Project Quality Audit Reviews Process Q180

Q180 - QA Signoff

DEFINITION

Formal sign off on behalf of the client organisation and, where appropriate, Consultants and other participating organisations.

SUMMARY

The work and deliverables will normally have been reviewed in the preceding processes.  Any corrective actions required should have been identified, undertaken and cleared.  In this process, any further controls required would be performed and the findings from the other QA review processes will be checked to identify whether the overall segment can be signed off as complete.  The signatures should form an acceptance by the project’s sponsor, any other key decision makers within the client organisation and, where appropriate, Consultants , that all work required in the segment has been completed.

It may be that there are still deviations or omissions which are not in conformance with the original plans.  Where it is considered that these are acceptable and do not require further action, these conclusions and their justification should be clearly stated.

Note that where further actions are required, the signoff should not take place until they are completed.

This formal acceptance should not normally prevent progress with the overall project.  It is often appropriate to commence the following segment before completing all aspects of the preceding segment and gaining the formal QA signoff.

Where a project or the organisation is operating according to formal quality standards, these should be followed in performing this process.

PATH PLANNING GUIDANCE

This process is mandatory (although  the format in which the signoff is achieved may vary).

DEPENDENCIES

Prerequisites (Finish-Start):

• All preceding segment processes
• Check deliverables against QA checklist (Q100)
• Check work done against plan (Q110)

Dependent procedures (Finish-Finish):

• following segment

RECEIVABLES

• Quality Plan
• Corrective Action Request (CAR) log

DELIVERABLES

• QA signoff (QASO)

TOOLS

• Examples: QA signoff checklist forms
• Examples: QA signoff (QASO)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

Where a project or the client organisation is operating according to formal quality standards, these should be followed in performing this process.

Check the QA reviews

The work and deliverables will normally have been reviewed in the preceding QA review processes  - Q100 and Q110.  Any corrective actions required should have been identified, undertaken and cleared.  In this process, any further controls required (as defined in the project’s Quality Plan) would be performed and the findings from the other QA review processes will be checked to identify whether the overall segment can be signed off as complete.

Where further actions are required, the signoff should not take place until the actions are completed.  It may be that there are still deviations or omissions which are not in conformance with the original plans.  Where it is considered that these are acceptable and do not require further action, it should be clearly stated:

• what reservations there are
• why these should not prevent further progress with the project.

Format of the signoff

The key element is that the key participants in the project indicate that they are satisfied that the work in the preceding segment has been sufficiently completed and that no further action is required.  The parties who should agree this might include:

• the project sponsor,
• any other key decision makers within the client organisation,
• Consultant where appropriate,
• other participating external organisations (eg the package vendor) where appropriate.

It is unimportant how this agreement is recorded, although it is recommended that it be evidenced in writing and signed by the key parties involved.  It is common for the project manager to issue a letter which:

• lists the main elements of the segment such as its processes and key deliverables,
• states that all elements have been completed and reviewed,
• explains and justifies any reservations, deviations or omissions,
• requests that the relevant parties sign an attached acceptance form.

Continuing with the following segment

Note that this formal acceptance should not normally prevent progress with the overall project.  It is often appropriate to commence the preparatory tasks for the following segment, and, indeed, some of the detailed tasks, before completing all aspects of the preceding segment and gaining the formal QA signoff.  Clearly, there may be some risk of misdirecting effort if elements of the work are unclear and not accepted as a result of outstanding tasks in the preceding segment.  This risk element should be assessed by the project manager and the appropriate course of action should be agreed with the client organisation.

QA must not be allowed to become a bottleneck in the process.  Work can continue in parallel provided that no firm commitment is made (eg signing a contract with a vendor) and subject to funding and client agreement etc.