // Register the store-and-forward delivery handlers so buffered
             // ExternalSystem calls, cached DB writes and notifications are actually
             // delivered by the retry sweep. Without this, every buffered message is