This blog post was written based on the fourth edition of the PMBOK Guide. Since the arrival of the PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, this post is no longer valid. However, I am leaving it intact as part of organizational process assets. If you wish to review old definitions you can read them here.

Many PMP aspirants may confuse validated deliverables and accepted deliverables. They seem similar, but they are not.

Validated deliverables and accepted deliverables are important concepts in project management. You will see a few questions on these topics on your PMP exam.

Grade and quality are two of the most commonly used terms in project management. Not just in this field either; you will use these terms on a daily basis. For example, people frequently say that this is a low-grade product, this is a high-grade product, this is a low-quality product, or this is a high-quality product.

What does that actually mean?

Does “low-grade” mean bad or undesirable and “high-grade” always mean good?

To put it simply, no. low-grade and high-grade are not necessarily right or wrong, and that is what we are going to discuss in this blog post.

Grade and quality are fascinating concepts; however, even professionals don’t understand their differences and mistakenly use them synonymously. They are not difficult terms to understand, we simply need to pay them a bit more attention.

Validation and verification are two important terms in project management; they seem very similar, and it’s easy to get them confused.

These are important concepts and any PMP aspirants needs to understand them well. I will explain these terms fully, so you will have a better understanding of them when you finish this blog post.

This topic is not very important from the PMP exam point of view. However, as a project manager, you must know the difference between these terms.