PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
During a project, a new regulation is introduced that affects your project's compliance requirements. The team will need to complete additional documentation and training. What is the FIRST thing you should do?
⚠ Common exam trap
PMP often tests whether candidates jump to action (start work, ask for money) instead of following the assess-then-change-request sequence that integrated change control demands.
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 regulation on the project and submit a change request
When a new regulation changes compliance requirements, the project manager must first perform an integrated change control assessment — evaluating how the regulation affects scope, schedule, cost, risk, and quality — and then submit a formal change request through the change control board. This preserves the baseline and ensures the impact is understood before committing resources.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Instruct the team to begin working on the new requirements immediately to ensure compliance
Why it's wrong here
Instructing the team to immediately implement new requirements bypasses the critical Integrated Change Control process. This action can lead to uncontrolled scope creep, misallocation of resources, and unmanaged risks, as the full impact on project baselines (scope, schedule, cost) has not been formally assessed or approved. All significant changes, even those driven by external compliance, must follow the project's established change management plan to maintain project integrity.
- ✓
Assess the impact of the regulation on the project and submit a change request
Why this is correct
This is the correct PMP approach, adhering to the Integrated Change Control process. The project manager must first thoroughly assess the new regulation's comprehensive impact on all project aspects, including scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, and risks. Following this detailed assessment, a formal change request is submitted to the Change Control Board (CCB) for review and approval, ensuring all stakeholders are informed and project baselines are updated systematically and in a controlled manner.
- ✗
Inform the sponsor and ask for a budget increase
Why it's wrong here
While informing the sponsor and considering budget implications are important steps, directly asking for a budget increase without a formal change request is premature and incomplete. The PMP process requires a comprehensive impact assessment of the regulation and a formal change request to be submitted for review and approval by the Change Control Board (CCB) before any specific resource adjustments, like a budget increase, can be authorized and implemented. This ensures all project baselines are updated in a controlled manner.
- ✗
Update the risk register and continue with the current plan
Why it's wrong here
Simply updating the risk register is insufficient because a new regulation is not merely a potential future event but a definite external constraint requiring immediate action and potentially significant project adjustments. While the regulation's impact might initially be logged as a risk, its certainty and mandatory nature necessitate a proactive response through the change control process to assess its full impact and formally modify project plans and baselines. Continuing with the current plan without addressing the regulation directly would lead to non-compliance.
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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 PMI exam blueprint
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.