Abstract:In this paper we present a method based on UML sequence diagrams for integrating policy requirements with requirements to system design and functionality in the development process. The approach allows policy requirements to be taken into account throughout the system development instead of in a post hoc manner. The method supports the formalization of system specifications and policy specifications at various levels of abstraction, where the abstraction levels are related by refinement. The notion of policy adherence formally captures what it means that a system specification satisfies a policy specification. For analysis with respect to adherence at abstract levels to be meaningful, the results must be preserved under refinement. This paper gives a characterization of conditions under which adherence is preserved under refinement, and identifies development rules that guarantee adherence preservation. By results of transitivity and modularity, the development process, as well as analysis tasks, may be conducted in a stepwise manner addressing individual parts of the specifications separately.