Skip to main content

​
Prerequisites

Before creating system requirements, ensure you have:
  • Customer requirements documented in the CUSTOMER-REQS module
  • Access to the Requirements space in Polarion
  • Understanding of your system architecture and functional decomposition

​
Steps

​
1. Navigate to Requirements Space

From the Polarion sidebar, click Requirements to open the Requirements space dashboard. This displays all requirements documents organized by type.

​
2. Create or Open System Requirements Document

If you don’t have a System Requirements Specification (SRS) document yet:
  1. Click Documents in the Requirements space
  2. Click New Document
  3. Set Document Type to systemRequirementsSpecification
  4. Enter a Document Name (e.g., “AEB System Requirements”)
  5. Choose Requirements as the target folder
  6. Click Create
If an SRS already exists, open it from the document inventory tree.

​
3. Add System Requirement Work Items

Within the open SRS document:
  1. Click Add Work Item or press Ctrl+N
  2. Select System Requirement as the work item type
  3. Fill in the required fields:
    • ID: Auto-generated (e.g., SYSREQ-001)
    • Title: Short name for the requirement
    • Description: Complete requirement statement following “The system shall…” pattern
    • Classification: Select functional, safety, performance, interface, or other subtype
Use clear, testable language: “The system shall detect obstacles within 150m range with 95% reliability under normal visibility conditions” is better than “The system should detect obstacles well.”
Establish upward traceability to customer requirements:
  1. In the system requirement form, scroll to Linked Work Items
  2. Click Add Link next to the refines link role
  3. Search for and select the parent customer requirement(s)
  4. Click OK to save the link
System requirements MUST be created in documents of type systemRequirementsSpecification. The RTM model enforces this constraint—attempting to create system requirements in other document types will fail validation.

​
5. Set Classification for Safety-Critical Requirements

For requirements addressing safety goals or regulatory compliance:
  1. Open the Classification field dropdown
  2. Select the appropriate category:
    • safety — ISO 26262 safety requirements
    • sc (Special Characteristic) — IATF 16949 critical features
    • cc (Cybersecurity Critical) — Security-relevant requirements
  3. If applicable, set ASIL Level field (A, B, C, D)
This classification drives the Safety Readiness Scorecard metrics and enables filtering in Risksheet/PowerSheet views.

​
6. Structure Requirements with Outline Numbering

Use Polarion’s outline structure to organize requirements hierarchically:
  1. Select a requirement row
  2. Use Indent / Outdent toolbar buttons
  3. Drag-and-drop requirements to reorder within sections
Recommended structure: 
1. Functional Requirements
   1.1 Sensor Detection Requirements
   1.2 Processing Requirements
   1.3 Actuation Requirements
2. Performance Requirements
   2.1 Timing Requirements
   2.2 Reliability Requirements
3. Interface Requirements
   3.1 CAN Bus Interface
   3.2 Sensor Interface

​
7. Verify Traceability Coverage

Check that your system requirements properly link to customer requirements:
  1. Navigate to the Requirements Space dashboard
  2. Scroll to Traceability Coverage section
  3. Review the bar: System Reqs → Customer Reqs (refines)
  4. If coverage is below 100%, click the gap count to see unlinked requirements
  5. Add missing refines links using the pattern from Step 4
Expected coverage target: 100% for ISO 26262 Part 4 compliance.
For editing multiple system requirements at once, open the System Requirements Specification PowerSheet. This provides a spreadsheet-like view where you can see customer requirements and system requirements side-by-side, making it easier to verify traceability completeness.

​
Verification

You should now see:
  • ✅ New system requirement work items appear in the SRS document
  • ✅ System requirements linked to customer requirements via refines link role
  • ✅ Requirements visible in the Requirements space dashboard statistics bar
  • ✅ Traceability coverage percentage increases in the Requirements dashboard
To confirm proper setup, run this Lucene query in the Work Items view: 
type:sysReq AND document.location:"Requirements/<Your SRS Name>"
All your new system requirements should appear in the results.

​
See Also