First Step When a New Regulatory Requirement Is Discovered During Project Execution
A project manager is implementing a project in a highly regulated industry. A new regulatory requirement is discovered that will affect the project's deliverables. The project is already in execution. What should the project manager do first?
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
✓
Assess the impact of the requirement on the project and submit a change request if needed.
Assess the impact of the requirement on the project and submit a change request if needed. In a regulated environment, once a new requirement is discovered during execution, the project manager must first evaluate how it affects scope, schedule, cost, and quality before altering the approved baseline. If the assessment shows a change is necessary, it should be processed through the integrated change control process via a formal change request. Option A is too drastic because stopping the project is not automatically required and could cause unnecessary disruption. Option B is premature because the plan should not be updated before impact analysis and change approval. Option C is inappropriate because deferring a regulatory requirement to a follow-up project may leave the current deliverables noncompliant.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Immediately update the project plan to incorporate the new requirement.
Why it's wrong here
Editing the plan before analysing the requirement skips impact assessment, risking baselines that omit cost, schedule and scope consequences. Direct plan updates suit minor approved changes; a regulatory shift needs analysis, then a change request through integrated change control.
- ✗
Continue the project as planned and address the requirement in a follow-up project.
Why it's wrong here
Deferring the requirement to a follow-up project leaves the current deliverables non-compliant, which is untenable in a regulated industry. The temptation is that scope changes are disruptive mid-execution, and a separate project can absorb them cleanly — valid only when the requirement genuinely falls outside this project's scope and timeline.
- ✓
Assess the impact of the requirement on the project and submit a change request if needed.
Why this is correct
Assessing the regulatory requirement's impact on scope, schedule, and cost precedes any change request, because the change control process needs that analysis. Submitting a request first, or simply implementing the requirement, bypasses integrated change control in this regulated context.
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1 more way this is tested on PMP
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Variation 1. You are the project manager for a government IT project. Midway through, a new regulation is enacted that requires additional data privacy controls. The team estimates this will add 4 weeks to the schedule and increase costs by 10%. What should you do FIRST?
hard- A.Instruct the team to start implementing the new controls immediately
- B.Ignore the regulation until the project is complete to avoid delays
- C.Recommend stopping the project until the regulation is clarified
- ✓ D.Submit a change request to the change control board to incorporate the required changes
Why D: When a new regulation requires additional data privacy controls, it constitutes a change to the project scope, schedule, and cost. According to PMBOK, any change to the project baseline must go through the Perform Integrated Change Control process. The first step is to submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) to evaluate the impact and decide whether to approve, reject, or defer the change. This ensures that the change is properly assessed and documented before implementation.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PMP practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI 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 PMP exam.