NR NR/L3/INI/PG115/PS/018 ISSUE 1 PDF

This Network Rail standard specifies the processes for the management of change to authorised baselines (Project Change Control).

This standard specifies the process and products required to manage change to any authorised project baseline (outputs, scope, schedule and costs). It is not intended as a process for managing the developmental changes occurring pre-authority.

It does not specify the process for controlling change to engineering standards or other external influencers, but does provide the guidance for managing the impact of that change on the project.

Additionally, this document does not specify the process for managing change to portfolio / work-bank. These are managed through the Annual Budget and portfolio change management relevant to each delivery team and managed under finance processes.

Change management is the mechanism by which changes to baselined deliverables are controlled, requiring requests for change to be raised and assessed before the change is accepted and implemented.

Changes may occur in the following areas of a project;

1. Evolving scope through early GRIP stage development

2. Available funding as managed via the annual budget process

3. Specific projects within a portfolio including new and substituted projects

4. Scope or deliverables against an authorised or contracted sum

5. Milestones in support of the authorised or contracted sum

NOTE: Items 4 and 5 are within the scope of this standard. Guidance on Tracking Change in Early GRIP Stages, found in the Programme Controls pages on Connect, is applicable for Item 1. The other areas of change are managed through the Annual Budget and portfolio change management relevant to each delivery team and managed under finance processes.

Changes that are driven by, or impact on, commercial arrangements with contractors will inevitably result in changes to the project as well as contractual changes. The processes specified in this standard apply whether it is a budget type change or contract type change, however the user needs to fully acquaint themselves with the Contract Change Control (Work Instruction) in the Contract Management pages on Connect for detail that is specific to the management of contract change.

Purpose

Change occurs throughout the project lifecycle. The correct management of the change process allows decisions to be made in an informed way.

The processes specified in this document can and should be supported by an integrated Change Control system, in Oracle Projects (OP) or other system, as defined at the time. This system is referred to throughout the document as the corporate change control system. This document is not intended as an operation manual for these systems, as these will be covered in systems manuals. It does, however, specify the process that is supported by these systems.