Appendix D

Application Area Extensions

D.1 Need for Application Area Extensions

Application area extensions are necessary when there are generally accepted knowledge and practices for a category of projects in one application area that are not generally accepted across the full range of project types in most application areas. Application area extensions reflect:

• Unique or unusual aspects of the project environment of which the project management team must be aware, in order to manage the project efficiently and effectively.
• Common knowledge and practices that, if followed, will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the project (e.g., standard work breakdown structures).

Application area-specific knowledge and practices can arise as a result of many factors, including, but not limited to, differences in cultural norms, technical terminology, societal impact, or project life cycles. For example:

• In construction, where virtually all work is accomplished under contract, there are common knowledge and practices related to procurement that do not apply to all categories of projects.
• In bioscience, there are common knowledge and practices driven by the regulatory environment that do not apply to all categories of projects
• In government contracting, there are common knowledge and practices driven by government acquisition regulations that do not apply to all categories of projects
• In consulting, there are common knowledge and practices created by the project manager’s sales and marketing responsibilities that do not apply to all categories of projects.

Application area extensions are:

• Additions to the core material of PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, Chapters 1 through 12—not substitutes for it.
• Organized in a fashion similar to the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, that is, by identifying and describing the project management processes unique to that application area.
• Unique additions to the core material. Such content may:
  • Identify new or modified processes
  • Subdivide existing processes
  • Describe different sequences or interactions of processes
  • Increase elements or modifying the common process definitions
  • Define special inputs, tools and techniques, and/or outputs for the existing processes.

Application area extensions are not:

• “How-to” documents or “practice guidelines”—such documents may be issued as PMI Standards, but they are not what are intended as extensions.
• A lower level of detail than is addressed in the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition. Such details may be addressed in handbooks or guidebooks that may be issued as PMI Standards, but they are not what is intended as extensions.

D.2 Criteria for Development of Application Area Extensions

Extensions will be developed under the following criteria:

• There is a substantial body of knowledge that is both project-oriented and unique or nearly unique to that application area.
• There is an identifiable PMI component (e.g., a PMI Specific Interest Group, College, or Chapter) or an identifiable external organization willing and able to commit the necessary resources to subscribe to and support the PMI Standards Program with the development and maintenance of a specific PMI Standard or the extension may be developed by PMI itself.
• The proposed extension is able to pass the same level of rigorous PMI Project Management Standard-Setting Process as any other PMI Standard.

D.3 Publishing and Format of Application Area Extensions

Application area extensions are developed and/or published by PMI, or they are developed and/or published by either a PMI component or an external organization under a formal agreement with PMI.

• Extensions match the PMBOK® Guide in style and content. They use the same paragraph and subparagraph numbers for the material that has been extended.
• Sections and paragraphs of the PMBOK® Guide that are not extended are not repeated in extensions.
• Extensions contain a rationale/justification about the need for an extension and its material.
• Extensions are delimited in terms of what they are not intended to do.

D.4 Process for Development and Maintenance of Application Area Extensions

When approved in accordance with the PMI Standards-Setting Process, application area extensions become PMI standards. They will be developed and maintained in accordance with the process described below.

• An extension must be sponsored by PMI, a formally chartered PMI component (e.g., a Specific Interest Group, College, or Chapter), or another organization external to PMI, which has been approved by the PMI Standards Program Member Advisory Group and the PMI Standards Manager. Co-sponsorship with PMI is the preferred arrangement. All approvals will be by formal written agreement between PMI and the sponsoring entity; such agreement will include, among other things, the parties’ agreement as to intellectual property ownership rights and publications rights to the extension.
• A project to develop, publish, and/or maintain an extension must be approved by the PMI Standards Program. Permission to initiate, develop, and maintain an extension must be received from PMI and will be the subject of an agreement between or among the organizations. If there is no other sponsoring organization, the PMI Standards Program may elect to proceed alone.
• The sponsoring group will notify and solicit advice and support from the PMI Standards Program Member Advisory Group and PMI Standards Manager throughout the development and maintenance process. They will concur with the appropriateness of the sponsoring organization for the proposed extension and will review the extension during its development to identify any conflicts or overlaps with other similar projects that may be under way.
• The sponsoring group will prepare a proposal to develop the extension. The proposal will include a justification for the project with a matrix of application-area specific processes and the affected sections of this document (i.e., the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition). It will also contain the commitment of sufficient qualified drafters and reviewers; identification of funding requirements, including reproduction, postage, telephone costs, desktop publishing, etc.; commitment to the PMI procedures for PMI Standards extension development and maintenance; and a plan and schedule for extension development and maintenance.
• Following acceptance of the proposal, the project team will prepare a project charter for approval by the sponsoring group and the PMI Standards Program Team. The charter will include sources of funding and any funding proposed to be provided by PMI. It will include a requirement for periodic review of the extension with reports to the PMI Standards Program Team and a “Sunset Clause” that specifies when, and under what conditions, the extension will be removed from active status as a PMI Standard.
• The proposal will be submitted to the PMI Standards Manager in accordance with the PMI Standards-Setting Process. The PMI Standards Manager will determine if the proposal can be expected to result in a document that will meet the requirements for a PMI Standard and if adequate resources and sources of support have been identified. To help with this determination, the PMI Standards Manager will seek review and comment by the PMI Standards Program Member Advisory Group and, if appropriate, a panel of knowledgeable persons not involved with the extension.
• The PMI Standards Manager, with the support of the PMI Standards Program Member Advisory Group, will monitor and support the development of the approved project.
• The sponsoring organization will develop the extension according to the approved project charter, including coordinating with the PMI Standards Program Team for support, review, and comment.
• When the extension has been completed to the satisfaction of the sponsoring organization, it will be submitted to the PMI Standards Manager, who will manage the final approval and publication processes in accordance with the PMI Standards-Setting Process. This final submittal will include listing of, and commitment by, the sponsoring organization to the PMI extension maintenance processes and efforts.
• Following approval of the extension as a PMI Standard, the sponsoring organization will implement the extension maintenance process in accordance with the approved plan.