Close Project

The Close Project process involves performing the project closure portion of the project management plan. In multi-phase projects, the Close Project process closes out the portion of the project scope and associated activities applicable to a given phase. This process includes finalizing all activities completed across all Project Management Process Groups to formally close the project or a project phase, and transfer the completed or cancelled project as appropriate. The Close Project process also establishes the procedures to coordinate activities needed to verify and document the project deliverables, to coordinate and interact to formalize acceptance of those deliverables by the customer or sponsor, and to investigate and document the reasons for actions taken if a project is terminated before completion. Two procedures are developed to establish the interactions necessary to perform the closure activities across the entire project or for a project phase:

• Administrative closure procedure. This procedure details all the activities, interactions, and related roles and responsibilities of the project team members and other stakeholders involved in executing the administrative closure procedure for the project. Performing the administrative closure process also includes integrated activities needed to collect project records, analyze project success or failure, gather lessons learned, and archive project information for future use by the organization.

• Contract closure procedure. Includes all activities and interactions needed to settle and close any contract agreement established for the project, as well as define those related activities supporting the formal administrative closure of the project. This procedure involves both product verification (all work completed correctly and satisfactorily) and administrative closure (updating of contract records to reflect final results and archiving that information for future use). The contract terms and conditions can also prescribe specifications for contract closure that must be part of this procedure. Early termination of a contract is a special case of contract closure that could involve, for example, the inability to deliver the product, a budget overrun, or lack of required resources. This procedure is an input to the Close Contract process.