Change requests and project tasks

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Change requests and project tasks

    ServiceNow enables customers to link change requests to project tasks to integrate change management with project management, especially for large-scale changes requiring project implementation. This linkage allows you to associate one or more change requests with a project task, either by linking existing change requests or creating new ones directly from a project task.

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    Key Features

    • Project Task Links: Linking creates a project task link record that serves as a child task under the project task. This record copies attributes from the change request and is read-only.
    • Parent-Child Task Rules: The relationship between project tasks and linked change requests follows the same rules as parent and child tasks, including roll-up of dates and states.
    • Date Handling: The project task link inherits start and end dates from the change request, adjusting start dates to the later of the two and handling special cases such as non-work time and milestones.
    • Duration Roll-up: Change request durations determine the duration of project task links and roll up into parent project tasks to reflect overall timing.
    • Multiple Change Requests: You can link multiple change requests to a single project task, each creating its own child project task link. The parent task dates adjust accordingly.
    • State Synchronization: Changes to the state of the change request propagate to the project task link and roll up to parent tasks and the overall project. However, changes in the project management application do not affect the change request directly.
    • Restrictions: A project task cannot simultaneously have child tasks and project task links. Additionally, a change request can only be linked to one project task across all projects.

    Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

    • Linking change requests to project tasks provides visibility and alignment between change and project workflows, enabling better coordination and tracking of large-scale changes.
    • Adjusting project schedules and milestones automatically considers linked change requests, ensuring accurate project planning and risk management.
    • State changes in change requests automatically update linked project tasks and projects, helping maintain consistent status tracking across management domains.
    • Manual intervention is required to start tasks linked to change requests and to close change requests after project completion, as automation does not propagate task completions back to change requests.
    • Customers should design their projects to avoid mixing child project tasks and project task links on the same parent task for clarity and compliance with system rules.

    Large-scale changes approved by your change approval board (CAB) require new or existing projects to be implemented.

    To bridge the gap between change management and project management, the instance allows you to link one or more change requests to a project task. You can link an existing change request to a project task or create a new change request directly from a project task.

    When you link a project task to a change request record, a new project task link record is created. It provides the actual link between the project task record and the change request record. The project task link copies all attributes of the change request record. It then becomes a child task of the project task that you linked to the change request. The rules that govern the relationship between the project task and the project task link are the same as the rules for all parent and child tasks.

    Figure 1. Project tasks linked to change requests
    Project tasks linked to change requests
    Note:
    A project task cannot have both task link records and child project tasks. When a project task is linked to a change request, you cannot also create child tasks for that project task. Likewise, when a project task has child tasks, you cannot link the parent project task to a change record.

    The project task link record is read only. You can view the project task links from a related list on the Project Task form.

    You can also link multiple change requests to a single project task. In this case, a project task link record is created for each link and all the project task link records become child tasks of the project task.

    Figure 2. Project tasks links
    Project tasks links

    Change request project task relationship

    The rules that apply to all parent-child tasks also govern the relationship between project task and the project task link. The project task link inherits start and end dates from the change request. However, the Project Management application adjusts the dates when these situations occur:

    Start and end dates:

    • If the project task and the change request have different planned start dates, the project task link uses the later of the two dates. For example, if the project task starts on October 1 but the change request starts on October 2, the project task link changes to October 2.
    • If the change request has an earlier start date, the Time constraint value for the project task link becomes Start ASAP when the link is created. The end date remains the same as the end date specified in the change request record.
    • If the change request starts and ends before the project start date, the project task link has a duration of zero (0). It also appears as a milestone that occurs when the project starts.
    • If a change request is scheduled to start during non-work time according to the project schedule, the planned start date of the project task link ignores the schedule. It also starts at the time specified by the change request. However, the duration of the project task link does take the schedule into consideration. For example: the project uses the default schedule, which specifies that work hours are Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 17:00 with an hour break from noon to 13:00. A change request with a 13-hour duration starts at midnight. The project task link starts at midnight and continues through the start of the schedule at 08:00. It stops at noon for one hour, and continues from 13:00 until 14:00. The total duration would be 13 hours.

    Project Task Duration

    The duration of the change request determines the duration of the project task link. That duration is rolled up to the parent project task just as all child task durations roll up to parent tasks. The Planned start date and Planned end date in the Change Request form Schedule section are the fields that determine the duration. If there are no planned dates on the Change Request form, the default duration is one project day. The project has a schedule or 24 hours when the project has no schedule.

    Multiple Linked Change Requests

    If you link additional change requests to a project task, additional project task links are created. All become child tasks of the project task. The dates roll up to the parent task. For example, if a linked project task is planned to finish on October 30. You link a new change request scheduled to finish on November 30, a new project task link is created. The parent task planned end date extends to November 30 to cover the duration of both project task links. A change request can only be linked to one project task. It cannot be linked to multiple tasks in the same project or across multiple projects. A project task that has one or more child tasks cannot also have a project task link connecting it to a change request.

    Project Task State

    If the state of a change request changes to Pending, Open, or Work in Progress, the state of the project task link changes accordingly. If the state of the change request changes to any of the closed states, the state of the project task link changes to Closed Complete.

    How Modifications Propagate Between Change Requests and Project Tasks

    Modifications to a linked change request propagate to the project task link. However, the reverse is not true. You cannot modify the change request record from the Project Management application.
    Modifications to the following fields propagate from the change request to the project task link:
    • Planned start date
    • Planned end date
    • State
    These change request settings also roll up to the project task that is the parent of the project task link, and also up to the project record. Consider the following example: a project has not yet been started and all its tasks are in the Pending state. If you changed the state of a linked change request record from Open to Work in Progress, the project task link, its parent task, and the project itself all change to Work in Progress.

    When you start a project, tasks that have Start ASAP as the time constraint and have no other start dependencies start immediately. However, project tasks with linked change requests do not start automatically. The project manager must start the task manually by changing the State field to Work in Progress.

    Modifications made in the Project Management application do not propagate to a linked change request record, so closing a project does not close a linked change. When you successfully implement a change and close the project it belongs to, you must go to the change request record and manually change the state to Closed.