40d:Mandate

A mandate is a noble's request that your dwarves produce a certain item or type of item. Starting nobles such as the expedition leader will not make mandates, upgraded nobles like the mayor will.

There are two types of mandates, production mandates and export bans. Export bans forbid the export of some goods, and can be for either goods of a certain type, like chain mail, or goods of a certain material, like copper items. Note that requests for a specific metal like pig iron can literally be fufilled by smelting pig iron.

Violating an export ban by trading any of the item away is a crime for each of the haulers who brought a prohibited item (that was sold) to the trade depot. While selecting goods to be brought to the depot, you can select "culling on mandates" so that the item list won't include objects you can't export due to a mandate.

When a noble makes a production mandate, you will have about a year to fulfill it. These mandates for the production of goods, and can specify type or material, just like export bans. Note that a single mug is counted as 1 item although 3 are produced from one raw material, so if you are short of the mandated material producing mugs is favorable. Purchasing the required items at a trade caravan will not fulfill a mandate. Making metal items includes smelting ore to create metal bars of that type.

Mandates are announced at the bottom of the screen, but if you miss the message, you can see if a noble is mandating anything on the noble's screen. If the uppercase bracketed word '[MANDATE]' next to a noble's name is grey, he is making no mandates. If brown, he is making a production mandate, and you have a lot of time to complete it. If yellow, you have a couple seasons before the mandate expires. If red, the mandate will expire very soon. If white, then the mandate has been fulfilled, or it is an export ban.

If a production mandate expires without being fulfilled, the noble will get an unhappy thought, and one or more dwarves might be sentenced with the 'violation of production order' crime. The dwarves sentenced will always have the skills appropriate to the mandate; a failed mandate for the production of quivers will sentence leatherworkers. If the noble can't find any dwarfs suitable, or cannot punish any dwarves because of noble or legendary status, he will get another unhappy thought.

Fulfilling the mandate gives the noble a happy thought.

Happy nobles make fewer mandates and demands than unhappy ones.

Mandates should not be confused with demands.