TOPIC: Baselines and Change Requests – Can Someone Clarify?

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help clear up a point that's been confusing me while studying for the PMP.

From what I understand, the project baselines are the scope, schedule, and cost baselines, and they're established during planning as part of the Project Management Plan.

Where I'm getting stuck is what happens after an approved change request.

When study materials say an approved change request "updates the baseline," do they mean the original baseline is actually revised to reflect the approved change? Or is the original baseline preserved while a new version is created for comparison?

For example, if my original cost baseline is $10,000 and an approved change increases the budget, would the cost baseline simply become $12,000, or would the original $10,000 baseline remain while a separate updated baseline is tracked?

I think I'm overcomplicating this, but I'd really appreciate an explanation of how PMI expects us to think about baselines on the exam. Thanks in advance!

Richard,

The short answer is "yes." The original project baselines are preserved in the record and updated through the change management process. You don't necessarily track the change separately; you track project completion (cost, schedule, deliverables) but you want to maintain a record of the entire project.

How PMI expects you to think about baselines is beyond me. One of the other mods may have better insight.

Hope that helps,

Harry