PK0-005 Project Management Concepts Practice Question
A project manager is chartered to deliver a new payroll system in eight months with a fixed budget of $600,000. In month three, the vendor informs the PM that a mandatory regulatory change will add 15% to the cost and two months to the schedule, but the scope is non-negotiable by law. The sponsor asks the PM to present the revised baseline for approval. Which action should the PM take FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a fixed budget or fixed-price contract automatically prevents a baseline change when an external mandate alters cost or schedule.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Submit a formal change request to the change control board documenting the cost and schedule impact.
The regulatory mandate changes cost and schedule while scope is fixed by law, so the PM must use integrated change control. A formal change request documents the impact and routes the decision to the authorized approver, allowing a revised baseline to be issued. Suppressing testing, shifting cost to the vendor, or passively logging the variance all bypass the governance that keeps the baseline valid.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Submit a formal change request to the change control board documenting the cost and schedule impact.
Why this is correct
Because the scope cannot be reduced and the regulatory mandate is external, the only viable path is to formally process the modification through integrated change control. The change request captures the cost increase and schedule extension, allows impact analysis, and gives the CCB or sponsor the authority to approve a new baseline. Without this, the PM would be managing against an obsolete plan.
- ✗
Reduce quality assurance testing to recover the two months without changing the budget.
Why it's wrong here
Compressing testing to protect a baseline does not address the cost overrun and introduces unacceptable regulatory risk for a payroll system. Quality is a constraint that cannot be silently traded away here, and the regulatory change must still be implemented. This action would also bypass integrated change control, so the baseline would remain inaccurate and the PM would be accepting unapproved risk.
- ✗
Continue executing to the original baseline and log the variance in the issue log for later review.
Why it's wrong here
Logging the variance without acting leaves the project plan knowingly incorrect and defers a decision that affects budget, schedule, and compliance. The issue log tracks problems, but a change of this magnitude requires formal review and authorization. Continuing to report against a baseline the PM knows is invalid undermines earned value analysis and sponsor confidence.
- ✗
Ask the vendor to absorb the additional cost under the existing fixed-price agreement.
Why it's wrong here
Directing the vendor to absorb costs assumes the contract transfers regulatory-change risk to the seller, which is rarely true for externally mandated scope. Even if the contract allowed it, the schedule impact remains unaddressed, and the PM still needs an approved baseline update. This is a negotiation tactic, not the first step in managing the change.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PK0-005 question is part of Courseiva's 954-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This PK0-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PK0-005 exam.