Our acceptance criteria change after delivery. What should we do?
Moving acceptance boundaryCompare the revised expectation with the approved criteria and determine whether it reveals an omission, nonconformance, or new requirement. Resolve the distinction openly and record the decision.
What to do now
- Retrieve the approved criteria
- Describe the new expectation precisely
- Assess delivery and commercial impact
- Agree correction or controlled change
When to escalate
Escalate when
The dispute threatens contractual obligations or a material milestone.
Who decides
The acceptance authority and relevant quality owner
Example
A new dashboard filter is evaluated separately from correcting an agreed total that is wrong.
Mistake to avoid
Quietly accepting unlimited new criteria after completion.
Prevent a repeat
Check that closure evidence proves the agreed outcome instead of relying only on a completion percentage.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Tasks
- Documents
- Approvals
Attach acceptance criteria and test evidence to the deliverable or task, then record the authorized review decision. See the platform
Related cases
- How should we handle conditional acceptance?Uncontrolled acceptance conditions
- Who should perform user acceptance testing?Unclear business verification ownership
- The project has no agreed closure criteria. How do I close it responsibly?Undefined project completion boundary
- How do we define supplier acceptance criteria before signing?Unclear commercial verification