Simply put, responders and planners define response capability in terms of “what it is”, “how much” and “by when”. The types of capability define the “what”, for example the ability to apply dispersant to a surface slick at sea or the ability to mount an aerial surveillance operation to track and monitor the oil (and the response effort) makes up the Toolbox that responders have at their disposal to mitigate impacts of an oil spill. The IPIECA Good Practice Guide on Tiered Preparedness and Response (TPR) recognises 15 such response capabilities that could be required for any given spill scenario and is a direct output from the Joint Industry Project on Oil Spill Response following the Macondo incident in 2010. The “how-much” introduces a quantification of the capability and it is important to recognise that capability is not just a physical measure of the hardware itself (i.e. “six skimmers”) but should include assumptions about the trained manpower to deploy, and the logistical support needed to fully enable the resource to be effective. “By-when” implies a time element that is critical in cascading remote resource effectively. It follows that some capability is required to be immediately available to enable a local response to be initiated quickly and effectively whilst other capabilities, usually only required for larger or more complex spills, can be introduced on a longer lead-time. To help visualise the dynamics of “what”, “how-much and “by-when”, the IPIECA Guide provides a simple model to illustrate the provision of response capability for any given oil spill risk in the form of a wheel with 15 segments representing each element of capability. Each segment is further divided to illustrate the three tiers of cascading capability (Tier 1, near the centre representing capability immediately available, Tier 2 showing intermediate capability, and Tier 3 around the periphery to indicate additional, possibly internationally-sourced capability that necessitates a longer lead time required for the largest or most complex spills.) Planners typically use the tool when matching resources to the identified risk, as it can usefully highlight any gaps that may exist in the provision of capability. This paper draws upon the experience of Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) in applying and using the Guide and the TPR wheel, both in planning and in response. Case history evidence will be used to illustrate the benefits and limitations of this industry-adopted planning and response approach.