diff --git a/webapp/app/main.py b/webapp/app/main.py
index f43d76e..42bbeb7 100644
--- a/webapp/app/main.py
+++ b/webapp/app/main.py
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ async def questions_partial(request: Request, sid: str):
     s = state.get(sid)
     if s is None:
         return _render("expired.html", request)
-    return _render("partials/question_list.html", request, s=s)
+    return _render("partials/question_list.html", request, s=s, status_oob=True)
 
 
 @app.post("/sessions/{sid}/answers", response_class=HTMLResponse)
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ async def section_partial(request: Request, sid: str, section_id: str):
     if s is None or sec is None:
         return HTMLResponse("<div class='card error'>Unknown section</div>")
     return _render("partials/section_card.html", request, s=s, sec=sec,
-                   examples=flow.REFINE_EXAMPLES)
+                   examples=flow.REFINE_EXAMPLES, oob=True)
 
 
 @app.post("/sessions/{sid}/sections/{section_id}/retry", response_class=HTMLResponse)
diff --git a/webapp/app/templates/partials/question_list.html b/webapp/app/templates/partials/question_list.html
index 1b5c5d4..4a6162a 100644
--- a/webapp/app/templates/partials/question_list.html
+++ b/webapp/app/templates/partials/question_list.html
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
+{% set status_oob = status_oob|default(oob|default(false)) %}
+{% set questions_oob = questions_oob|default(oob|default(false)) %}
 {% if s.error %}
-<div id="questions"{% if oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}>
+{% if status_oob %}<div id="status-bar" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"></div>{% endif %}
+<div id="questions"{% if questions_oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}>
   <p class="error">Generation failed: {{ s.error }}</p>
   <p><a href="/" role="button" class="secondary">Start over</a></p>
 </div>
 {% elif s.phase == 'clarify' and s.qas %}
+{% if status_oob %}<div id="status-bar" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"></div>{% endif %}
 {# Ready: plain div, no auto-refresh attrs — typed answers must survive #}
-<div id="questions"{% if oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}>
+<div id="questions"{% if questions_oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}>
   <form hx-post="/sessions/{{ s.id }}/answers" hx-target="#wizard" hx-swap="innerHTML">
     <p>Answer what you can — anything you skip falls back to the stated assumption.</p>
     {% for qa in s.qas %}
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@
 </div>
 {% else %}
 {# Waiting: keeps refreshing itself via SSE pokes + 10s polling fallback #}
-<div id="questions"{% if oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}
+<div id="questions"{% if questions_oob %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}
      hx-get="/sessions/{{ s.id }}/questions"
      hx-trigger="sse:questions_ready, sse:error, every 10s"
      hx-swap="outerHTML">
diff --git a/webapp/app/templates/partials/section_card.html b/webapp/app/templates/partials/section_card.html
index 75e44cb..19cf5cc 100644
--- a/webapp/app/templates/partials/section_card.html
+++ b/webapp/app/templates/partials/section_card.html
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+{% if oob and not (s.sections | selectattr("status", "in", ["pending", "generating"]) | list) %}
+<div id="status-bar" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"></div>
+<div id="step3-actions" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML">
+  {% include "partials/step3_actions.html" %}
+</div>
+{% endif %}
 {% if sec.status in ('pending', 'generating') %}
 {# Waiting: refreshes itself via SSE pokes + 10s polling fallback #}
 <div id="section-{{ sec.id }}"
diff --git a/webapp/tests/test_routes.py b/webapp/tests/test_routes.py
index 0c6abc5..ad84725 100644
--- a/webapp/tests/test_routes.py
+++ b/webapp/tests/test_routes.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 from app import main
 from app.wizard import state
-from app.wizard.state import QA
+from app.wizard.state import QA, Section
 
 
 class _FakeRequest:
@@ -45,3 +45,35 @@ def test_party_questions_tolerates_missing_fields():
     s.party_status = "running"
     asyncio.run(main.party_questions_start(_FakeRequest(), s.id))
     assert s.qas[0].answer == "kept"
+
+
+def test_questions_poll_clears_stale_status_bar():
+    """If the browser missed the final SSE clear, the polling fallback should
+    clear the initial cold-start status when questions are ready without marking
+    the polling target itself as an out-of-band swap."""
+    s = state.create()
+    s.phase = "clarify"
+    s.qas = [QA(question="Q1", assumption="A1")]
+
+    resp = asyncio.run(main.questions_partial(_FakeRequest(), s.id))
+    body = resp.body.decode()
+
+    assert 'id="status-bar" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"' in body
+    assert 'id="questions" hx-swap-oob="true"' not in body
+
+
+def test_last_section_poll_clears_stale_status_bar():
+    """When all sections are terminal, a section poll also clears any stale
+    model-loading message left behind by a missed SSE event and reveals the
+    action buttons even if the browser missed job_done."""
+    s = state.create()
+    sec = Section(id="overview", title="Overview", instruction="", content="Done", status="done")
+    s.sections = [sec]
+
+    resp = asyncio.run(main.section_partial(_FakeRequest(), s.id, sec.id))
+    body = resp.body.decode()
+
+    assert 'id="status-bar" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"' in body
+    assert 'id="step3-actions" hx-swap-oob="innerHTML"' in body
+    assert "Party review" in body
+    assert "Finish" in body