Posted by Ed Caldeira on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 @ 04:07 PM
An Inspection Test Plan (ITP) is a commonly required document that you'll need to submit with your construction quality control plan. Whether you're working on a private sector or government contract, clients today all want to see your inspection test plan. They want to know exactly what inspections and tests you'll be forming to control quality on their project.
In addition to telling your client what inspections and tests you'll do to control quality, your ITP is also a checklist for you to log the results of your inspections and tests during the project.
So what should you include on your inspection and test plan anyway?
The following 7 tips will help you to create your inspection and test plans:
1) Before you can start, you'll need an inspection test plan form. Click on this link, and you can download one free from our website: Inspection Test Plan Form Templates.
2) Complete the form by, first, adding your task inspections. List a task inspection for each Definable Feature of Work (DFOW), also known as a construction task or a phase of work.
3) Now, add your milestone inspections. These are inspections at the completion of each major piece of work. For example, this could be at the completion of a foundation or each floor in a high-rise.
4) Next, look at your project specification, and add the required inspections and tests from it.
- DO include tests that you hire an independent testing agency to perform.
- DO include inspection hold points.
- DO NOT include inspections conducted by your client, as that is their own quality control, not yours.
5) Finally look in the Division 01 General Requirements section of your specification for any special inspections to add to your inspection test plan. These could be such things as field assessments and final closeout inspections.
Click the image on the left to see the first page of a completed Inspection Test Plan.
Once you have a good template and know what to include, putting together an inspection test plan becomes very straightforward.
Posted by Ed Caldeira on Fri, Jun 11, 2010 @ 09:27 PM
As a construction quality consultant, one trend I’m seeing is that more project owners are asking for construction quality control plans. And, it’s clear that this practice is increasing.
Now, not only do you need to produce quality, defect-free work, you also need to formally document your quality practices.
Explaining what you do and the specific ways you’ll carry out your quality practices on each project will become part of your project contract. It's no longer good enough to just say that you control quality.
Once only a requirement on government projects, I’m also seeing more and more quality plans required on non-government projects as well (although, it is still more common on government jobs).
In any event, you'll want to be prepared to provide your clients with a well-formulated quality control plan including a quality manual, project plan, standard operating procedures and submittal forms.
Here's a short list of do's and don'ts based on some of the common mistakes I see with quality plan submittals.
- Don’t appoint a superintendent as your quality manager. Clients want to see independence between the person who is responsible for the overall quality of your work and the person responsible for production.
- Do include a separate policy in your quality manual for the preparation of your project quality plan.
- Don’t forget to include local building codes in your quality plan. They apply even though your client may not have listed them in the contract specifications.
- Do provide a cross-reference table between your client’s requirements and your submittal. You need to make it easy for your client to see how you meet the contract specifications. This also makes it easy for you to cross check that you have addressed each required element in your contract specifications.
- Don’t forget to include a standard operating procedure for each submittal form. Often companies will have forms but not the accompanying procedures, which should include the purpose, scope, and references regarding the forms.
- Do look for quality-related specifications in all sections of your contract, even sections other than the QA/QC section. Quality-related requirements can be included throughout the contract.
The trend of requiring formal quality plans as part of construction contract submittals is here to stay. Whether you’re putting a quality plan submittal together now or will need one in the future, keep these tips in mind and you’ll avoid some of the more common problems.
~I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Please share your critique / approaches / feedback in comments below.
Posted by Ed Caldeira on Tue, Mar 02, 2010 @ 07:55 AM
A project quality plan is a written plan that details how you will manage quality on a specific construction project.
This is different from a quality manual, which explains your quality policies and procedures in general, but not with information specific to each project.
Clients may ask for project quality plans in different ways. One way may be that your contract says you need to submit a quality control plan. Another way may be that your client comes out and asks for a project quality plan.
In most cases, everyone wants the same thing: your quality manual, standard operating procedures, and the project plan.
Below is a list of questions your project plan should answer. Underneath each question, I’ve listed the form(s) you can include in your plan on which to give your answers (i.e. the information your client wants).
Project Quality Plan
Who’s on the project quality management team?
- A Project Organization Chart
What makes them qualified to be there?
- Appointment Letters defining the responsibility and authority for each team member’s position
- Personnel Qualification Form verifying the capabilities of each team member and who approved them
- Resume for each team member
What training will you provide to make sure your people have the necessary skills and knowledge for this project? Will you train your customer on operations and maintenance? This should include quality system, quality procedures, and the technical training.
- Training Plan indicating the training and who has received it
Who are the points of contact for the project?
How will you make sure all quality-related information gets to the people that need it?
- Project Quality Communications Plan
What documents, reports, and records will you submit, by when, and to whom?
- Project Submittals Schedule and Log
Project-Specific Standards
What regulatory codes and industry standards apply to this project?
- Project Regulatory Codes and Industry Standards Form
Project-Specific Inspections and Tests
What inspections and tests will you conduct for this project? How will you record each inspection and test?
- Inspection and Test Plan Form
- Quality Controlled Construction Task Form
What measuring devices need calibration and how often?
- Measuring Devices Calibration Form
Project Purchasing
What credential and resources do your key subcontractors need such as licenses, insurance, production capacity? Also, how do their quality programs meet your requirements?
- Subcontractor and Supplier Qualification Form
Who are your qualified suppliers and what materials will they supply?
Download 2 Free Project Quality Plan forms:
1. Project Quality Plan Form (to use as a checklist for your quality plan submittal)
2. Quality Manager Appointment Form (to appoint your quality manager and assign quality responsibilities and authority)
About the Author - Ed Caldeira is founder of Caldeira Quality, specializing in custom quality control plans, First Time Quality construction quality assurance program implementations and FTQ360 performance management software. He can be reached at www.FirstTimeQuality.com.
Posted by Ed Caldeira on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 @ 04:13 PM
If you want a shot at winning a government construction contract, you'll want to dive in and tackle the mound of documents you'll need for your comprehensive quality control plan.
Quality control plans for government contracts require a substantial collection of documents, records, and forms. Their purpose is to communicate what you do to assure consistent quality results on every job.
A good quality control plan will show your clients that your company can fit into their quality systems.
What documents do you need?Most government agencies with comprehensive QA/QC requirements want specific submittals during each phase of construction. The phases include:
- Bid Qualification Phase
- Pre-Construction Phase
- Construction Phase
Here is a list of most of the documents or submittals you'll need for each phase of construction.
Bid Qualification Phase Submittal Documents - qualify your company to manage and deliver quality work
Pre-Construction Phase Submittal Documents -part of your project quality plan-- detail how you will manage and deliver quality on this project.
- Organization Chart – identifies the management team responsible for ensuring project quality
- Quality Personnel’s Qualifications form – lists the qualifications of your quality management team
- Quality Personnel’s Appointment letter– gives your quality management team authority for ensuring project quality
- Quality Training Plan – establishes your training plan for quality-related activities
- Regulatory codes and standards form - lists the regulatory codes and standards you comply with
- Industry standards form – outlines the industry standards you comply with
- Inspection and Test Plan form– describes the inspections and tests you conduct
- Selection of key suppliers and subcontractors form – explains you supplier and subcontractor selection process
- Material and equipment specification form – records specifications for the material and equipment you use
- Communications plan form - records a summary of monthly project status reports
Construction Phase Submittal Documents - provide a record of how you carried out your project quality plan
- Inspection and Test Records – records the results from your planned inspections and tests
- Nonconformance Reporting – documents any work or materials found during inspections and tests that don’t meet (conform to) your standards
- Daily Construction Reporting – summarizes what happened on the job site that day
- Training Records – lists training sessions that were conducted for preventive as well as improvement purposes
- Quality System Audits – defines the preventive actions you take because of your monthly project quality system audits and your annual company-wide quality system audit.
- Document Control Records – explains the controls you use to keep your quality system records up-to-date, accurate, and safe
The way you show your client that you have a good QA/QC program with good systems in place is by showing them your system documentation. In other words, you need to show them a good quality control plan.
Get started with developing your quality control plan by documenting the quality processes you do now.
Follow that up with a plan to improve upon your existing quality systems, and you'll be ready for that government construction contract.
And, don't forget... always document your quality processes.
Get Two Free Project Quality Plan Submittal Forms.
About the Author - Ed Caldeira is founder of Caldeira Quality, specializing in
First Time Quality construction quality programs and
FTQ360 performance management software. He can be reached at
www.FirstTimeQuality.com.