Project

Project identity and identifier reconciliation

Which identifier authoritatively designates this project, which system issued it, which governed global identifiers also designate it, and how duplicate or superseding records are resolved.

1. Which system of record issues the authoritative identifier for this project, and what is that identifier? identity
2. Which governed global identifiers, such as a RAiD, a funder award number or a published activity identifier, also designate this project? interoperability
3. What rule decides identity when two records appear to describe the same undertaking under different identifiers? validation
4. Does the identifier survive renaming, re-scoping, transfer or merger, and what event forces a new identifier? lifecycle

Classification, type and delivery approach

How the project is typed against governed vocabularies: project type, delivery approach, sector or thematic codes, and the criterion separating it from operations or a process instance.

1. Which project type and domain classification apply, and under which controlled vocabulary and vocabulary version? classification
2. Is delivery predictive, incremental, iterative, adaptive or hybrid, and may that approach change during the life cycle? state
3. Which sector, thematic or funding-scheme codes are asserted for this project and who asserted each of them? provenance
4. What criterion establishes that this record is a transient endeavour rather than business-as-usual or a repeatable process instance? definition

Authorization instrument and mandate limits

What authorized the project to exist and spend, who signed it, what tolerances bound the project manager, and how authorization behaves on re-baseline, pause or transfer.

1. Which instrument authorized this project to start, and which role signed it? authority
2. What decision record evidences the authorization, when did it take effect, and where is that record held? evidence
3. What tolerances or delegated limits on cost, time, scope and risk constrain the project manager before escalation is required? constraint
4. What happens to the authorization when the project is re-baselined, suspended or transferred to another owner? lifecycle

Sponsor, owner and governing body

Who is accountable for the project, which body directs it, which decisions are reserved rather than delegated, and how a change of ownership is recorded.

1. Who is the accountable sponsor and which organization owns the project record? ownership
2. Which decisions are reserved to the governing body rather than delegated to the project manager? authority
3. How is independence of assurance and handling of conflicts of interest arranged in this governance structure? decision
4. How is a change of sponsor, owning organization or governing body recorded, and from what time is it effective? event

Investment justification and funding commitment

The justification that keeps the project authorized, who committed what funding under which award and conditions, and which benefits the project itself is accountable for.

1. What justification supports continued investment, and when was it last re-validated against actual performance? decision
2. Which funders committed what amounts under which award or agreement, and what conditions attach to each commitment? constraint
3. Which benefits is this project accountable for, and which are owned by a parent programme or by operations? relationship
4. What evidence must exist before the next funding tranche or stage authorization is released? evidence

Tailoring and compliance

ISO 21502 is guidance, not a certified management system, and is delivery-approach-neutral. PRINCE2 Version 7 requires the method to be tailored to the project's size, context and complexity. NASA requires a Compliance Matrix attached to the Formulation Agreement or Project Plan, allows tailoring with permission of the requirement owner, and records deviations and waivers. GovS 002 is mandated for UK departments and arm's length bodies but is designed to apply to all types of government projects. Alignment with a named method is evidence, not proof of conformance. Competing method stacks (PMI process groups, PRINCE2 processes, NASA phases A–F, ISO lifecycle practices) must be recorded as the adopted profile, not merged into a false universal process.

1. Which method profile is actually in force, and is any conformance claimed with evidence? classification
2. Who approved each tailoring or waiver, and what expiry or conditions apply? authority
3. Where is the live compliance matrix, and which requirements remain unmet? evidence
4. How does the adopted profile map to partner methods when more than one organization is directing work? interoperability

Objectives and success criteria

The outputs, outcomes or benefits the project is accountable for, the measurable criteria that decide whether each is met, who judges satisfaction, and how conflicting objectives are prioritized.

1. What objectives is this project accountable for, expressed as outputs, outcomes or benefits? requirement
2. What measurable criterion, indicator, baseline value and target decides whether each objective has been met? measurement
3. Who determines that a success criterion has been satisfied, and on what evidence? validation
4. How are objectives prioritized, and which one yields when two objectives cannot both be satisfied? constraint

Scope boundary, exclusions and scope confirmation

What is inside the authorized scope of work, what is explicitly excluded, which assumptions bound the statement, who may move the boundary, and how delivery of scope is confirmed.

1. What work is inside the authorized scope and what is explicitly excluded from it? definition
2. Which role must approve a movement of the scope boundary, and above what threshold does approval escalate? authority
3. How is delivery of the scope confirmed, and who accepts it on behalf of the sponsor? validation
4. Which assumptions and constraints does the stated scope depend on, and what happens if one proves false? constraint

Work breakdown structure and control accounts

How the authorized scope is decomposed into mutually exclusive elements, how those elements are coded and kept stable, at which level performance is controlled, and how the structure relates to other breakdown structures.

1. Does the decomposition cover the entire authorized scope of work without overlap between elements, and how was that verified? composition
2. What coding scheme identifies breakdown elements, and do element codes survive a re-baseline? identity
3. At which level of the breakdown is cost and schedule performance controlled and reported? measurement
4. How does this breakdown relate to other breakdown structures used by the organization, such as organizational, product, cost or risk breakdowns? interoperability

Contained components and external dependencies

Which tasks, milestones and deliverables the project contains, by what link type, which external dependencies condition delivery, and what happens to those links when the project is cancelled, merged or split.

1. Which tasks, milestones and deliverables belong to this project, and under which typed edge is each held? composition
2. Which dependencies on other projects, suppliers or external events condition this project's delivery? relationship
3. How are cross-model links expressed so a consumer can resolve them without access to the project's storage system? interoperability
4. What happens to contained components and their links when the project is cancelled, merged or split? lifecycle

Project organization and role assignment

Which roles exist, who holds each and for what period, what decision rights attach to each role, and what competencies or clearances gate role holding.

1. Which roles exist in the project organization and who currently holds each one? ownership
2. What responsibility, accountability and decision rights attach to each role? authority
3. Over what period is each role assignment valid, and what record evidences a handover? temporal
4. Which competencies, certifications or clearances must be held before a person may occupy a role? requirement

Resource allocation and commitment

Which resources are committed to the project in what quantity and period, who owns them, how contention is resolved, and what is recorded when an allocation changes mid-flight.

1. Which resources are committed to this project, in what quantity, and over which period? measurement
2. Who owns each committed resource and what instrument binds that commitment? ownership
3. How is over-allocation or contention with other projects detected, and who arbitrates it? exception
4. What is recorded when resources are added, moved or withdrawn while work is in progress? event

Budget, reserves and cost baseline

The approved time-phased budget with currency and price base, the distinction between baseline, commitment, forecast and actual cost, the reserves and who may release them, and the economic assumptions embedded in the numbers.

1. What is the approved budget, in which currency and price base, and how is it phased across periods? measurement
2. What distinguishes cost baseline from commitment, forecast and actual cost in this record? definition
3. Which contingency and management reserves exist, and which role may release each of them? authority
4. Which exchange-rate, inflation and escalation assumptions underlie the cost figures? constraint

Externally delivered scope and supplier commitments

Which scope elements are delivered by external parties, under which agreement references, on what acceptance and payment conditions, and how supplier performance is evidenced without importing contract internals.

1. Which breakdown elements are delivered by external suppliers, and under which agreement reference is each held? relationship
2. What acceptance and payment conditions govern each supplier commitment? requirement
3. Which supplier obligations create dependency or risk for the project schedule, and how are they monitored? constraint
4. How is supplier performance evidenced, and what route exists when performance is disputed? evidence

Lifecycle state and permitted transitions

The project's current state within a declared vocabulary, who may trigger which transitions on what evidence, how suspension and cancellation differ from completion, and how effective time is separated from recorded time.

1. Which lifecycle state is the project in, and which governed vocabulary and version defines the permitted state set? state
2. Which state transitions are permitted, who may trigger each, and what evidence must accompany it? lifecycle
3. How are suspension, cancellation and premature closure distinguished from normal completion in the record? exception
4. What is recorded as the time a state change took effect versus the time it was entered into the system? temporal

Phases and decision gates

The life cycle model in use, entry and exit criteria per phase, which gates require a governing-body decision, what outcomes a gate may produce, and how tailoring changes the gate set.

1. Which life cycle model and phases apply, and what are the entry and exit criteria for each phase? process
2. Which decision gates require a governing-body decision before further work or spend is permitted? authority
3. What outcomes may a gate decision take, and how is a conditional pass with actions recorded? decision
4. How does a tailored, adaptive or hybrid delivery approach change the applicable gate set? classification

Project dates and time semantics

Type-coded planned and actual start and end dates, which of them is authoritative, how precision, offset and working calendar are expressed, the ordering rules that constrain them, and how re-baselined dates stay distinguishable from original ones.

1. What are the planned and actual start and end dates, and which source is authoritative for each? temporal
2. How are date precision, time offset and the applicable working calendar or fiscal year expressed? interoperability
3. Which validation rules prevent an actual date being recorded in the future or out of order relative to its planned counterpart? validation
4. How are re-baselined dates kept distinguishable from the dates in the original approved baseline? provenance

Approved baseline set and versioning

Which scope, schedule and cost baselines are currently approved, what authority established each, how superseded baselines are retained for reproducibility, and what forces a re-baseline rather than an in-baseline change.

1. Which scope, schedule and cost baselines are currently approved, and what version identifies each? identity
2. Which approval established the current baseline and from what instant does it apply? authority
3. How are superseded baselines retained so that historic performance figures remain reproducible? provenance
4. Which conditions require a full re-baseline rather than a change applied within the existing baseline? constraint

Change control against baselines

How change requests are raised, impact-assessed and decided, which thresholds escalate them, how a decided change links to the baseline version it altered, and how rejected requests are retained.

1. How is a change request raised, assessed for scope, schedule, cost and risk impact, and decided? process
2. Which thresholds move a change decision beyond the project manager's delegated authority? authority
3. What links an approved change to the specific baseline version it altered? relationship
4. How long are rejected and withdrawn change requests retained, and who may see them? retention

Progress measurement and earned value

How physical progress is measured per control account, which indices and variances are computed against which baseline, the data date of the performance figures, the checks that keep them internally consistent, and what is used when earned value does not apply.

1. How is physical progress measured for each control account, using which technique, unit and frequency? measurement
2. What is the data date of the performance figures, and how often are they refreshed? temporal
3. Which checks confirm that reported earned value is consistent with actual cost, schedule status and the named baseline? validation
4. When is earned value not an appropriate measure for this project, and what alternative measure is used instead? constraint

Status reporting, forecast and disclosure

Who must receive which report at what cadence and detail, what forecast is asserted and on what basis, how report assertions trace to underlying performance data, and which external disclosure obligations apply.

1. Who must receive which report, at what cadence and at what level of detail? requirement
2. What forecast of final cost and completion date is asserted, and on what basis is it derived? measurement
3. How is each reported assertion traced back to the underlying performance data and its data date? provenance
4. Which external transparency or funder-reporting obligations apply to this project's status, and what must be published? access

Risk register and response ownership

Which threats and opportunities are registered, how likelihood and impact are assessed and scaled, who owns each risk and its authorized response, what the risk endangers, and when a risk becomes an issue.

1. Which risks are registered, and on what scale are likelihood and impact assessed? measurement
2. Who owns each risk and which response has been authorized for it? ownership
3. Which objectives, milestones or deliverables does each risk threaten? relationship
4. At what point does a registered risk become an issue, and what triggers escalation? exception
5. How often is the register reviewed, and how is a stale or unreviewed entry detected? quality

Issue management and escalation

Which problems are open and since when, who is accountable, what escalation path and time limits apply, how an issue differs from a risk, change request or defect, and what evidence closes it.

1. Which issues are currently open, since when, and who is accountable for resolving each? state
2. What escalation path and time limit apply to an issue that is not resolved at project level? process
3. How is an issue distinguished in this record from a risk, a change request and a product defect? definition
4. What evidence is required to close an issue, and who verifies it? evidence

Quality requirements and independent assurance

What quality requirements apply to project outputs and to the management of the project, which independent reviews are mandated and by whom, how non-conformity is handled, and how assurance evidence is retained for audit.

1. Which quality requirements apply to the project's outputs and, separately, to the way the project is managed? requirement
2. Which independent assurance or peer reviews are mandated, by which authority, and at what points? authority
3. What process handles a detected non-conformity, and how is corrective action tracked to closure? process
4. How is assurance evidence retained so that an auditor can reconstruct what was reviewed and concluded? evidence

Stakeholder register and engagement

Which parties are stakeholders and in what capacity, who owns each relationship, which attributes are personal data, how engagement is evidenced, and which locations or jurisdictions the project touches.

1. Which parties are stakeholders of this project, and in what capacity does each participate? relationship
2. Who owns the engagement relationship with each stakeholder group, and what commitments have been made to them? ownership
3. Which stakeholder attributes constitute personal data, and how is their processing minimized and limited? privacy
4. How is engagement planned, carried out and evidenced over the life of the project? process
5. Which locations, jurisdictions or affected communities does the project operate in or affect? spatial

Record provenance, attribution and integrity

Who asserted each part of the project record, from which system and when, how derived values trace to their sources, and how integrity of retained artifacts is demonstrated.

1. Which agent and system asserted each element of the project record, and on whose behalf did they act? provenance
2. For a derived or aggregated value, which source records was it generated from and by which activity? evidence
3. How is the integrity of a retained artifact demonstrated when it is later relied on as evidence? validation
4. Where event time and ingestion time differ, how does the record keep both and signal which was used in a calculation? temporal

Access classification and confidentiality

How parts of the project record are classified for access, which parts are commercially or personally sensitive, how access is granted, time-bounded and revoked, and what is logged.

1. What access classification applies to each bundle, layer, finding and artifact of this project record? access
2. Which content is commercially sensitive or personally identifying and therefore restricted even inside the owning organization? security
3. How is an access grant requested, time-bounded, reviewed and revoked? lifecycle
4. Which parts must nevertheless be published because of a transparency or funder obligation, and which may be withheld? exception

Closure, handover and lessons

What conditions permit closure, how the closure outcome is classified, what is handed over to operations or a parent programme, and how lessons are captured so they can be found by later projects.

1. What conditions must be satisfied before the project may be formally closed, and who confirms them? requirement
2. How is the closure outcome classified, distinguishing completion from cancellation, merger and abandonment? classification
3. What is handed over at closure, to whom, and who becomes accountable for continuing benefits and support? ownership
4. How are lessons captured, classified and made discoverable to later projects? quality

Retention, archiving and deletion

Which disposition authority governs the project record, how long each class of content is kept, how legal holds override disposition, and how deletion or redaction is executed and evidenced without destroying the audit trail.

1. Which disposition authority or retention schedule governs this project's records, and who issued it? retention
2. How long is each class of project content retained, and what event starts the retention clock? temporal
3. How does a legal hold or live audit obligation override the normal disposition of a project record? exception
4. How is deletion or redaction executed and evidenced so that the audit trail survives the removal? security

Closeout, disposal and evaluation

PRINCE2 includes closing a project as a process. NASA includes decommissioning review to evaluate readiness for closeout, final delivery of remaining deliverables and safe disposal of assets, and requires archival of mission and science data. GovS 002 version 2.1 added clauses covering the transition, use and disposal of a solution, and added evaluation context. ISO/TC 258 has published ISO 21513:2026 guidance on post-project and post-programme evaluation; that text was not retrieved here and is an emerging alignment, not an implemented finding. Close may be completed, cancelled, merged or abandoned; warranty or liability tails may outlive operational close. Disposal and benefits handover can belong partly to operations or a programme; the project still records residual obligations.

1. How was this project closed or why is it not yet closeable, including cancelled, merged or abandoned dispositions? state
2. What was handed over to operations or another owner, and what disposal or decommissioning actions remain? process
3. Which warranty, archive, classified-material or liability obligations survive close, and until when? constraint
4. Where is the post-project evaluation, which questions did it answer, and is ISO 21513 used only as alignment? evidence