A project scope document capture the all the aspects of a project as seen by the customer. the scope should be developed under the direction of the project manager, customer, and other significant stakeholder. The project manager will will have to ensure that the owner agrees on project objectives, deliverables, milestones, technical requirements, limits and exclusions, and when and how the customer wants to review the progress. There are several documents that are typically developed in the initial phase. They are as follows: Statement of Work, Project Scope, and Project Charter.

Statement of Work (SOW)

SOW is a document including the high level description of the intended deliverables of the project.  It contains at least the following three elements:

1. Organization strategic plan
2. Business needs
3. High level product scope

The high level product scope contained in the statement of work must be further developed in order for all stakeholders and project team members to really understand what are expected from the project.

Project Charter

Project Charter is a document formally authorizing the project and project manager after the contract was signed. it typically contains elelents of SOW, Business Case, and contract.

The following checklist can be used for a project charter:

1. The purpose and justification of the project.
2. Project objectives, or other success criteria.
3. High level requirements.
4. Project description.
5. Product characteristics.
6. Risks
7. Basic milestones.
8. Sample budget.
9. Stakeholders.
10. Critical success factors.
11. Roles and responsibilities. Project manager(s) and/or team.
12. Project sponsor(s), clients, etc.

Project Scope Statement

Project Scope is a document that includes lots of details such as the following:

• objectives
• project scope
• product scope
• requirements
• boundaries
• deliverables
• acceptance criteria
• constraints
• assumptions
• milestones
• cost estimation
• specifications
• configuration management requirements
• approval requirements

The Project Scope Statement may be elaborated progressively over time when more details on requirements and constraints are known during the requirements collection and scope defining processes.

The checklists are generic. Different industries and companies develop checklists to fit their needs. The most used elements are project objectives, deliverables, milestones, technical requirements, limits, exclusions, and customer reviews.

Project objective – will define whether the project will be done to build a product, create a new service, change a business process, or change technology as well as its duration and budget.

Deliverables – are the expected measurable outputs. The most frequently used requirements/deliverables are a list of specifications, design or coding, prototype, tests, and approvals.

Milestones – are events that occur at the end of major segments of work typically associated to deliverables.

Technical requirements – define the performance specifications.

Limits and exclusions – limiting or excluding features and services.

Customer reviews – when and how the customer must review the work.

Any changes or additions to the scope will lead to scope creep which typically leads to added cost and delays.