Job Aid: Project Charter Elements

Purpose: Use this job aid to review the required elements of a project charter.

Project charter elements
Element heading	Element description
Business need	Describes the business reason for initiating the project, specifically stating the business problem that the project will resolve.
Measurable objectives and success criteria	Defines the measurable business goals and objectives and factors that are deemed critical to the success of a project. These criteria are used to measure what must be done for the project to be acceptable to stakeholders.
Project requirements	Describes what is needed to perform the work to the required specifications.
Product scope description	Describes the product to be delivered and establishes the boundaries of the project.
Milestones and deliverables schedule	Describes the deliverables, which are a set of outputs for each milestone delivery date. This information provides checkpoints for monitoring project progress and validating work.
Summary budget	Provides an itemized forecast of estimated or intended expenditures.
Approval requirements	Describes the quality objectives for each deliverable in terms of output standards and approval requirements. This includes all the product-related reviews and processes that will be carried out during the project.
Nominated project manager	Establishes the authority of the named individual to make decisions and lead the project, and identifies this person's main responsibilities and authority level.
Project sponsor approval	Names the person who has ultimate responsibility for the project and who has the formal authority to approve the project charter.

Course: Integrated Initiation and Planning (PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition)
Topic: The Completed Project Charter