easyMultiple Choice
PK0-005 A project team is creating a WBS Practice Question
A project team is creating a WBS. They ensure that every deliverable and work package is included and that the sum of the work at the lower levels equals the total work at the higher levels. Which principle are they applying?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing the 100% rule with decomposition or rolling wave planning. Candidates might think that any technique used in WBS creation is the answer, but the specific principle that ensures completeness and summation is the 100% rule. Also, some might choose scope verification because it sounds like ensuring all work is done, but it is a monitoring and controlling process, not a planning principle.
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
✓
100% rule
The 100% rule in Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) creation states that the WBS must include 100% of the work defined by the project scope and capture all deliverables—internal, external, and interim—in terms of work to be completed. It also ensures that the sum of the work at the lower levels equals the total work at the higher levels, preventing scope creep and ensuring completeness. This is exactly what the team is applying.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Rolling wave planning
Why it's wrong here
Rolling wave planning defers detailed planning of later work packages until nearer execution, which contradicts the stem's insistence that every deliverable is already included. It is tempting in iterative projects, but the described completeness and summation property is the 100% rule, not progressive elaboration.
- ✓
100% rule
Why this is correct
The 100% rule requires that a WBS capture all project scope: every deliverable and work package appears, and child-level effort sums exactly to the parent's total. This prevents omitted or duplicated work, satisfying the stem's requirement that lower-level totals equal higher-level totals.
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Decomposition
Why it's wrong here
Decomposition is the technique of breaking deliverables into work packages, but the stem describes the 100% rule — every deliverable included and child sums equalling the parent. Decomposition is tempting because it produces the WBS hierarchy, yet it does not itself guarantee completeness or summation equivalence.
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Scope verification
Why it's wrong here
Scope verification concerns formal acceptance of completed deliverables with the customer, not WBS construction completeness. It is tempting because both involve scope, but the 100% rule — all work included and lower levels summing to higher levels — is a WBS structuring principle, not a verification activity performed after delivery.
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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
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