Control Thresholds are included in the Cost Management Plan, which is an output to Plan Cost Management. They are the limits of variance allowed from the cost baseline or activity before some action is needed. As an example, if your cost baseline is $100,000, and your control threshold is 5%, then if your analysis shows along the way that your project will end up costing $105,000, then you have reached your "control threshold" and you need to do something about it. It's a trigger to action. This is different from Level of Accuracy (also included in the Cost Management Plan) which shows how accurate the budget needs to be, say +/- 10%. Your Control Threshold should be less than the level of accuracy, ie. +5%. Saving Changes...
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
What to do when Control Threshold is reached should also be defined in your communication management plan as "Who should be informed about control threshold being exceeded?" If for example your Control Threshold is forecast to be reached , you may need to create a change request for more funds or ask permission to draw on the contingency funds from your sponsor.
Control Threshold can also be put in for Schedule . Example - If your project is delayed by more than 2 weeks , then you need to log a change request and inform the sponsor.
So you as the project manager have been given breathing space to carry on your project until it is within the tolerance levels AKA Control thresholds
In Quality , a control threshold means a different thing. It means your Measurements on a Control chart can be between -3 and +3 Sigma from the Mean and your standard deviation may be 1.2 . Therefore any measurements between 0 and -3.6 or 0 and 3.6 will be acceptable Saving Changes...
