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PMP lesson · Scope & Requirements · Scope · lesson 3 of 3 · about 7 minutes

Validate scope vs control scope (and gold plating)

Predictive · agile (sprint review = acceptance of increments)Free preview
Goal: After this lesson you can explain the order control quality → validate scope, handle a customer who refuses acceptance, and recognise scope creep and gold plating.

1The situation

“It passed, but we won't sign”

The robot cell passed every internal test against the specification. At the acceptance meeting, the customer's operations manager refuses to sign: “It doesn't meet our expectations for changeover speed.” Changeover speed is not in the acceptance criteria.

Meanwhile, you discover that a programmer added an extra diagnostics screen “because the customer will like it”, and a customer engineer has been asking technicians for “small extras” directly.

Three different scope problems in one week. This lesson shows how to tell them apart.

2Correct first, then accepted

Two different checks, in this order:

Control quality
Internal check
Is the deliverable correct, according to the specification? Done by the team.
Validate scope
Customer acceptance
Does the customer formally accept it, according to the acceptance criteria?
Order on the exam: control quality first, then validate scope. Verified deliverables go to the customer for acceptance.

3From correct to accepted

Control quality (internal, first)
Team checks the deliverable against the specification: “Is it correct?”
→
Verified deliverable
Validate scope (with the customer)
Customer formally reviews against the acceptance criteria: “Is it accepted?”
→
Accepted deliverable
Close project or phase
Formal handover of accepted deliverables
→
Final product / transition
Quality control checks correctness; validate scope obtains formal acceptance.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. All deliverables of a packaging line passed internal quality control. At the acceptance meeting, the customer refuses to accept, citing 'operational expectations' for changeover speed, which are not in the documented acceptance criteria. What should the project manager do?
A. Insist on signature, since quality control was passed
B. Ask the team to improve changeover speed immediately
C. Review the deliverables with the customer against the agreed acceptance criteria and handle the new expectation through change control
D. Escalate to arbitration
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: C.
In simple English
The product meets the agreed criteria, but the customer expected something extra.
What is the question really asking?
How to resolve acceptance.
Key words / trigger
“not in the documented acceptance criteria”
PMP logic
Validate scope uses agreed criteria; new expectations become change requests.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
Fixing it quickly looks customer-friendly, but it is uncontrolled scope.

5Remember this

Your memory card

  • Control quality (correct?) → validate scope (accepted?)
  • Scope creep = uncontrolled requests · Gold plating = uninvited team extras
  • Refused acceptance → review against acceptance criteria; new wishes = change requests
  • Agile: the sprint review is where increments are inspected and accepted
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
  • the rest of the lesson (Control scope: keep it in the box, When the customer refuses acceptance)
  • a worked example
  • the common traps (wrong vs right)
  • 2 exam-style questions with the decode
  • a 3-question quick check
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