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acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria are the stated conditions that work, goods, or services must meet to be accepted under a contract.

In plain English

These are the requirements that act as the pass standard for what is being provided. They set out what the work, goods, or services must satisfy before they can be treated as accepted under the contract.

In context

Here, "acceptance criteria" labels the stated conditions a deliverable must meet to be reviewed and approved as accepted under the contract.

Situation
Tracking obligations, deliverables, milestones, notices, and deadlines
What it communicates
labels the conditions used to review and approve a deliverable.

Meaning limits

The term itself does not say whether those stated conditions have been met in a particular case.

Examples

“The contract sets acceptance criteria for the paving work, including a smooth finish and the correct slope.”

Core meaning

“The manager compared the finished wall with the acceptance criteria in the contract.”

In context