change-control

Change Control

Purpose

Change control ensures that scope changes, requirement changes, and architecture changes are assessed, classified, and approved before being implemented. The classification determines whether a change can be absorbed incrementally or requires a formal change request with impact assessment and re-gating. Unmanaged changes accumulate as technical debt, scope creep, or unacknowledged risk.

When to Use

• A new requirement is proposed after Phase 3 (Discovery) is closed
• An architecture change is proposed during Phase 4 or later
• A stakeholder requests a change that affects scope, timeline, or budget
• A technical discovery reveals that the approach must change
• A regulatory or compliance update requires product changes
• Evaluating whether a proposed change should trigger a re-gate

Instructions

Step 1: Capture the Change Request

Document the proposed change using the significant change record template: templates/transversal/significant-change-record.md.template. At a minimum, record:

• Description of the change
• Requestor and date
• Justification or trigger
• Urgency (urgent / scheduled / advisory)

Step 2: Classify the Change

Apply the classification criteria from references/change-criteria.md:

• Significant change: large scope, architecture impact, external dependency addition, regulatory impact, or budget/timeline change above thresholds
• Incremental change: bug fixes, small feature additions, content updates, performance improvements within bounds

If uncertain, default to "significant" — it is better to over-classify and scope down than to miss the impact of a change.

Step 3: Impact Assessment (Significant Changes Only)

For significant changes, assess impact across six dimensions:

1. Schedule: will this delay any milestone or gate review?
2. Cost: does this require additional budget or resource?
3. Risk: does this introduce new risks or invalidate existing mitigations?
4. Quality: does this affect test coverage, technical debt, or quality thresholds?
5. Scope: how many existing requirements or backlog items are affected?
6. Team: does this require skills or capacity not currently available?

Rate each dimension: None / Low / Medium / High.

Step 4: Determine Re-gate Requirement

Based on the impact assessment:

• If any dimension is High: significant change likely requires re-gate of the phase where the change originated
• If multiple dimensions are Medium: assess whether the cumulative impact crosses the re-gate threshold
• If all dimensions are Low or None: significant change can be absorbed without re-gate, but must be approved

Re-gate means: the affected phase returns to in_progress status, the changed artefacts are updated, and the gate review is re-run with the updated evidence.

Step 5: Approval

• Incremental change: approved by product owner at sprint planning or backlog grooming
• Significant change, no re-gate: approved by PM and product owner; recorded in change log
• Significant change with re-gate: approved by PM, product owner, and sponsor; phase contract updated

Step 6: Implement and Verify

After approval:

• Update affected artefacts (phase contract, risk register, backlog)
• If re-gate required: update phase status to in_progress, make the changes, re-assemble evidence, trigger gate review
• Record the change in the change log (schemas/change-log.schema.json)
• Notify affected stakeholders

Step 7: Update Downstream Artefacts

After implementing the change:

• Update any artefacts that reference the changed scope, architecture, or requirements
• Verify acceptance criteria are still valid for affected stories
• Update risk register if new risks were introduced

Key Principles

1. Classify before you implement — implementing first and classifying later leads to scope creep and unacknowledged technical debt.
2. The default for uncertainty is "significant" — it is easier to relax classification than to discover too late that a change was larger than assumed.
3. Re-gating is not a punishment — it is the mechanism that keeps the lifecycle honest when reality changes.
4. Change log is cumulative — every approved change is recorded; the cumulative view reveals drift from original scope.
5. Approval must be documented — verbal approvals are not sufficient for significant changes; email or written record required.

Reference Materials

• references/change-criteria.md — Classification criteria, significant vs incremental thresholds, change request process, impact categories
• Schema: schemas/change-log.schema.json
• Template: templates/transversal/significant-change-record.md.template

Quality Checks

• Every proposed change is classified before implementation begins
• Significant changes have an impact assessment covering all six dimensions
• Re-gate decisions are documented with rationale
• Change log is updated after each approved significant change
• Affected artefacts are updated after change implementation
• Stakeholders are notified of approved significant changes