PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
You are the project manager for a large infrastructure project. Midway through, a new regulatory requirement is introduced that mandates additional environmental testing, which could delay the project by one month and increase costs by 5%. The change control board (CCB) is scheduled to meet in two weeks. What should you 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
✓
Analyze the impact of the regulatory requirement and prepare a change request for the CCB meeting
The PM must first assess the impact of the new regulation on the project's scope, schedule, cost, and quality before presenting it to the CCB. This analysis informs the change request. Simply waiting or proceeding without analysis is not appropriate.
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 start the additional testing immediately to avoid further delay
Why it's wrong here
This action bypasses the formal change control process, which is critical for managing project scope, cost, and schedule baselines. Implementing new requirements without proper analysis and approval from the Change Control Board (CCB) can lead to unauthorized scope creep, unmanaged risks, and potential budget overruns, undermining project governance and control.
- ✗
Ignore the requirement until the CCB meets, then decide
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring a newly identified regulatory requirement, even temporarily, is a significant compliance risk. Regulatory requirements are mandatory and non-negotiable; failure to address them promptly can result in legal penalties, fines, project shutdown, or reputational damage, demonstrating a lack of due diligence and professional responsibility.
- ✓
Analyze the impact of the regulatory requirement and prepare a change request for the CCB meeting
Why this is correct
This is the correct project management approach. The Project Manager's initial responsibility is to perform a thorough impact analysis, assessing how the new regulatory requirement affects the project's scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, and risks. This comprehensive analysis provides the Change Control Board (CCB) with the necessary data to make an informed decision regarding the change request, ensuring controlled and strategic project adaptation.
- ✗
Submit a change request immediately to the CCB without detailed analysis
Why it's wrong here
Submitting a change request to the CCB without a preceding detailed impact analysis is premature and ineffective. The CCB relies on the Project Manager to provide a clear understanding of the change's implications across all project constraints. Without this critical information, the CCB cannot properly evaluate the change, leading to delays, requests for more information, or uninformed decisions that could negatively impact the project.
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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.