National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 21513:2026.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee MS/2, Project, programme and portfolio management.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 January 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 258 Project, programme and portfolio management.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

This document provides principles and guidance on the evaluation of projects and programmes after they have closed, providing valuable feedback to identify what worked and what did not, while promoting a culture of continuous improvement and contributing to organizational learning.

The post-project and post-programme evaluation as described in this document is aligned in accordance with ISO 21502:2020, 6.9.

The audience for this document includes, but is not limited to:

executives, senior management and sponsors who use evaluation for decision-making;
governing bodies that oversee the quality of planning, monitoring and evaluation practices;
individuals who are involved in evaluations, including those:
- commissioning evaluations;
- engaging evaluation team leads and members;
- planning evaluations;
- managing evaluations;
- using the results of evaluations;
individuals who are involved in the academic study of project, programme and portfolio management;
developers of national standards, organizational standards, industry standards and public policy.

1 Scope

This document gives guidance on the evaluation of projects and programmes after they have been closed, including guidance to the reviewers and contributors involved in these evaluations. Post-project or post-programme evaluations focus on evaluating the achievement of objectives, actual outcomes and actual realization of benefits, whether the outcomes or benefits are likely to fulfil expectations in future and the effectiveness of governance and management of the project or programme.

This document includes guidance for setting, planning, organizing and conducting post-project and post-programme evaluations. It is applicable to any organization, including public, private and charitable, as well as, to any type of project or programme, regardless of purpose, delivery approaches, life cycle model used, complexity, size, cost or duration.

This document does not apply to evaluations that occur before projects or programmes have started or during the implementation of a project or programme.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Concepts

4.1 Overview

4.2 Purpose

4.3 Governance

4.4 Benefits

4.5 Time frame

4.6 Continuous improvement

5 Prerequisites for post-project or post-programme evaluations

5.1 Overview

5.2 Senior executive support

5.3 Organizational capability and capacity

5.4 Alignment with organizational governance and systems

5.5 Cooperation from contractors or suppliers

5.6 Cooperation from customers

6 Principles

6.1 Overview

6.2 Credibility

6.3 Independence

6.4 Objectivity

6.5 Proportionality

6.6 Utility

7 Roles and responsibilities

7.1 Overview

7.2 Sponsoring organization

7.3 Evaluation sponsor

7.4 Evaluation team leader

7.5 Evaluation team members

7.6 Evaluation stakeholders and consultees

7.7 Recommendation implementation teams

8 Evaluation themes

8.1 Overview

8.2 Governance and management

8.3 Strategic alignment and objectives

8.4 Outputs and outcomes

8.5 Benefits

8.6 Sustainability

9 Evaluation practices

9.1 Overview

9.2 Defining objectives and scope

9.3 Planning

9.4 Mobilization

9.5 Implementation

9.6 Reviewing and addressing the results

Bibliography

BS ISO 21513:2026

Project, programme and portfolio management. Guidance on post-project and post-programme evaluation

Current

Published:

31 Jan 2026