When you need it
Use during concept selection when several credible ways of meeting the same project need remain open. Revisit it if a major constraint, demand assumption or technical finding changes the comparison.
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AI tools and documents for engineering and project management.
Project Options Appraisal
Compare credible project options against agreed decision criteria and show why evidence supports a preferred next step.
How to use this templateThis Word template contains prepared headings, tables, project fields and completion notes. Add your information, review the completed document and remove the notes before issue.
The form prepares a separate brief; it does not fill the Word or Excel file.
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Learning
How to use this template
What it helps you decide
The appraisal explains why one option merits further investigation. Comparable service boundaries and visible uncertainties prevent a cheap but incomplete alternative from appearing superior to a more comprehensive solution.
How to complete it
- Define alternatives and Service boundaries using sponsor objectives and non-negotiable constraints. Include a do-minimum comparator when it meaningfully addresses the decision.
- For each Criterion, record Evidence and locator, Assessment and Uncertainty. Separate disqualifying constraints from preferences and use weighting only where the method is agreed.
- Explain each material Trade-off and test which changing input alters the preference. Recommend further investigation and record the responsible Decision owner separately from approval.
Who prepares and reviews it
A project development lead coordinates technical, operational and cost contributors. An independent reviewer challenges comparability and evidence; the sponsor or nominated decision owner selects the next step under the project's governance arrangements.
A mistake to avoid
Scoring options with different capacities or excluded enabling works creates an apparently precise ranking that does not compare equivalent ways of meeting the need.
Illustrative example
Illustrative example: an industrial operator compares extending an existing warehouse with building on a nearby plot. The appraisal aligns usable storage capacity and identifies disruption to ongoing operations. An uncertain access constraint changes the ranking, so the sponsor commissions targeted access verification before selecting a concept.
Document contents
- Document control and decision owner
- Evidence, scope and applicability
- Option definition
- Screening and evaluation
- Trade-offs and sensitivity
- Recommended investigation
- Open points, competent review and decision
- Project records
- Preparation, review and approval
Required inputs
- Project / asset identity, assessment date, scope and authorized decision owner
- Verified source documents with exact revision and record locators
- Sponsor objectives and non-negotiable constraints
- Option descriptions and comparable capacity boundaries
- Evidence for cost, schedule, operability and risk
- Approved assessment criteria and any weighting method
Practical tools.
Professional judgment.
Confirm the adopted edition, local amendments, National Annex where relevant, and contract requirements.
Prepare project brief