Reasons Why Every Project Needs a Quality Control Plan

  

All projects require a quality control plan. Without a proper quality control plan, quality control (QC), as well as quality assurance (QA) processes, are simply created by project teams along the way, which often leads to disaster and chaos.

To avoid such a situation later on in you project, it is strongly recommended to have a fully documented and detailed quality control plan in place for every project.

Quality control plan documentation should clearly mention the steps to be taken to control quality and resolve any quality issues associated with the project at hand as well as detail the required actions, such as quality checks, inspections, responsibilities, and so forth that need to be taken at every stage of all the processes involved, to ensure that outcomes meet project-specific requirements and conform to industry standards.

While it is a fact that there will be a few similar components in all kinds of quality control plans, each project is unique in itself and will include factors that rely on the accurate specifications of that particular project.

Nevertheless, there is no good reason to waste a huge amount of time unnecessarily on every project at hand. With a great company quality control (QC) plan template, project teams could be provided with a consistent and clear approach to creating project-related quality control plans that not only meet the specific requirements but adhere to the quality standards of every project.

What Is a Quality Control Plan?

Quality Control Plan (QCP) is a written set of activities and procedures for delivering products that meet quality-specific goals. These procedures are aimed at fulfilling the requirements as mentioned in manuals, contract documents and guidance.

What is the Objective of the Quality Control Plan in a Project?

The true purpose of a Quality Control Plan document is to predict sources of substandard quality and describe ways to discover and prevent them. 

Creating a Quality Control Plan Template

The best thing about a Quality Control Plan (QC) plan template is that it is reusable – which means, it can easily be modified and adapted to every project – similar to a “fill-in-the-blanks” form. 

Obviously, every project team must develop a quality control plan, specific to the project at hand. However, the company quality control plan template offers the required guidance on things that need to be included in the plan. 

Project Personnel to Involve in Quality Control

Who’s overseeing the project’s quality management team? Each project must have a designated quality manager, who will bear the overall responsibility to ensure the quality of the project, along with several project superintendents, who will have the responsibility to handle day-to-day site operations. Additionally, there should be foremen, inspection officers and subcontractors, along with the project manager. 

When it is about managing, planning and implementing quality specifications and standards within the project, an organisational chart can help you figure out who will be in charge of what as well as who will report to whom. This will additionally aid you in defining the quality-specific responsibilities and roles of key professionals working on the project.

Quality Control Processes

The quality plan template should also document the requirements for various quality processes that must be adapted to project specifications. 

For instance, if the quality plan template says that key building materials and products obtained on the worksite must be checked prior to use, the project-specific, finished QC plan will precisely figure out what materials and/or products need to be inspected, and who will complete those inspections. 

Likewise, if the quality control plan template states that it must involve compliance assessments at all project milestones, the finished QC plan will show the milestones that need to be inspected as well as the professionals responsible for inspecting them.

Inspection Tests, Plans and Correction of Deficiencies

All construction projects require inspections at different stages of work. In this case, the template will depict the acceptance criteria that must be defined first, along with an inspection plan that must be developed to make sure all requirements are fully met. 

The inspection plan will find out what needs to be inspected when the inspections will take place and who will be responsible for the same.

Here, the template will show that the checklists for quality inspection must be prepared –although it would be the project team that will decide what specific items need to be included on the quality inspection checklists of the finished plan for a particular project.

The team will also figure out who will be responsible for following up on fixing deficiencies, along with the responsibilities, roles and processes for checking acceptance criteria against those fixes.

Creating a Comprehensive and Consistent Quality Control Plan

A well-defined quality control plan is important to ensure that quality processes across the company are implemented appropriately on every project undertaken. Creating a quality control (QC) plan template, which can easily be adapted to every project may simplify the whole process while ensuring uniformity across all tasks to be performed. 

Thankfully, you don’t need to begin from zero when it is about creating a project quality plan.

You can consider downloading a number of samples for different specialities from a reliable online resource. Having said that, the terrific combination is to combine your quality control plan with quality management software that is particularly designed to address various facets of QC plans, specific to the project, and streamline activities related to quality control. 

A good quality management system has the potential to facilitate the development of a project-based quality control plan in a uniform and organised manner. For many projects, particularly in the field of construction, it can support permit to work management as well as construction commissioning software for better outcomes.  

Quality management software plays a pivotal role in executing successful quality control (QC) plans, not just by automating the standard QC processes, but also by acting as a critical management tool to see ahead in time and track compliance with the QC plan. 

To Conclude

Having a uniform quality process across different projects is only possible when your project team has clear guidance and instructions to follow as well as the key software to make everything more accurate, easier and faster.