PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
Which THREE of the following are common causes of project change requests?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse operational issues like team member vacation or budget surplus with legitimate triggers for formal change requests, but the PMP exam emphasizes that change requests must stem from external or internal factors that alter the project baseline, not routine resource or financial adjustments.
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
✓
Regulatory changes
Regulatory changes are a common cause of project change requests because new laws or compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS) can mandate modifications to project scope, deliverables, or processes. These external mandates often require immediate adjustments to avoid legal penalties, making them a frequent trigger for formal change requests in technology projects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Regulatory changes
Why this is correct
Regulatory changes often introduce new compliance requirements or alter existing legal frameworks that directly impact project deliverables or processes. These external, often unpredictable, mandates necessitate modifications to project scope, design, or even the entire approach to ensure the final product or service adheres to the updated legal landscape, thereby directly causing project change requests.
- ✗
Team member vacation
Why it's wrong here
Team member vacations are generally anticipated and incorporated into the project schedule during the planning phase, often through resource leveling or contingency planning. While a vacation might temporarily impact resource availability, it is a planned absence and does not inherently introduce new requirements or alter project objectives that would necessitate a formal change request to the project baseline.
- ✗
Budget surplus
Why it's wrong here
A budget surplus indicates that the project has spent less than allocated or has additional funds available. While this financial flexibility might enable the approval of previously proposed changes that were deemed too costly, the surplus itself does not *cause* the need for a change. The underlying cause of any potential change would stem from other factors, such as new requirements or scope adjustments, which the surplus merely facilitates.
- ✓
Scope creep
Why this is correct
Scope creep refers to the uncontrolled expansion of a project's scope without corresponding adjustments to time, cost, or resources, often through informal additions or minor, unapproved modifications. While ideally prevented through strict change control, when it occurs and is eventually recognized, these additions must be formally documented and approved via a change request to bring the project baselines back into alignment and manage the expanded work properly.
- ✓
Stakeholder feedback
Why this is correct
Stakeholder feedback, particularly from key users or sponsors, provides crucial insights into evolving needs, preferences, or newly identified requirements that were not fully captured during initial planning. This input often reveals discrepancies between current project deliverables and desired outcomes, directly prompting formal change requests to adjust the project scope, requirements, or design to better meet stakeholder expectations.
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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.