Accepted Deliverable vs Verified Deliverable for PMP Exam (PMBOK Guide)

Perhaps the definitions of “Accepted Deliverable” and “Verified Deliverable” are one of the most easily confused concepts by Aspirants. If you search for terms like “PMP Deliverables”, you will surely come across these terms: “Accepted Deliverable”, “Validated Deliverable” and “Verified Deliverable”. What are the differences between them and what you should know to answer PMP Exam questions correctly?

[A little background story: the terms “Validate” and “Verify” were used interchangeably in PMBOK® Guide 4th Edition, in fact there is the term “Validated Deliverable” there. But in the most updated version of PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, the definitions of these terms were clarified and they convey very different meanings. However, most articles on the internet about PMP were not updated for the most current PMP Exam. So, beware of getting wrong definitions for these terms from your internet search.]

Accepted Deliverable vs Verified Deliverable vs Validated Deliverable

Let’s go to the definitions of

• Verified Deliverable: Output from project tasks that meets by quality control measures as specified in Quality Management Plan; an output of the Control Quality (Project Quality Management)
• Accepted Deliverable: The verified deliverables from perform quality control that have been approved by the Customer / Stakeholders to fulfil the acceptance criteria; an output of Validate Scope (Project Scope Management) 
  • Note: in the 4th edition of PMBOK® Guide, “Validate Scope” was termed as “Verify Scope”.

Where is “Validated Deliverable”?

• Validated Deliverable: this term was originally mentioned a lot in PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition but later amended as “Verified Deliverable” in the errata. Now there is only 1 mention of “Validated Deliverable” on page 251, however, the term there should also be updated as “Verified Deliverable”.

So, remember, there are only “Verified Deliverable” and “Accepted Deliverable” but NO “Validated Deliverable”. However, the question remains: why “Validated Deliverable” is not amended as “Verified Deliverable”? It all has to do with the clarification of the definitions of “Validation” and “Verification” in PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition.

Verification vs Validation

• Verification: a quality control process to ensure the deliverables meet the regulation, requirements, specifications, etc.
  • According to the PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition: Verification is “the evaluation of whether or not a product, service, or system compiles with a regulation, requirement, specification, or imposed condition. It is often an internal process”.
• Validation: the acceptance process by customers / stakeholders to formally acknowledge the deliverables meet their requirements.
  • According to the PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition: Validation is “the assurance that a product, service, or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. It often involves acceptance and suitability with external customers”.

Illustrated Example

In order to help PMP Aspirant understand the differences between Accepted Deliverable and Verified Deliverable, let’s consider the following case.

Suppose you had purchased a new flat and awarded the renovation contract to Contractor A. Contractor A had perviously collected and discussed all your requirements and you had agreed to the quotation.

Contractor A then asked several painters to paint the walls of all bedrooms in beige and the common rooms in white according to your requirements. After painting, Contractor A would read the contract again and inspect every room to ensure that the rooms were painted in the correct color [Verification – that’s the “verified deliverable”].

Afterwards, Contractor A asked you to come and check the work. You and Contractor A walked from room to room to look closely at the painted walls and you were mostly satisfied with the work [Validation – that’s the “accepted deliverable”]. However, you suddenly realized that you wanted the baby room to painted in pink and asked Contractor A to make the amendment [Change Request] ……

Additional FREE PMP resources: 47+ Commonly Confused Term Pairs with detailed explanations. If you found this article useful, you may wish to reference other Commonly Confused Term articles.