Change request assessment

Purpose

Convert a proposed project change into a decision paper that shows exactly what moves from the approved baseline, what the change costs, what dates or acceptance criteria are affected, and which option is supportable. Keep the requester's wording separate from calculated impact and recommendation.

Scope

Assess one change request using the project charter, requirements baseline, WBS, schedule, cost plan, resource plan, quality plan, risk register, dependency log, and prior approved changes. Cover requested change, rationale, affected deliverables, effort, budget, milestone dates, quality measures, risks, dependencies, and approval route.

Excluded: approving or rejecting the request, editing the master plan, negotiating with the requester, or inventing contingency, cost, duration, or acceptance criteria.

Data basis

• Change request form, issue or requirement reference, and requester rationale.
• Approved scope baseline, WBS, schedule, budget, resource allocation, quality criteria, risk register, and dependency log.
• Change-control policy, approval matrix, and prior change log.

Result

Create an impact sheet with one row per affected deliverable, work package, milestone, cost item, resource, risk, and dependency. Write a decision paper with options, quantified deltas, assumptions, recommendation, approval authority, and unresolved evidence.

Quality criteria

• Every affected baseline item cites its identifier and source location.
• Cost, effort, and date deltas show their source values and arithmetic.
• Scope impact distinguishes added, removed, modified, and unchanged requirements.
• Recommendation follows the change policy and does not imply approval.
• Dependencies and risks have an owner or are explicitly recorded as unassigned.

Instructions

Compare the request with the latest approved baseline, then reconcile it against already approved changes. Use the policy's thresholds for approval level, budget variance, milestone slippage, and quality impact; if a threshold is absent, label the assessment as unclassified. Never net unrelated cost lines to hide an increase. Treat a missing baseline as an evidence gap, not as zero. Preserve conflicting estimates side by side and cite the estimating document. State whether each conclusion is fact, calculation, assumption, or recommendation.

Adapt before use

• Add the project charter, baseline files, change policy, and approval matrix.
• Define cost, effort, schedule, quality, and risk fields used by the PMO.
• Set the comparison date when multiple approved baselines exist.
• Name the decision options and escalation roles accepted by the governance forum.