On construction projects, Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) are commonly grouped together into the phrase QA/QC., However, there are some significant differences between the two, and both are important to incorporate into your project.
Project teams perform QA tasks to ensure the customer receives a high-quality product or service and to prevent defects from occurring during the execution of the project. Some examples of productive Quality Assurance tasks are:
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Perform a daily morning huddle with your crews to identify the work being completed and any potential safety and quality risks related to the task(s).
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Provide the relevant submittals and Installation, Operation, and Maintenance (IOM) guides to your crews for any equipment installed on your project so that all team members clearly understand installation expectations before performing the work.
After a team has performed the proper QA tasks to assess all risks and quality issues on a task, they can then perform QC tasks to identify and correct these issues. Some recommended practices to identify poor quality and prevent it from becoming a repeating issue are:
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Schedule regular system walk-downs and installation checks on your job site with your team. Regular job site walks will help your team identify defects, system malfunctions, and non-compliance issues before turnover to your customer.
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When rework occurs on your project, conduct a fact-finding discussion with your team about what might have caused the rework. Identify lessons learned and steps the team can take to prevent a similar issue from occurring again.
What QA/QC activities are you performing on your projects to ensure high quality? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or visit McKenney’s website to find out more!
