Quality, Specification & Standards

(TCOM 612)

Lecture No. 7 (Quality Assurance)

 Quality Assurance Defined;
 QA;
 All the planned and systematic activities implemented within the
quality system that can be demonstrated to provide confidence a
product or service will fulfill requirements for quality;
 ISO 9000 (or BS 5750) ;
 Those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate
confidence that product or service will satisfy given requirements;
 Frank M. Gryna (2001) ;
 Is the activity of providing evidence to establish confidence that
quality requirement will be met…. Is similar to the concept of the
financial audit, which provides assurance of financial integrity ;
 Quality Assurance in Construction

 Is the activity of providing evidence to establish confidence among all

concerned that quality-related activities are being performed effectively;
 Covers all activities from design, development, construction, installation,
and servicing to documentation, and also includes regulations of the
quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components; … services
related to construction; … and management, production, and inspection
processes;
 Covers all activities performed by the design team, contractor and quality
controller/auditor (supervision staff) to meet owners’ objectives as
specified and to ensure that project/facility is fully functional to the
satisfaction of the owners/end users;
 Quality Assurance in Construction

 Requires that the procedures for incorporating design changes into the
construction plans shall be well developed and fully utilized. The earlier
that design changes are recognized and implemented, the lower the cost ;
 In order to minimize construction cost while meeting all the specifications
in the plans and design, the advertising of bids and awarding of contract
must be closely monitored. The qualifications of the contractors and
subcontractors to perform the services must be advertised, and shall meet
the quality requirements;
 The actual construction activities should be closely monitored to ensure
that engineering plans and specifications are being met or exceeded
throughout the construction process;
 Quality Assurance in Construction
 Quality Audit ;
 A systematic and independent examination to determine whether
quality activities and related results comply with planned
arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented
effectively and are suitable to achieve objectives;
 Types of Audit;
 Internal Audits (1st Party);
 Audits undertaken by an organization to examine its own systems and procedures.
They may be performed by people from within the organization or by teams hired
from outside;
 External Audits (2nd Party);
 Audits undertaken by an organization to examine the quality systems of its
suppliers. They may be performed by in-house teams or by outside agencies hired
by purchasers;
 Third Party Audits;
 Audits undertaken by bodies with no existing or intended contractual relationship
with either the purchaser or the supplier.
 Quality Control & Quality Assurance in
Construction
 Quality Control (QC);
 Is the ongoing, comprehensive, independent checking and
verification of those activities, which lead to a final product that
meets or exceeds the client’s requirements;
 Quality Assurance (QA);
 Are all those actions necessary to provide confidence that the client’s
Quality Control’s process has occurred;
 Why is there an Need for Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QA/QC)
in Construction;
 This is a concern for Project Managers;
 Even minor defects in constructed facilities can cause heavy loss;
 Quality control during construction consists largely of insuring
conformance to these original design and planning decisions;
 Organizing for Quality Control & Quality
Assurance in Construction
 A variety of different organizations are possible for quality control during
construction;
 Most common practice is to have it into two groups;
1)For quality control;
2)For quality assurance;

 In large organization, separate departments are formed;

 Specific individuals are assigned with these functions on small projects;

 In both cases, the project manager is in-charge for the work;

 Work and Material Specifications

 Specifications of work quality are an important feature of facility designs;

 General specifications of work quality are available in numerous fields and
are issued on publications of organizations such as the American Society of
Testing Materials (ASTM) and the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI), and the Ethiopian Standard Codes for different work quality;

 Sometimes these specifications has to be changed depending upon the

field conditions;
 Approach to Quality Control by Statistical
Method

 An ideal quality control program might test all materials and work on a
particular facility;
 For example, a non-destructive technique such as X-Ray inspection of
welds can be used throughout a facility;
 Exhaustive or 100 % testing of all materials and work by inspectors can be
exceedingly expensive;

 As a result, small samples are used to establish the basis of accepting or

rejecting a particular work item;

 Statistical methods are used to interpret the results of test on a small

sample to reach a conclusion;
 Quality Control and Assurance Plan

 An inventory agency responsible for coordinating the QA/QC activities

must be formed;
 A QA/QC plan must be established;
 Provision for general QC procedures must be present;

 Must be the source of a category-specific QC procedures ;

 The presence of a QA review procedure;

 Outlines the reporting, documentation and archiving procedures;

 Objectives of a QA Plan

 Describes the quality program and organization to be implemented so that

the project is constructed in accordance with the contract requirements
and industry standards;
 Describe guidelines for inspection and documentation of construction
activities;
 Provide reasonable assurance that the completed work will meet or exceed
the requirements of the construction drawings and specifications;
 Project QA/QC Organization

Typically Composed of the Following;

 Construction Manager;
 Construction Contractors;
 Site Manager;

 Construction Quality Assurance Officer;

 Senior Field Engineer;

 Field Inspectors;
 Testing
QC Testing
 As required by the contract specifications, the contractor shall establish a
test program;
 To ensure that all required testing is properly identified, planned,
documented and performed under controlled and suitable environmental
conditions, including cleanliness;

QA Testing

 The Construction Quality Assurance Officer (CQAO) will be responsible for

the QA materials sampling and testing program;

 QA testing is provided for the verification of the adequacy and

effectiveness of the contractor’s QC testing;
 Why Quality Assurance Program Fails;
 Starting site work without an acceptable, approved Quality Control Plan;
 Inadequately developed Quality Control contract provisions;
 Inadequately enforced Quality Control contract provisions;

 Delay in submitting an acceptable Quality Control Plan;

 Inadequate qualifications of personnel in the quality control organization;

 Untimely or incomplete reports;
 Failure to take corrective action when deficiencies exist;
 Late or incomplete reporting of tests and inspections;
 Lack of interest by contractor’s managerial personnel;