diff --git a/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md b/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
index 87f6cab6..4e14996f 100644
--- a/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
+++ b/docs/requirements/Component-StoreAndForward.md
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ flowchart TD
 
 For notifications, "delivery" means forwarding the message to the central cluster via Central–Site Communication; "success" is central's ack, on which the message is cleared. Notifications are retried at the fixed forward interval until central acks, but — like every other category — they are bounded by the engine's `DefaultMaxRetries` cap: a sustained central outage that exceeds `DefaultMaxRetries × forward-interval` will park the buffered notification, after which an operator can Retry/Discard it via the parked-message UI. Operationally, the cap is sized so the normal central-recovery window stays well inside it; "do not park" is the design's operational intent on the happy path, not an absolute invariant. Callers that genuinely require unbounded retry pass `maxRetries: 0` on `EnqueueAsync` (the documented "no limit" escape hatch — see `StoreAndForward-015`).
 
+There are now exactly two ways a notification parks. First, a **corrupt buffered payload** (a row whose stored JSON no longer deserialises to a `NotificationSubmit`, or deserialises to null): the forwarder returns the delivery-handler contract's permanent-failure signal (`false`) so the engine parks the row, preserving the payload for operator forensics. This **supersedes `StoreAndForward-018`**, which discarded such rows by reporting them as delivered — a silent data loss with no parked row, no central `Notifications` row, and no audit trail. Retrying a corrupt payload is pointless (it can never deserialise), so parking, not retrying, is the correct home for it. Second, retry exhaustion under the `DefaultMaxRetries` cap as described above — and once a `Notify.Send` caller passes `maxRetries: 0` (its unbounded-retry contract), that second cause is off, leaving corrupt payload as the only parking cause for those notifications.
+
 For the cached-call categories (`ExternalCall` and `DatabaseWrite`), the operation tracking table is the status record and the S&F buffer is purely the retry mechanism. A cached call that succeeds on its first immediate attempt is written directly as a terminal `Delivered` tracking row and never enters the S&F buffer. When immediate delivery fails transiently, the message is buffered and its tracking row moves to `Pending`/`Retrying`; the buffered message carries its `TrackedOperationId` so the tracking row and the retry record stay linked. When immediate delivery fails **permanently** (e.g. HTTP 4xx), the message is not buffered — the error is returned synchronously to the calling script as before — but the tracking row is written directly as a terminal `Failed` row capturing the error. On every tracking-table status transition the site emits `CachedCallTelemetry` to central.
 
 Every cached-call outcome maps to a tracking-table state: immediate success → `Delivered`; transient failure → `Pending`/`Retrying`, eventually `Delivered` or `Parked`; permanent failure → terminal `Failed`; operator discard of a parked row → terminal `Discarded`.
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/NotificationForwarder.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/NotificationForwarder.cs
index 71305c18..2b8500e9 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/NotificationForwarder.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward/NotificationForwarder.cs
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ namespace ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward;
 ///   <item><description>ack not <c>Accepted</c>, or the Ask times out / fails →
 ///   <see cref="DeliverAsync"/> throws; the S&amp;F engine treats any thrown
 ///   exception as transient and retries the forward at the fixed interval.</description></item>
+///   <item><description>the buffered payload is corrupt (undeserialisable / null) →
+///   <see cref="DeliverAsync"/> returns <c>false</c> (the handler contract's
+///   permanent-failure signal); the engine parks the row so the payload is preserved
+///   for operator forensics. Supersedes StoreAndForward-018's silent discard.</description></item>
 /// </list>
 ///
 /// The forward travels over the ClusterClient command/control transport: the handler
@@ -51,8 +55,8 @@ public sealed class NotificationForwarder
     /// </param>
     /// <param name="logger">
     /// Optional logger. A corrupt buffered payload is logged at
-    /// Warning before being discarded so an operator has a forensic trail of the row
-    /// that vanished from the buffer.
+    /// Warning before the row is parked so an operator has a forensic trail pointing at
+    /// the preserved parked row.
     /// </param>
     public NotificationForwarder(
         IActorRef siteCommunicationActor,
@@ -69,21 +73,26 @@ public sealed class NotificationForwarder
     /// <summary>
     /// Store-and-Forward delivery handler entry point — matches the
     /// <c>Func&lt;StoreAndForwardMessage, Task&lt;bool&gt;&gt;</c> handler contract.
-    /// Returns <c>true</c> when central accepts the notification; throws on a
-    /// non-accepted ack or an Ask timeout/failure so the engine retries.
+    /// Returns <c>true</c> when central accepts the notification; returns <c>false</c>
+    /// when the buffered payload is corrupt (permanent failure → engine parks the row);
+    /// throws on a non-accepted ack or an Ask timeout/failure so the engine retries.
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="message">The buffered store-and-forward message to deliver to central.</param>
-    /// <returns>A task that resolves to <c>true</c> when central accepts (or the payload is corrupt and discarded); throws on a transient forward failure so the engine retries.</returns>
+    /// <returns>A task that resolves to <c>true</c> when central accepts; <c>false</c> when the payload is corrupt (the engine parks the row for forensics); throws on a transient forward failure so the engine retries.</returns>
     public async Task<bool> DeliverAsync(StoreAndForwardMessage message)
     {
         if (!TryBuildSubmit(message, out var submit))
         {
             _logger.LogWarning(
-                "Discarding corrupt buffered notification {NotificationId} (payload is not deserialisable as NotificationSubmit). " +
-                "Payload preview: {PayloadPreview}",
+                "Parking corrupt buffered notification {NotificationId} (payload is not deserialisable as NotificationSubmit); " +
+                "the row is preserved for operator forensics. Payload preview: {PayloadPreview}",
                 message.Id,
                 PreviewPayload(message.PayloadJson));
-            return true;
+            // false = permanent failure by the delivery-handler contract → the
+            // engine parks the row (payload preserved, operator can inspect or
+            // discard). Supersedes StoreAndForward-018's silent discard, which
+            // reported the notification as delivered while losing it entirely.
+            return false;
         }
 
         // The reply may legitimately be a non-accepted ack, so it is not requested as
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/NotificationForwarderTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/NotificationForwarderTests.cs
index 4c13806e..b6180556 100644
--- a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/NotificationForwarderTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.StoreAndForward.Tests/NotificationForwarderTests.cs
@@ -199,16 +199,13 @@ public class NotificationForwarderTests : TestKit
     }
 
     [Fact]
-    public async Task Deliver_CorruptJsonPayload_ReturnsTrue_AndDoesNotForwardAnything()
+    public async Task Deliver_CorruptJsonPayload_ReturnsFalse_ParksForForensics_AndDoesNotForward()
     {
-        // Regression test for StoreAndForward-018. The design doc forbids parking
-        // notifications ("notifications do not park — they are retried at the fixed
-        // forward interval until central acks"; Component-StoreAndForward.md). The
-        // previous implementation returned false on a corrupt payload, which the S&F
-        // engine interprets as a permanent failure and parks the row — contradicting
-        // the invariant. The fix: discard a corrupt buffered notification by
-        // returning true (engine clears the buffer via its normal success path),
-        // with a Warning log line carrying the row id and a payload preview.
+        // Supersedes StoreAndForward-018 (discard-on-corrupt). Returning false is the
+        // handler contract's permanent-failure signal: the engine parks the row, which
+        // preserves the payload for operator forensics. Retrying a corrupt payload is
+        // pointless; deleting it silently (and reporting Delivered) loses data with no
+        // parked row, no central Notifications row, and no audit trail.
         var centralProbe = CreateTestProbe();
         var forwarder = new NotificationForwarder(
             centralProbe.Ref, "site-7", ForwardTimeout);
@@ -222,7 +219,7 @@ public class NotificationForwarderTests : TestKit
             OriginInstanceName = "Plant.Pump3",
         };
 
-        Assert.True(await forwarder.DeliverAsync(corrupt));
+        Assert.False(await forwarder.DeliverAsync(corrupt));
 
         // The corrupt-payload path must NOT round-trip to central — no
         // NotificationSubmit / no Ask. ExpectNoMsg confirms nothing was forwarded.
@@ -230,11 +227,11 @@ public class NotificationForwarderTests : TestKit
     }
 
     [Fact]
-    public async Task Deliver_NullDeserializedPayload_ReturnsTrue_AndDoesNotForwardAnything()
+    public async Task Deliver_NullDeserializedPayload_ReturnsFalse_ParksForForensics_AndDoesNotForward()
     {
         // The companion case to corrupt JSON: the payload is valid JSON but
-        // deserialises to null (e.g. "null"). Same treatment per StoreAndForward-018
-        // — discard rather than park.
+        // deserialises to null (e.g. "null"). Same treatment — park (return false)
+        // rather than silently discard-as-delivered. Supersedes StoreAndForward-018.
         var centralProbe = CreateTestProbe();
         var forwarder = new NotificationForwarder(
             centralProbe.Ref, "site-7", ForwardTimeout);
@@ -248,7 +245,7 @@ public class NotificationForwarderTests : TestKit
             OriginInstanceName = "Plant.Pump3",
         };
 
-        Assert.True(await forwarder.DeliverAsync(nullPayload));
+        Assert.False(await forwarder.DeliverAsync(nullPayload));
         centralProbe.ExpectNoMsg(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(200));
     }
 }