Quality Assurance & Improvement Flashcards

In a mock surveillance interview, a CAM cannot explain how their budget was derived or trace it to the work authorization document. Which EVMS quality principle is compromised?

Answer: Traceability of budgets from contract value through the WBS to control accounts

Budgets must trace cleanly from the contract budget base down to control accounts, and CAMs must be able to demonstrate that trace.

A program institutes a monthly data integrity checklist covering items like negative earned value, EV without budget, and actuals in closed accounts. What quality function does this serve?

Answer: Systematic anomaly detection that catches data errors before reports reach the customer

Routine anomaly checks catch data integrity errors early, before they propagate into customer deliverables.

Which scenario represents an appropriate use of a rolling wave planning approach without degrading baseline quality?

Answer: Near-term work detailed into work packages while far-term scope is held in planning packages with budget and schedule

Rolling wave planning keeps near-term work detailed and far-term scope in planning packages with assigned budget and schedule.

An internal audit reveals a CAM approved timecards charging their control account for work actually performed on a different project. Beyond correcting the charges, what quality action is most important?

Answer: Root-cause analysis and strengthened labor charging controls, since mischarging undermines all cost data validity

Labor mischarging corrupts the entire cost data foundation, so controls and root-cause fixes are essential.

What distinguishes a corrective action from a preventive action in EVMS quality management?

Answer: Corrective action fixes an identified nonconformance, while preventive action addresses potential issues before they occur

Corrective actions respond to existing findings while preventive actions proactively eliminate potential failure modes.

A CAM reviews the schedule and finds 30% of remaining activities have no successor logic. Which quality metric commonly used in schedule health assessments does this violate?

Answer: The missing logic check, which flags activities lacking predecessors or successors

Schedule health assessments flag activities missing predecessor or successor logic because they break network integrity.

During an EVMS review, the customer asks how subcontractor performance data quality is assured before integration into the prime's reports. Which answer reflects best practice?

Answer: The prime flows down EVM requirements, reviews subcontractor data for anomalies, and integrates it through documented procedures

Primes must flow down requirements and apply documented review and integration procedures to subcontractor data.