Quality Assurance/Quality

Control Plan Evaluation

 Why Do You Plan for Quality?
 “If you don’t know where
you’re going, any road
will take you there”

 Louis Carroll
 Responsibility for Quality
 Recognition of A/E industry capabilities
 Acceptance that quality is the A/E’s responsibility
 Both parties
 CFLHD’s roles is QA
Follow Through on Quality
 The best written quality
plan is no better than the
worst, if it is not followed
through.
 Take the time to provide
the appropriate level of
quality control.
 Reduced levels of QC may
be justified, but they must
be communicated and
agreed to.
 Reasons for Evaluation
 CFLHD accepted the existing QA/QC plans on the
merits of each firm.
 Now that the existing QA/QC plans have been in
practice for a while, CFLHD will be evaluating
them to develop a basis for providing QA/QC
program improvement recommendations;
modification of scopes of work to address
deficiencies; and to identify weakness areas for
monitoring.
 How Evaluation was Developed
 Key
elements of a comprehensive highway
QA/QC plan were identified
The evaluation criteria was selected by researching
quality practices of State DOTs and consultants.
 Goals of Evaluation
 Provide CFLHD with a clear understanding of the
QA/QC processes and procedures that are in place
to control the quality of the work.
 Identify improvement opportunities.
 And;
Goals of Evaluation
 Verify that the
mechanisms that control
quality are in place so the
product meets the
expectations of the team.
 Client Agencies;
 CFLHD; and
 A/E
 Evaluation Criteria
 The current organizational QA/QC plans will be
evaluated, using 25 evaluation criteria, for the inclusion of
the elements necessary to promote the thorough review
and checking of all documents.
 Implementation of QA/QC is not intended to lead to
unnecessarily complex and expensive systems but only to
formalize and record the good management practices that
have usually been practiced in the past.
 WEAKNESS
SUMMARY OF EVALUATION CRITERIA RESULTS AREAS

THE CONSULTANT’S QA/QC PLAN:

Provides for quality checking and reviewing processes through all phases of product
1 development.

2 Provides for involvement of the project manager in the control of quality.

3 Provides for adequate continuous QC during design and production.

4 Provides for the development of a Project Quality Plan.

5 Provides for the various review types used to control the work.

6 Provides for internal Quality Assurance monitoring.

Provides addressing, incorporation and verification of review comments and the use
7 of a comment and response tracking form.

Provides for proper subconsultant quality control (including verification of

8 document quality).
 WEAKNESS
SUMMARY OF EVALUATION CRITERIA RESULTS
AREAS

9 Provides for the retention and filing of QA/QC check copies and records.

Requires the use of a tracking and responsibility stamp or sign-off.

10

Requires the use of an adequate checking and back-checking system, including how
11
to utilize the checking system.
Provides for the QC checking of manual calculations.
12

Provides for the QC checking of computer-generated calculations.

13

Provides for the QC checking of drawings.

14

Provides for the QC checking of specifications.

15

Provides for the QC checking of quantities and cost estimate.

16

Provides for the QC checking of environmental commitments and permitting

17 requirements (including incorporation of commitments and requirements).
 WEAKNESS
SUMMARY OF EVALUATION CRITERIA RESULTS
AREAS

Provides for the QC checking of studies and reports.

18

Provides for the QC checking of construction stakeout reports.

19

Provides for a document and report format review.

20

Bridge quality assurance/quality control minimum requirements

21

Provides for the use and submittal of development and review checklists and QC
22
control documents

Provides a certification that QC checking has been performed in accordance with

23
QA/QC plan.

Provides for sealing and signing of documents (i.e. plans, specifications, reports,
24
studies, etc.).

Provides for a final closeout and evaluation.

25
 Involvement of Project Management
in QA/QC
 Project managers have to
be active participants in
the quality of deliverables.
 Verification that scope and
design are in agreement.
Development of a Project Quality Plan
 Scope of each review.
 Allocation of resources and areas of responsibility.
 Analysis of risks and design decisions.
 Firststep in assuring that best practices and sound
engineering judgment is used.
 Qualityassurance of subconsultants.
 Reference quality procedures to be used.
 Modification of PQP.
 Subconsultant Quality Assurance and
Quality Control
 Subconsultants have acceptable QA/QC plans.
 QA activity to ensure that work is balanced between
project constraints, good engineering judgment, and
it reflects the appropriate level of risk.
 Subconsultant are tasked to provide activities for
back checking the technical recommendations
against the project deliverables to assure that the
technical recommendations reflect the evolution of
the project.
 Quality Assurance Certificate of
Compliance
 A certificate
of compliance is to be submitted for
ALL deliverables.
Use of Checklists and QA/QC Control
Documents
 Use documents at the appropriate stages of
development.
 Submit the completed checklists with each of the
deliverables.
 Sealing and Signing of Documents
 Engineering drawing
 Cross-Sections
 Specifications
 Engineering reports and formal technical
memorandums
 Construction staking reports
 All other technical recommendations or
deliverables
 Final Closeout and Evaluation
 Document problems encountered
 Areas for improvement
 Mistakes and lessons learned
 Outstanding features
 Corrective action plan
 Next Step in the Process
 An audit report for each of the current QA/QC
plans will be developed.
 The reports will be distributed.
 Meeting to discuss the results will be scheduled, as
necessary, to address findings.
THANK
YOU