Where Quality Control Requirements Come From
Some contracts include a detailed quality control program with required inspections, hold points, testing and records. Others say little beyond requiring the work to conform to the documents. In both cases, recognized contractor practice includes checking work before it is concealed, verifying that installation follows the documents, and correcting deficiencies. Paul identifies the requirements that applied before evaluating what was done.
Contractor Quality Control Versus Inspections by Others
Inspections by building officials, owners' representatives and design professionals do not replace the contractor's own quality control. A building inspector checks for code compliance at defined points; an architect's site observations are typically limited by contract; an owner's representative may focus on progress. The contractor remains responsible for the conformance of its work under most contracts. Paul explains what each inspection covered and what it did not.
Elements of Contractor Quality Control
- Review of drawings, specifications and approved submittals before work begins
- Pre-installation meetings for critical work
- Inspection at hold points before work is covered
- Verification that products match approved submittals
- Recording deficiencies and tracking them to correction
- Re-inspection after correction
- Punch list and close-out inspection before turnover
Corrective Action
Finding deficiencies is only half of quality control; correcting them is the other half. Paul reviews deficiency logs, correction notices and punch lists to see whether deficiencies were corrected at their cause, verified and closed out, or left open, covered up or corrected only cosmetically. A pattern of repeated deficiencies without effective correction can indicate a systemic quality problem.
Quality Control Records as Evidence
Quality control records show what the contractor checked and found. Examples include inspection checklists, hold point sign-offs, photographs before concealment, deficiency logs and correction records. Their presence supports a contractor's position that it checked the work; their absence, where the contract or practice called for them, may suggest the checks were not made. See contractor documentation and construction supervision.
Quality Control in Occupied Facilities
In occupied buildings, quality control has to account for protection of existing finishes, phasing and the risk that later operations damage new work. Paul has managed quality checks in an operating airport for nearly two decades, and he evaluates whether a contractor's quality practices accounted for these conditions, including inspections at each phase and protection of completed work until turnover.