PMP · Question #771
A building management system (BMS) project is in its commissioning phase and handover to the operations team will commence soon. However, the project manager noted that both the project and operation
The correct answer is D. Allocated proper resources for training on BMS in the project plan. To prevent operational proficiency issues during system handover, the project manager should have proactively included and resourced appropriate training within the project plan.
Question
A building management system (BMS) project is in its commissioning phase and handover to the operations team will commence soon. However, the project manager noted that both the project and operation teams are not able to properly operate the BMS. As a result, there is an increased risk of the project schedule being delayed. What should the project manager have done to avoid this situation?
Options
- ABrought both teams together in a joint meeting to resolve the issue
- BMade some adjustments to BMS to be more suitable for the teams
- CAllocated a dedicated handover team at early stages of the project
- DAllocated proper resources for training on BMS in the project plan
How the community answered
(22 responses)- A14% (3)
- B9% (2)
- C5% (1)
- D73% (16)
Why each option
To prevent operational proficiency issues during system handover, the project manager should have proactively included and resourced appropriate training within the project plan.
Bringing teams together in a joint meeting is a reactive step to address an existing problem, not a proactive measure that would have prevented the situation from occurring.
Making adjustments to the BMS is a reactive technical modification and does not address the fundamental issue of inadequate training or operational knowledge among the teams.
Allocating a dedicated handover team primarily facilitates the handover process itself, but it does not inherently guarantee that the receiving and project teams will have the necessary operational skills without specific training.
The inability of teams to operate the BMS indicates a lack of necessary skills, which should have been addressed by proactively allocating proper resources for training on the BMS within the project plan at early stages. This preventative measure ensures teams are proficient by commissioning and handover, avoiding delays related to skill gaps.
Concept tested: Project planning and resource training
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok
Topics
Community Discussion
9
Hiroshi T.Jun 9, 2026D. PMI is consistent on this: lack of operational readiness points back to inadequate training resources in the project plan, per the Resource Management and Closeout guidance in the PMBOK Guide. A is reactive, B is scope creep disguised as a fix, and C is overkill when the real gap is simply a missing training allocation.
Anjali D.Jun 26, 2026D. Saw this on my exam last week, training resources in the plan is the giveaway.
Samuel O.Jun 27, 2026Agreed on D, and in practice the training line item is what separates a real organizational change management plan from a generic project plan, since I have seen migrations stall exactly because nobody budgeted for end-user enablement.
Zlatan X.May 27, 2026D is correct here because training is a planned resource allocation in the project plan, not a reactive fix during commissioning. The handover to operations is where benefits realization actually starts, so if neither team can operate the BMS, the training component was never properly scoped or funded upstream. Anyone else notice how the exam tends to frame training as a cost line item rather than a knowledge-transfer activity, or is that just how PMI wants us to think about operational readiness?
Toby R.May 29, 2026Agree on D, and yeah the exam treats training as a checkbox under resource management rather than a stakeholder engagement activity, but the real trap is they sometimes swap in "commissioning phase" to make you think the issue surfaced late when the stem usually tells you it was never scoped to begin with.
Toby R.Jun 6, 2026Confirmed D on my exam last month, the training allocation in the plan is the prevention angle they want here, not a reactive fix. Does anyone know if they always frame it as a resource planning failure versus a schedule risk question, or do they mix up the stem wording to make C look like the proactive choice?
Anjali D.Jun 8, 2026Agreed on D, and in our group most people who saw variants say they keep the training/proactive angle consistent but swap the scenario context, so watch for C baiting you with language like "post-incident review" that sounds structured but is still reactive.
Samuel O.Jun 20, 2026A. In my facilities work, joint ops-and-project walkthroughs catch BMS gaps before handover kills the schedule.
Anjali D.Jun 21, 2026D is the right call here, Samuel. The stem is asking about post-occupancy performance verification, not pre-handover commissioning, and option D is the only one that maps to monitoring actual building performance after tenants are in.