Preface

The Government Extension to the PMBOK® Guide Third Edition is the first industry-specific extension to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). It provides information on managing projects within the unique environment of the public sector. The term “public sector” refers to national, regional and local governments. This update expands the scope of the previous edition to include all forms of government. It supersedes the Government Extension to A PMBOK® Guide—2000 Edition and is aligned with, and a supplement to, the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition and should be used in conjunction with it. The alignment enables easier reference to the corresponding sections in each document. The process names and designations were updated to match the changes introduced in the current edition of PMBOK® Guide in order to enable consistency and clarity.

The PMBOK® Guide describes knowledge and practices “generally recognized as good practices” and applicable to “most of the projects, most of the time” and for which there is wide spread consensus about their value and usefulness. As an extension, this document builds upon the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition by describing additional knowledge and practices, and by modifying some of them.

Some changes were made in this edition to update and align this global standard to the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition. A discussion of changes made in this edition can be found in Appendix A.