diff --git a/docs/agent-template.md b/docs/agent-template.md
index 4711087..281dba4 100644
--- a/docs/agent-template.md
+++ b/docs/agent-template.md
@@ -127,7 +127,16 @@ Assignment rule, in priority order:
 3. **Volume × wall-clock** — agents dispatched per-task inside
    loops or fanned out in parallel swarms multiply their model's
    latency; they run `sonnet` unless rule 1 overrides (currently
-   only `quality-reviewer`, the loop's last correctness gate).
+   only `quality-reviewer`, the loop's last correctness review).
+   That override is itself **size-conditioned** (issue #30):
+   consequence-of-a-miss scales with diff size, so the
+   implement-loop dispatches the quality phase at `sonnet`/`high`
+   when the spec-reviewer independently measured the diff at ≤25
+   changed lines touching no contract-referenced path, and at
+   `opus`/`xhigh` otherwise (including whenever the measurement is
+   missing). The deterministic end-verify/mini-verify suite gate
+   is what makes the lower tier defensible; the agent-file
+   frontmatter keeps the opus default.
 
 Current distribution: `opus` — architect, bencher, debugger,
 fieldtester, grounding-check, plan-recon, quality-reviewer,
diff --git a/implement/SKILL.md b/implement/SKILL.md
index 1cd8674..41d93e1 100644
--- a/implement/SKILL.md
+++ b/implement/SKILL.md
@@ -169,6 +169,16 @@ ground truth, never a self-report** — a self-report must never be able to
 The E2E phase's `status` is also read now (not just its fixtures): a
 non-`DONE` E2E status or a zero-fixture run surfaces as a concern.
 
+**Quality-tier selection** (issue #30). The quality phase runs
+opus/xhigh by default, tiered to sonnet/high for a small diff: ≤25
+changed lines AND no contract-referenced path, both measured by the
+spec-reviewer (which reads `git diff HEAD` itself — never the
+implementer's self-report) via `diff_magnitude` / `touches_contract`.
+Unmeasured or contract-touching diffs stay opus. The independent
+end-verify suite gate is the deterministic backstop; the chosen tier
+is logged per task in the end-report (`qual_tier`) so the split stays
+auditable.
+
 **Cross-task discard guard** (issue #23). In a multi-task run nothing
 commits between tasks, so one task's file-level `git checkout`/`git
 restore` can silently destroy an earlier task's DONE work in a shared
diff --git a/implement/agents/quality-reviewer.md b/implement/agents/quality-reviewer.md
index 1836c99..9eaa826 100644
--- a/implement/agents/quality-reviewer.md
+++ b/implement/agents/quality-reviewer.md
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ has reported `compliant`, never before.
 only after the spec-compliance phase reports `compliant` —
 a separate `agent()` call with a fresh context.)
 
+The frontmatter pins opus/xhigh as this role's default tier;
+the workflow overrides it per dispatch (issue #30): a small
+(≤25 changed lines), non-contract diff — as measured
+independently by the spec-reviewer, never by the implementer —
+runs at sonnet/high, with the loop's independent end-verify
+suite gate as the deterministic correctness backstop. The
+review bar and this file's rules are identical at both tiers.
+
 ## What this role is for
 
 Spec compliance answers "did the implementer build the right
diff --git a/implement/workflows/implement-loop.js b/implement/workflows/implement-loop.js
index 9c43aac..9465cf8 100644
--- a/implement/workflows/implement-loop.js
+++ b/implement/workflows/implement-loop.js
@@ -81,8 +81,12 @@
 //   • Model policy: every agent() call pins an explicit model — never the
 //     session-model inherit (which could route to an unintended tier, e.g.
 //     fable — banned for all plugin agents and workflows). Mechanical and
-//     in-loop steps run sonnet; the quality gate is the one deliberate opus
-//     call (last correctness check before a task is marked DONE).
+//     in-loop steps run sonnet; the quality gate runs opus by default (last
+//     correctness review before the end-verify), TIERED to sonnet/high for a
+//     small (<= 25 changed lines), non-contract diff as measured
+//     independently by the spec-reviewer (issue #30) — the end-verify /
+//     mini-verify suite gate is the deterministic backstop that makes the
+//     tier defensible. Unmeasured or contract-touching diffs stay opus.
 //   • Effort policy mirrors the model policy: every agent() call pins an
 //     explicit effort — never the session inherit. Code-writing and review
 //     steps run high, the opus quality gate runs xhigh, and schema-bound
@@ -353,11 +357,26 @@ const IMPL_SCHEMA = {
 const SPEC_SCHEMA = {
   type: 'object',
   additionalProperties: false,
-  required: ['status'],
+  required: ['status', 'diff_magnitude', 'touches_contract'],
   properties: {
     status: { type: 'string', enum: ['compliant', 'non_compliant', 'unclear', 'infra_blocked'] },
     findings: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' }, description: 'missing requirements + unrequested extras' },
     ambiguity: { type: 'string' },
+    // Quality-tier inputs (issue #30): measured HERE because the spec-reviewer
+    // runs before the quality gate, reads the diff itself, and is independent
+    // of the implementer — never a producer self-report.
+    diff_magnitude: {
+      type: 'integer',
+      description:
+        'total changed lines of the FULL `git diff HEAD` (insertions + deletions, from `git diff HEAD --shortstat`) ' +
+        '— measure it yourself; never take it from the implementer',
+    },
+    touches_contract: {
+      type: 'boolean',
+      description:
+        'true if any diffed path is part of (or referenced by) the design ledger / contracts the project\'s ' +
+        'CLAUDE.md facts declare; false when the project declares none',
+    },
   },
 }
 const QUAL_SCHEMA = {
@@ -768,6 +787,7 @@ async function runTask(task) {
   let wroteAnyFile = impl.applied_changes === true
 
   // 2.2 — spec-compliance check (gated before quality), with repair re-loop
+  let specMeta = null
   for (let round = 0; ; round++) {
     const spec = await agent(
       `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nSpec-compliance review of task ${task.id}. Compare \`git diff HEAD\` against the task ` +
@@ -776,10 +796,17 @@ async function runTask(task) {
         'you have verified yourself (the actual behaviour provably differs from what the task text asserts), or ' +
         'two task requirements contradict each other, report status `unclear` with the contradiction in ' +
         '`ambiguity` — never `non_compliant` for a reality-forced deviation, which no repair can resolve. ' +
+        'Additionally measure and report, independent of any implementer report: `diff_magnitude` (total changed ' +
+        'lines from `git diff HEAD --shortstat`, insertions + deletions) and `touches_contract` (does any diffed ' +
+        "path belong to or get referenced by the design ledger / contracts the project's CLAUDE.md facts declare; " +
+        'false when the project declares none). ' +
         `Focus on the files this task claims to touch.\n\nTASK ${task.id} — ${task.title}\n${task.text}`,
       { agentType: 'spec-reviewer', model: 'sonnet', effort: 'high', label: `spec:${task.id}`, phase: 'Per-task loop', schema: SPEC_SCHEMA },
     )
-    if (spec && spec.status === 'compliant') break
+    if (spec && spec.status === 'compliant') {
+      specMeta = spec
+      break
+    }
     if (spec && spec.status === 'unclear') return { id: task.id, title: task.title, outcome: 'BLOCKED', reason: 'spec-ambiguous', detail: spec.ambiguity }
     if (round >= 2) return { id: task.id, title: task.title, outcome: 'BLOCKED', reason: 'review-loop-exhausted (spec-compliance)' }
     // repair: re-dispatch the implementer with the review findings as the repair brief
@@ -801,6 +828,28 @@ async function runTask(task) {
   // whose fingerprint was already reviewed-and-flagged this task means the
   // intervening repair changed nothing or cycled back, so re-running quality
   // is futile).
+  // Quality-tier selection (issue #30): the review model scales with the
+  // independently-measured diff. The spec-reviewer — a separate agent that
+  // read `git diff HEAD` itself — supplied diff_magnitude and
+  // touches_contract; a small, non-contract diff gets sonnet/high, because
+  // consequence-of-a-miss (the opus pin's rationale, agent-template § model)
+  // scales with diff size and the independent end-verify / mini-verify suite
+  // gate is the deterministic correctness backstop. Anything larger,
+  // contract-touching, or unmeasured (missing/implausible fields) keeps
+  // opus/xhigh — fail conservative. Measured once, before round 0; a repair
+  // can grow the diff, but bounded (it addresses findings on a small diff),
+  // so the tier is not re-derived per round.
+  const QUAL_TIER_MAX_LINES = 25
+  const smallDiff =
+    specMeta !== null &&
+    Number.isInteger(specMeta.diff_magnitude) &&
+    specMeta.diff_magnitude >= 0 &&
+    specMeta.diff_magnitude <= QUAL_TIER_MAX_LINES &&
+    specMeta.touches_contract === false
+  const qualModel = smallDiff ? 'sonnet' : 'opus'
+  const qualEffort = smallDiff ? 'high' : 'xhigh'
+  const qualTier = `${qualModel}/${qualEffort}`
+
   let heldConcerns = []
   const seenFingerprints = new Set()
   for (let round = 0; ; round++) {
@@ -811,9 +860,10 @@ async function runTask(task) {
         'Also report `diff_fingerprint` (REQUIRED): the sha256 hex of the FULL `git diff HEAD` ' +
         '(`git diff HEAD | sha256sum` — the whole working-tree diff, NOT narrowed to this task\'s footprint). ' +
         'The loop compares it across rounds to detect a no-op/cyclic repair.',
-      // opus by design: the loop's last correctness gate (spec-reviewer only checks
-      // task-text correspondence) — real-bug finding is the documented opus strength.
-      { agentType: 'quality-reviewer', model: 'opus', effort: 'xhigh', label: `qual:${task.id}`, phase: 'Per-task loop', schema: QUAL_SCHEMA },
+      // The loop's last correctness gate before the end-verify (spec-reviewer only
+      // checks task-text correspondence) — opus by default (real-bug finding is the
+      // documented opus strength), tiered per the selection above.
+      { agentType: 'quality-reviewer', model: qualModel, effort: qualEffort, label: `qual:${task.id}`, phase: 'Per-task loop', schema: QUAL_SCHEMA },
     )
     if (qual && qual.status === 'approved') break
     // No-op / cyclic-repair backstop: a changes_requested verdict over a diff-state already reviewed-and-flagged
@@ -835,6 +885,7 @@ async function runTask(task) {
           outcome: 'BLOCKED',
           reason: 'unresolved important quality finding — the repair left the diff unchanged',
           detail: importants.map((i) => i.text).join('; '),
+          qual_tier: qualTier,
         }
       }
       heldConcerns = (qual.issues && qual.issues.length ? qual.issues.map((i) => `${i.severity}: ${i.text}`) : ['(finding not reported)']).map(
@@ -863,7 +914,7 @@ async function runTask(task) {
       )
       break
     }
-    if (round >= 2) return { id: task.id, title: task.title, outcome: 'BLOCKED', reason: 'review-loop-exhausted (quality)' }
+    if (round >= 2) return { id: task.id, title: task.title, outcome: 'BLOCKED', reason: 'review-loop-exhausted (quality)', qual_tier: qualTier }
     if (qual && qual.diff_fingerprint) seenFingerprints.add(qual.diff_fingerprint)
     const fix = await agent(
       `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nThe quality review of task ${task.id} requested changes. Address EACH Important/Minor issue; ` +
@@ -892,6 +943,7 @@ async function runTask(task) {
         title: task.title,
         outcome: 'BLOCKED',
         reason: `quality/plan conflict: ${fix.reason || 'honouring a quality finding would break the ratified plan'}`,
+        qual_tier: qualTier,
       }
     }
     if (fix && fix.held && fix.held.length) {
@@ -923,6 +975,7 @@ async function runTask(task) {
     title: task.title,
     outcome: 'DONE',
     concerns: [...concerns, ...heldConcerns, ...noopConcern],
+    qual_tier: qualTier,
   }
 }
 
@@ -1131,7 +1184,11 @@ const aggregate = {
   outcome,
   tasks_total: tasks.length,
   tasks_completed: completed.length,
-  task_summaries: results.map((r) => ({ id: r.id, title: r.title, outcome: r.outcome })),
+  // qual_tier (issue #30): which review tier each task's quality gate ran at
+  // (sonnet/high for a small non-contract diff, opus/xhigh otherwise; null
+  // when the task never reached the quality gate) — logged so the tiering
+  // split stays auditable per iteration.
+  task_summaries: results.map((r) => ({ id: r.id, title: r.title, outcome: r.outcome, qual_tier: r.qual_tier || null })),
   concerns: [...results.flatMap((r) => r.concerns || []), ...e2eConcerns, ...guardConcerns],
   // synthBlock (a discard or iteration-level no-op verdict) outranks the
   // per-task block: when the discard guard broke the loop on a task that