What condition must be met to edit the factor guidance of a published risk assessment methodology (RAM)?

To edit the factor guidance of a published risk assessment methodology (RAM), it is required that all assessment instance records are deleted. This requirement ensures that the methodology remains stable and consistent for users engaging with risk assessments. When instances exist, they may reference currently published factor guidance, potentially leading to discrepancies or confusion as updates take place.

By deleting these instances, it guarantees that there are no interfering records that could rely on the previous guidance, thereby allowing for a fresh framework to be applied to the revised methodology. This approach protects the integrity of both the guidance being edited and the assessments influenced by it, ensuring coherence across the usage of the RAM.

The other options suggest conditions where records are in specific states, either as published or in a closed state, which would not allow for the necessary changes. Additionally, the idea that the states of the assessment instance records are irrelevant undermines the need for a clean slate for the updates to take effect, thus reinforcing the necessity of deleting all records to proceed with the modification of factor guidance.