When do change requests generally increase in a project?

Project launch is characterized by initiation activities and charter development, not scope-driven change requests from stakeholders.

At the beginning of a project, requirements are still being gathered and scope is not yet baselined, so formal change requests are not yet applicable.

Scope management processes are used to control changes, not a phase when change requests inherently increase in volume.

As a project nears completion, stakeholders gain clearer visibility into the final product, which reveals misalignments between delivered scope and original expectations. This phenomenon is well-documented in project management: the cost and frequency of changes escalate late in the project lifecycle because the product is nearly finished and deviations become apparent. Late-stage changes are also the most expensive to implement, making this phase the most critical for change control.