Delivery Flow Master Checklist (with Documents)
Use this as the single execution gate from SOW → PRD → Delivery.
Columns are designed to map cleanly into Notion/Jira/Linear/GitHub Projects.
Table Legend
- Doc: mandatory artifact to create/update for the checklist item
- Owner: accountable role (PM/BA/Eng/QA/DevOps/Client)
- Gate: where this item is required to proceed (Discovery / Scope Freeze / Build Start / Release)
0) Contract Baseline
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Client SOW received (signed or draft) | Client SOW vX.Y | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 0.2 | SOW review completed: scope boundaries, deliverables, assumptions, exclusions, acceptance, timeline, commercials | SOW Review Notes (1–2 pages) | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 0.3 | Open questions captured and sent to client | Open Questions Log | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 0.4 | Risks/unknowns logged (access, data, vendors, integrations) | RAID Log (Risks/Assumptions/Issues/Dependencies) | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 0.5 | Acceptance approach aligned (how client signs off, what evidence required) | Acceptance & Sign‑off Procedure (1 page) | PM/BA + Client | Discovery | ☐ |
1) Feature R&D (Within SOW Boundary)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Feature research completed (benchmarks/parity/ROI hypotheses) | Feature Research Report (sources + findings) | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 1.2 | Candidate features catalogued with value + dependency + effort range + risk | Feature Briefs (1‑pager each, optional but ideal) | PM/BA | Discovery | ☐ | |
| 1.3 | Constraints captured (manpower, timeline, tech constraints, vendor constraints) | Constraints & Assumptions Register | PM/BA + Tech Lead | Discovery | ☐ |
2) Feature Decision Matrix + Approval (Scope Selection)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Decision matrix prepared (ROI vs effort vs risk vs dependency vs strategic value) | Feature Decision Matrix (sheet) | PM/BA | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 2.2 | MVP/Phase 1 feature list finalized | Phase Scope List — MVP (appendix OK) | PM/BA + Client | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 2.3 | Phase 2 feature list finalized | Phase Scope List — Phase 2 (appendix OK) | PM/BA + Client | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 2.4 | Explicit Out‑of‑Scope list written | Out‑of‑Scope Register | PM/BA | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 2.5 | Approval recorded (date + approvers + notes) | Scope Approval Record (minutes/email/sign‑off page) | PM/BA + Client | Scope Freeze | ☐ |
3) PRD (Scope‑Frozen Execution Blueprint)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | PRD created/updated from approved matrix | PRD v1.0 (scope‑frozen) | PM/BA | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 3.2 | Each feature has testable requirements + acceptance criteria | PRD — Requirements & Acceptance Criteria section/appendix | PM/BA + QA Lead | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 3.3 | Non‑functional requirements locked (perf, reliability, security, observability) | NFR Appendix (or SRS‑lite section) | PM/BA + Tech Lead | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 3.4 | Change control policy included (“no scope without CR”) | Change Control Policy (1 page; PRD section OK) | PM/BA | Scope Freeze | ☐ | |
| 3.5 | PRD sign‑off captured | PRD Sign‑off Record | PM/BA + Client | Scope Freeze | ☐ |
4) Estimation + Delivery Plan (Budgeting & Timeline)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Engineering estimates produced from PRD (epics/stories) | Estimation Sheet (feature → effort → owner) | Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 4.2 | Timeline + milestones finalized | Delivery Roadmap / Release Plan | PM/BA + Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 4.3 | Backlog created and mapped to PRD requirement IDs | Backlog Mapping (PRD FR‑IDs → Epics/Stories) | PM/BA + Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 4.4 | QA effort included (test types + envs + regression scope) | QA Plan (MVP) | QA Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 4.5 | DevOps effort included (CI/CD, envs, monitoring, runbooks) | DevOps Plan | DevOps/Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 4.6 | Budget baseline computed (people + infra + tools) | Budget & Cost Model (build + run) | PM/Finance + Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ |
5) SOW Addendum / Change Order (ONLY If Mismatch)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | PRD vs SOW gap check completed | Scope‑to‑Contract Trace (PRD↔SOW mapping table) | PM/BA | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 5.2 | If scope/timeline/cost/acceptance changed → Change Order drafted | Change Order / SOW Addendum #N | PM/BA + Client | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 5.3 | Commercials updated if impacted (milestones/payment terms) | Revised Milestone/Payment Schedule (if needed) | PM/Finance + Client | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 5.4 | Addendum signed by client | Signed Addendum | PM/BA + Client | Build Start | ☐ |
Rule: If PRD only clarifies and stays within SOW with no commercial/timeline change, you may mark section 5 as N/A.
6) Build Readiness Gate (Start Development)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Architecture sufficient for Sprint 1 | HLD (C4/System Context + components) | Solution Architect/Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 6.2 | Core flows designed (happy path + failure path) | LLD (sequence diagrams + edge cases) | Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 6.3 | Interfaces locked for MVP | OpenAPI Spec + Integration Spec (partners) | Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 6.4 | Data model ready for MVP | ERD + Data Dictionary | Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 6.5 | Security baseline agreed (authN/authZ, threat model, PII handling) | Security Requirements / Threat Model | Security/Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ | |
| 6.6 | Observability defined (logs/metrics/traces, dashboards, alerts) | Observability Plan | DevOps/Tech Lead | Build Start | ☐ |
7) Release Readiness Gate (Ship MVP)
| # | Checklist item | Document(s) | Owner | Gate | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | Test execution completed with evidence | Test Report (results + defects + sign‑off) | QA Lead | Release | ☐ | |
| 7.2 | Performance checks passed (as per NFRs) | Perf Report (p95/p99, load profile) | QA/Tech Lead | Release | ☐ | |
| 7.3 | Security checks passed (baseline) | Security Test Summary (SAST/DAST + fixes) | Security/Tech Lead | Release | ☐ | |
| 7.4 | Runbooks + oncall response prepared | Runbook / Ops Playbook | DevOps | Release | ☐ | |
| 7.5 | Go/No‑Go completed and approved | Go/No‑Go Checklist (signed) | PM/Tech Lead/Client | Release | ☐ | |
| 7.6 | Release notes prepared | Release Notes | PM/BA | Release | ☐ |
Quick Copy Section (Owners)
- PM/BA: scope, approvals, PRD, change control, roadmap, client coordination
- Tech Lead/Solution Architect: HLD/LLD, estimates, API/data/security/observability alignment
- QA Lead: test strategy/plan, execution, reports
- DevOps: CI/CD, environments, monitoring, runbooks
- Client: scope sign‑off, addendum sign‑off, release acceptance