Change Authority

Change Authority is a person or group to which the Project Board may delegate responsibility for the consideration of requests for change or off-specifications and this role is part of the Project Management Team. The Change Authority may be given a change budget and can approve changes within that budget.

Change Authority may delegate to a number of levels, depending on the severity of the Change . As you can see, the different roles can have Change Authority responsibilities:

• Level 5: Corporate, programme management, or customer
• Level 4: Project Board
• Level 3: Change Authority
• Level 2: Project Manager
• Level 1: Project Support

For example, a Level 2 issue (change request): The Project Manager could decide if only one product is affected and the change is less than €400, and of course, within tolerance.

Why doesn’t the Project Board do all Change Authority during a project?

If few changes are expected, then the Project Board can do this. If many changes are expected, then it is better to use a separate Change Authority group. This is more efficient for the change process and less time is demanded from the Project Board, as they are busy people.