The term design review refers to a specific management technique that is used primarily for the purposes of conducting a thorough evaluation of a proposed design in hopes of determining whether or not that current proposed design will in fact meet the project requirements set forth by the customer. The design review also can be (and should be) conducted to make a determination as to whether the proposed design will be fully functional and, after functioning successfully, can be adequately maintained for a minimum and predetermined period of time. It is preferable that the design review take place as early in the project life cycle as possible. This is because, if it is done later in a project’s life cycle, financial resources may have already been expended to provide materials for a project to be completed according to a specific project design, and if it is determined after these materials have already been acquired, that may cause a waste of resources. If the design review is conducted early enough, any waste should be kept to an absolute minimum, and that should greatly help the project budget.
This term is defined in the 3rd edition of the PMBOK but not in the 4th.