CAM Quality Assurance & Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During a surveillance review of a control account, the reviewer finds that reported percent complete is based on the CAM's subjective judgment rather than the documented quantifiable backup data. What quality issue does this represent?
- A deviation from the earned value technique defined in the work authorization documents (Correct answer)
- An acceptable practice as long as variances stay within thresholds
- A scheduling issue that only affects the critical path
- A funding issue requiring contracting officer approval
Correct answer: A deviation from the earned value technique defined in the work authorization documents
Earned value must be measured using the technique documented for the work package, not subjective judgment, or data integrity is compromised.
Question 2: A CAM discovers that actual costs are being recorded in a different control account than where the budget and earned value reside. What is the primary quality concern?
- A misalignment that distorts cost variances and violates EVMS guideline consistency (Correct answer)
- The overhead rates will automatically be wrong
- The schedule baseline must be rebaselined immediately
- The contract value must be renegotiated
Correct answer: A misalignment that distorts cost variances and violates EVMS guideline consistency
Budget, earned value, and actuals must align in the same control account or cost variances become meaningless.
Question 3: Which activity best supports continuous improvement of a contractor's Earned Value Management System after initial validation?
- Conducting periodic internal surveillance reviews and correcting root causes of findings (Correct answer)
- Freezing all EVMS procedures to preserve the validated state
- Limiting reviews to years when the customer requests them
- Delegating all data quality checks to the scheduling tool
Correct answer: Conducting periodic internal surveillance reviews and correcting root causes of findings
Ongoing internal surveillance with root-cause corrective action keeps the EVMS compliant and improving over time.
Question 4: During a data quality check, a CAM notices a work package showing earned value with zero actual costs for three consecutive months. What should the CAM do first?
- Investigate whether actuals are being charged to the wrong account or accruals are missing (Correct answer)
- Reduce the earned value to match the zero actuals
- Close the work package to eliminate the anomaly
- Transfer the budget to management reserve
Correct answer: Investigate whether actuals are being charged to the wrong account or accruals are missing
Earned value without actuals typically signals mischarging or missing accruals, which must be investigated before any data changes.
Question 5: A corrective action plan from an EVMS surveillance finding is considered fully closed when which condition is met?
- The corrective action is implemented and verified effective, addressing the root cause (Correct answer)
- The CAM signs a memo acknowledging the finding
- The next monthly report is submitted on time
- The finding is older than one fiscal year
Correct answer: The corrective action is implemented and verified effective, addressing the root cause
Closure requires verified implementation and effectiveness against the root cause, not just acknowledgment or passage of time.
Question 6: Which practice most directly protects the integrity of the performance measurement baseline during quality reviews?
- Ensuring all baseline changes are processed through formal, documented change control (Correct answer)
- Allowing CAMs to adjust budgets informally when variances grow
- Replanning completed work to eliminate unfavorable variances
- Moving budget from undistributed budget without logs
Correct answer: Ensuring all baseline changes are processed through formal, documented change control
Formal, traceable change control is the core safeguard that keeps the baseline valid and auditable.
Question 7: In preparing for an Integrated Baseline Review (IBR), a CAM's primary quality-focused objective is to demonstrate what?
- That the baseline realistically captures the full scope, schedule, budget, and identified risks of the control account (Correct answer)
- That the control account has no cost or schedule variances
- That management reserve has not been used
- That subcontractors have submitted all invoices
Correct answer: That the baseline realistically captures the full scope, schedule, budget, and identified risks of the control account
An IBR validates that the baseline is realistic, complete, and risk-informed, not that performance is variance-free.
CAM Quality Assurance & Improvement 2
During a surveillance review of a control account, the reviewer finds that reported percent complete is based on the CAM's subjective judgment rather than the documented quantifiable backup data.
What quality issue does this represent?