Closing a Project Properly: A Checklist Based on the Government Standard

Projects rarely fail at the finish line, but plenty fade out without a proper close. The UK government's functional standard for project delivery, GovS 002 (version 2.1), has a short section on closing. This checklist follows it. It is general information for project teams, not a substitute for your own organisation's governance.

Why closure matters

The standard says a programme or project shall be closed in a controlled way, whether closure happens because the scope is complete or because work is terminated early. Its principles also say the transition of capabilities to operations should be planned, with ongoing operational responsibilities agreed and accepted.

The checklist

1. Confirm what was delivered. The standard says delivery of outputs and achievement of outcomes to date should be confirmed.
2. Document what was not. Unfulfilled requirements should be documented, together with how they are to be addressed.
3. Hand over ongoing responsibilities. Responsibility for ongoing risks, issues, actions and benefit tracking should be handed to, and accepted by, the appropriate business authority. Acceptance matters: a handover nobody has accepted is not a handover.
4. Archive the records. Documentation and information should be securely archived, in line with the standard's section on information and data management.
5. Release the team and facilities. The team should be reassigned and any temporary facilities demobilised.
6. Close the books. Contracts, financial and reporting systems should be reconciled and closed.
7. Hold a closure review. The project manager, with the team and key stakeholders, shall undertake a closure review, including an assessment of performance against the plan and the extent to which objectives are being met.
8. Capture lessons. New lessons should be captured and analysed together with those identified during the work, and significant learnings captured and shared.
9. Agree post-closure reviews. Plans for post-closure reviews should be agreed by the senior responsible owner.
10. Tell stakeholders. The standard says stakeholders shall be informed about closure.

Benefits do not end at closure

A project can close before its benefits arrive. The standard says the sponsoring body should ensure a review is undertaken to assess the extent to which benefits realisation and operational performance are meeting, and are likely to continue to meet, the objectives stated in the business case. Elsewhere it says actual benefits realisation should be tracked against the plan once triggered, and that each discrete benefit should be assigned to an owner responsible for forecasting and monitoring it.

Who signs off?

The standard does not name a single approver for closure. It does say the senior responsible owner should ensure that assurance reviews and approvals, such as at gates and at closure, happen at the right time, and that the senior responsible owner agrees plans for post-closure reviews. Check your own organisation's governance for who gives final sign-off.

A practical tip

Put closure activities into the plan from the start, with named owners and dates, so that closing is scheduled work rather than an afterthought when the team is already moving on.

Source

Government Functional Standard GovS 002: Project delivery, version 2.1, published on GOV.UK and the Project Delivery site. The wording here follows the clauses on closing, reviewing outcomes and benefits management.