6.4.5 Late completion

If a Feature cannot be completed by the freeze date for a Release, two options are available:

• If the functionality covered by the late-running work item is considered by the TSG not to be vital to the overall Feature, it may be abandoned, or form part of a later Release. It may be necessary to raise CRs to remove modifications from specifications which have already been implemented, so as not to leave unworking stubs of functionality and to ensure that stages 1, 2 and 3 are harmonized.
• If the foreseen likely overrun is thought to be only a matter of a few months – generally no more than two TSG plenary meeting cycles – the responsible WG may raise an "exception sheet" to request a delay in completion until the next or next-but-one TSG meeting. In this case, the responsible WG undertakes to give high priority to completing the work within that time frame, while recognizing that progress can only be made on the basis of contributions to the work.

In the first case, where the delayed work is moved to a later Release, the responsible WG shall make appropriate changes to the 3GPP work plan.

In the second case, the exception sheet should contain enough information to enable the TSG to make a reasoned assessment of the case, and to accept or reject the proposal.