Try the questions in the test above first, then open each one here to see the correct answer and why every other option is wrong.
01Hadeer Desalination Co. is preparing the first risk-identification workshop for a pump-station upgrade. A shortlisted supplier proposes a benchmark showing unusually low equipment failure rates. The summary names no publisher, collection period, or underlying source, and the procurement lead points out that this supplier's last three deliveries were on time. Before the benchmark is used as an input to risk identification, what should the risk manager do?
Practice question Unit: Risk Strategy and Planning
AUse the benchmark because the supplier has delivered comparable equipment successfully.
Past delivery success does not establish where these failure-rate data originated or how they were collected.
BRecord the benchmark as a supplier assumption in the register and let the workshop decide how much weight to give it.
An assumption entry can preserve the claim for investigation, but assigning workshop weight does not establish the source, collection period or method. Those limitations must be assessed before relying on the benchmark as evidence.
CTrace the benchmark to its source and assess the basis of the data before using it. ✓ Correct answer
ECO I Task 1 explicitly includes reviewing industry benchmarks and the sources of preliminary information. Tracing the publisher, collection period and method establishes whether these failure-rate data are credible and applicable. Successful deliveries and quality certificates do not validate this particular dataset.
DAsk the supplier to attach its quality-management certificates so the reliability claim is backed by documentation.
Certificates describe the supplier's quality system; they do not show the publisher, period, or method behind the failure-rate data being proposed.
Reference: PMI-RMP Examination Content Outline, Domain I, Task 1, printed page 5. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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02A joint venture combines a partner that rewards early escalation with one that penalizes unresolved concerns. Each partner controls different work packages, and only the venture board can authorize cross-package changes. Before selecting the risk process, what should the risk specialist assess first?
Practice question Unit: Risk Strategy and Planning
AHave the venture board adopt a joint escalation policy before any risk workflow is chosen.
A joint policy may be the eventual answer, but proposing it before mapping where incentives and authority interact risks a policy that misses the cross-package dependencies.
BMap reporting incentives and decision authority against cross-partner dependencies. ✓ Correct answer
ECO I Task 2 calls for assessing organizational and cultural factors, stakeholders, information processes and constraints. Mapping reporting incentives together with authority shows whether a cross-package concern can reach the venture board able to authorize action. A culture survey alone misses that governance interface; selecting policy comes after the assessment.
CApply the more transparent partner’s escalation process throughout the venture immediately.
A transparent process may help, but imposing it before assessing authority and incentives leaves the venture’s cross-partner decision barriers unresolved.
DRun a joint risk-culture survey of both partners' staff and benchmark the results.
A survey measures attitudes, but the decision depends on how those attitudes meet decision authority at the package interfaces.
Reference: PMI-RMP Exam Content Outline (2024 file; updated January 2023), Domain I, Task 2, printed page 5. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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03A commissioning interview reports intermittent cooling instability. The monthly dashboard shows normal average temperatures, but raw telemetry contains short spikes during generator transfers. What should the risk specialist do first to investigate these conflicting inputs to risk identification?
Practice question Unit: Risk Identification
ACorrelate spikes, transfers, and interview reports with experts to test a failure scenario. ✓ Correct answer
ECO II Task 1 requires detailed analysis of identification results, including telemetry and business context. Aligning the spike times with generator transfers and the interview tests a credible failure mechanism; monthly averages can conceal short excursions. This investigation should precede a specific risk conclusion or response.
BLog a cooling-failure risk based on the spikes and ask engineering to propose a response.
The spikes are suggestive, but recording and responding before investigating the link with transfers may mis-state cause and effect.
CAsk the interviewee to restate the concern without using the telemetry, preserving source independence.
Keeping sources apart prevents the contextual comparison needed to understand the discrepancy.
DAsk the dashboard owner to add daily maximum temperatures so the monthly view captures spikes.
Better reporting is useful, but it does not identify whether a failure scenario exists; the correlation needs expert investigation first.
Reference: PMI-RMP Examination Content Outline, Domain II Risk Identification, Task 1 Conduct risk identification exercises, printed page 7. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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04A tunnel project assumed that excavated material could be reused on site. Laboratory results now confirm that one material class is unsuitable. Other classes remain untested, and replacement supply is uncertain. What should the risk specialist do with the original assumption analysis?
Practice question Unit: Risk Identification
AOrder replacement material for the unsuitable class now and keep the reuse premise for the rest.
Ordering is a response decision that may be right, but the untested classes and uncertain supply still need examining before the remaining premise can be relied on.
BUpdate the invalidated premise and examine remaining supply uncertainties. ✓ Correct answer
ECO II Task 2 requires assessing the risks associated with assumptions and their relationship to project objectives. The failed material class is now a known constraint, while the untested classes and replacement supply remain uncertain. Update the premise now and assess those remaining exposures rather than generalizing the result or delaying the update.
CAssume all remaining classes are unsuitable because one laboratory result contradicted the reuse premise.
One class-specific result does not establish the suitability of other classes; extrapolation would replace one unsupported premise with another.
DCommission tests on the remaining classes and revisit the assumption analysis when results arrive.
Testing is sensible, but waiting leaves the known invalidated premise in the analysis and ignores the supply uncertainty meanwhile.
Reference: PMI-RMP Examination Content Outline, Domain II Risk Identification, Task 2 Examine assumption and constraint analyses, printed page 7. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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05A team proposes using any increase in help-desk calls as a trigger for payment-interface failure. Recent call increases came from password resets, while genuine payment faults often arrived through a different queue. What should the specialist do before documenting this proposed trigger as suitable?
Practice question Unit: Risk Identification
AUse calls on the payment queue only, since that is where genuine faults usually arrive.
This is closer, but the stem says faults arrive there 'often', not always; the evidence should be examined to confirm which condition meaningfully signals the risk.
BCombine total calls with payment-queue calls into a weighted index and test it next month.
The index still carries noise from password resets, and testing later delays a usable trigger.
CAccept the proposed trigger because any customer contact can potentially concern the payment interface.
Possible relevance of individual contacts does not establish the total as a useful condition, particularly when actual payment faults follow another queue.
DExamine payment-specific evidence and confirm which condition truly signals the risk. ✓ Correct answer
ECO II Task 3 requires assessing and documenting triggers, causes and timing against updated risk data. The proposed total includes unrelated password-reset demand and may miss payment faults reported elsewhere. Examine payment-specific evidence before selecting and documenting a condition that reliably indicates this risk. Narrowing to one queue without validation can still miss relevant failures.
Reference: PMI-RMP Examination Content Outline, Domain II Risk Identification, Task 3 Document risk triggers and thresholds based on context/environment, printed page 7. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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06Two risks have identical matrix ratings. Risk A may occur in 100 days but requires 95 days to prepare a response. Risk B may occur in 20 days and requires one day of preparation. The plan assesses urgency by time remaining before preparation must start. Which risk needs earlier planning attention?
Practice question Unit: Risk Analysis
ATreat both risks as equally urgent because their matrix ratings match.
Matching matrix ratings do not settle urgency. The plan explicitly adds remaining preparation time, which differs between these two risks.
BAddress risk B first because its possible occurrence date is sooner.
Occurrence proximity alone does not determine urgency under this plan. Risk B allows substantially more time before response preparation must begin.
CAddress risk A first because its latest preparation start is sooner. ✓ Correct answer
ECO III Task 1 requires prioritizing on impact and urgency using pre-established criteria. Here urgency is explicitly the latest preparation start: A = 100 − 95 = 5 days; B = 20 − 1 = 19 days. A therefore needs earlier attention despite its later possible occurrence. Equal matrix ratings do not override this separate criterion.
DAddress risk B first because a 20-day horizon gives less margin for any estimating error.
Estimating error affects both risks; under the plan's definition, risk A's preparation must start in 5 days, risk B's in 19.
Reference: PMI-RMP ECO, Domain III Risk Analysis, Task 1 Perform qualitative analysis, printed page 8. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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07Rimal Water must decide whether to buy a $15,000 soil survey before choosing a foundation. Without the survey, the standard foundation has a 30% chance of a $100,000 redesign. The survey always shows whether the ground is weak (30% chance); if weak, a reinforced foundation adds $40,000 and avoids redesign, otherwise the standard foundation is used without redesign. Using expected cost, which decision is preferred?
Practice question Unit: Risk Analysis
ASkip the survey; its branch expected cost of $55,000 exceeds $30,000.
$55,000 adds the full reinforcement cost without weighting it by the 30% chance of weak ground.
BSkip the survey; its $15,000 fee exceeds the $12,000 expected reinforcement.
This compares the fee with reinforcement only and ignores the $30,000 expected redesign the survey avoids.
CRun the survey first; its branch has an expected cost $18,000 lower.
$18,000 is 30,000 − 12,000; it omits the $15,000 survey fee from the survey branch.
DRun the survey first; its branch has an expected cost $3,000 lower. ✓ Correct answer
No survey: 0.30 × 100,000 = $30,000. Survey: 15,000 + 0.30 × 40,000 = $27,000. The survey branch is $3,000 cheaper in expectation. ECO III Task 2 includes decision trees and expected monetary value: roll back each branch with its probability and include the certain information cost. The result is an expected-cost preference, not a guarantee of the realized saving.
Reference: PMI-RMP ECO (2024 file; updated January 2023), Domain III, Task 2, printed p. 8: https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf ; PMI Learning Library, Decisions, decisions—, Expected Monetary Value: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/decisions-quantitative-making-process-7466
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08After a cooling-system response fails, a laboratory activates its approved fallback using the only mobile chiller for seven days. That chiller was also reserved for a separate specimen-storage contingency whose trigger has not occurred. A rental replacement takes two days to arrive; storage can operate safely for three days without that contingency resource. What should the risk specialist recommend now?
Practice question Unit: Risk Response
AOrder the rental now and record storage contingency as ready because the rental is coming.
Ordering is right, but recording readiness before the unit arrives misinforms the storage owner during the two-day gap.
BInform both owners, obtain the rental within the safe interval, and track the readiness gap. ✓ Correct answer
ECO IV Task 2 requires executing contingency plans and evaluating residual and secondary risks arising from implementation. The fallback consumes a resource shared with another plan. A two-day rental lead time fits the stated three-day safe interval, preserving the active fallback while restoring storage readiness. Notify both risk owners and track the interim gap; an order is not yet an available resource.
CMove the mobile chiller to storage immediately and suspend the active laboratory fallback.
Immediate reassignment disrupts an active fallback despite a replacement option that fits the storage safety interval.
DLeave both plans recorded as fully ready because the storage trigger has not occurred.
The fallback has consumed the shared resource, so the second plan is no longer fully ready even before its trigger occurs.
Reference: PMI-RMP Examination Content Outline (2024 filename; internal January 2023), Domain IV Risk Response, Task 2 Implement risk response, printed p. 9 (PDF p. 12). https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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09Over four monthly reviews, no load has fallen from a lifting system after a new restraint response was installed. However, investigation records show that the restraint disengaged repeatedly and a separate supervisor intervention prevented each fall. What conclusion should the residual-risk review present?
Practice question Unit: Monitor and Close Risks
AReport the restraint failures and reassess exposure, separating supervisor saves from restraint performance. ✓ Correct answer
ECO V Task 2 requires monitoring the response and documenting and communicating residual risk. Repeated disengagement is evidence of poor restraint reliability even with zero falls. Separate supervisor interventions prevented the consequences; their success cannot be attributed to the restraint. Reassess and report remaining exposure rather than infer effectiveness from loss counts alone.
BMaintain the low residual-risk assessment because zero falls demonstrate that the installed restraint is effective.
Zero falls describe realized consequences, while the records show that the installed restraint repeatedly failed to provide the intended protection.
CKeep the low residual rating but add supervisor intervention as a formal second control.
Formalizing supervisor intervention may help, but keeping the low rating without reassessing restraint reliability is not justified by the available evidence.
DRecord each prevented fall as an actual load-loss event and use those losses to evaluate the response.
Prevented falls are informative near misses, not actual load losses. Reporting actual losses would misstate what occurred.
Reference: PMI-RMP Exam Content Outline (2024 file; updated January 2023), Domain V, Task 2, printed p.10 (PDF p.13). https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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10A lockout response is reviewed through scheduled monthly observations. Workers receive reminders immediately before each observation and always comply while the reviewer is present. Existing authorized equipment logs repeatedly show bypasses on ordinary days, and workers explain that the observation reminder prompts compliance. How should monitoring be improved?
Practice question Unit: Monitor and Close Risks
ACombine the routine logs with the observations and allow for the reminder effect. ✓ Correct answer
ECO V Task 2 requires monitoring response performance and documenting residual risk. The ordinary-day logs reveal bypasses that reminder-prompted observations miss. Use both evidence streams and explicitly account for the reminder effect when assessing effectiveness; combining evidence does not by itself prove that the underlying exposure has been reduced.
BIncrease the frequency of scheduled observations to twice a month.
More announced observations repeat the reminder effect and still miss ordinary-day behaviour.
CSwitch to unannounced observations and stop using the equipment logs.
Unannounced checks help, but dropping the logs discards the evidence that revealed the problem.
DKeep the monthly observations and record the logged bypasses as separate safety incidents.
Logging the incidents is useful, but the monitoring method that hides ordinary-day behaviour stays unchanged.
Reference: PMI-RMP Exam Content Outline (2024 file; updated January 2023), Domain V, Task 2, printed p.10 (PDF p.13). https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/risk-management-exam-outline_updated-2024.pdf
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