Project Baseline & Change Management Flashcards

On a large EPC project, the owner directs the contractor to accelerate the completion date by three months. What is the FIRST step the contractor's planning engineer should take?

Answer: Evaluate the cost and resource impact of acceleration and submit a change request

Before committing to a new date, the planning engineer must assess the cost, resource, and risk impacts of acceleration and formally submit a change request to capture entitlement.

Which metric BEST indicates that a project's change management process is performing effectively?

Answer: Changes are processed and incorporated into the baseline in a timely, controlled manner

An effective change management process is characterized by timely, controlled processing and incorporation of changes, not necessarily by minimizing the number of changes.

What is the relationship between 'management reserve' and the 'performance measurement baseline' (PMB)?

Answer: Management reserve is held outside the PMB and requires formal authorization to transfer into it

Management reserve sits outside the PMB and can only be incorporated into the PMB through a formal baseline change when authorized scope is identified.

A contractor receives a verbal instruction from the owner's representative to perform additional work. Under standard project controls practice, the contractor should:

Answer: Issue a Request for Change or Potential Change Notice and await formal authorization before proceeding

Best practice is to issue a formal notice (RFI, PCN, or similar) documenting the instruction and await written authorization, thereby protecting entitlement while maintaining the relationship.

In project schedule management, what is the purpose of a 'schedule baseline'?

Answer: To serve as the approved, original project schedule against which progress is measured

The schedule baseline is the approved original schedule that serves as the reference point for measuring schedule variance and assessing delays or acceleration.

What is 'baseline creep' in project controls, and why is it problematic?

Answer: Frequent, incremental revisions to the baseline that obscure true project performance

Baseline creep occurs when the baseline is repeatedly revised to absorb variances, destroying its value as a performance benchmark and masking real cost and schedule problems.

Which of the following actions is REQUIRED to maintain the integrity of an Earned Value Management baseline after an approved scope change?

Answer: The time-phased budget for the approved change must be formally incorporated into the PMB

Approved scope changes must be time-phased and formally incorporated into the PMB to maintain EVM integrity and ensure future performance measurement is accurate.