The USACE Three Phase Quality Control Process is a required for all military-related construction projects. Developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), this construction process ensures that essential quality controls are in place across all phases of a project.
The three phases of quality control fundamentally form a solid foundation for private sector construction projects. It is one of the most widely implemented construction quality control models in use today.
This blog post will discuss how to use the three phase quality control process in your next construction project and the benefits of doing so.
So what are the USACE three phases of quality control in the construction industry?
The three phases of control are essentially:
Firstly, preparing by reviewing your construction requirements before you begin work.
Second, ensuring that initially work starts off correctly.
Third, following up to make sure work is completed correctly. Of course, there is much more to it in practice, but that's just about what they are in a nutshell.
As a construction company, you are probably already performing them. However, you need to explain how you do it in your construction quality control plan.
To give you a broad idea of what is required, we've compiled a quick summary of the procedures you'll undergo for phases of control as used by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
(Image source: FirstTimeQuality.com)
The preparatory phase is like a pre-construction meeting for starting work on an upcoming project milestone. Most projects will have preparatory phases, for example, sitework, foundations, structure, and the like. The objective is achieving first time quality and preventing costly problems.
The meetings usually involve the project team, subcontractors, project owners, building product manufacturers, and third-party inspectors.
In the preparatory phase meetings, you'll want to make sure that everyone involved in the project understands and agrees with the project specifications and the construction process. A good practice is to identify what is necessary for work to begin including government authority approvals, critical building products, and key personnel.
Check out FTQ360's Phases of Control QAQC Setup for a Highrise Project:
It's also vital that you have a quality management system in place so that everyone involved in the project knows what is expected of them and how they can contribute to high quality outcomes. It should always include who is responsible for inspection tasks, how they will be carried out, and by whom.
The meeting agenda should also include an open discussion of lesson
s learned and concerns for potential problems. With these problems in mind, then move on to planning preventive actions and controls that will minimize risks. Critical items to check during construction should be added as checkpoints to inspection checklists.
The outcome of your preparatory meetings you should be:
In the initial phase, your quality control plan is put into action. You will make sure that work is ready to begin, and that it starts off on the right track.
This is also an opportune time for the project superintendent to lead a final field review of the construction requirements and inspection process. The goal is to give everyone involved a heightened awareness of critical requirements and potential problems to avoid.
Review the preparatory meeting notes. Is the preparatory planning carried out? Is everything in place for work to begin? Only then is it okay to proceed.
Closely monitor the first representation of completed work to make sure it meets the project requirements. If the first item is good, the rest have a potential of being good also. It would be a shame to have to rip out one hundred windows, when any problems could have been caught on inspecting window one.
In summary, supervisors will do the following:
In the follow-up phase of quality control, you'll want to ensure that quality is maintained through to completion. This includes inspecting work in progress, verifying that all documentation is complete and accurate, and conducting a final quality audit.
Daily reports are used to monitor ongoing work documenting daily activity and project progress. Pictures, videos, weather reports, manpower, equipment on site all go to documenting that work is proceeding as planned on a day-to-day basis.
The most important follow-up is documenting proper completion of work in compliance with the project specifications. Inspection reports provide proof positive that critical checks have been verified, pictures document critical details have been followed, and data confirms that dimensions and other measurements are as required.
It's also essential that you establish procedures for handling non-conforming products, and corrections are made to bring them back into conformance.
At the completion of the follow-up phase you should have the following:
As you can see, there's a lot involved in the three phase quality control process. However, by taking the time to implement it correctly, you can ensure that your construction quality process is proactive rather than reactive.
There are several benefits of using the USACE three phase quality control process on your next project:
If you're looking for quality control software that will help you ensure that your construction project meets USACE requirements, look no further than FTQ360.
Our software was developed specifically for construction quality assurance and is fully compliant with all USACE quality management requirements including:
In addition to helping you implement the USACE Three Phase Quality Control Process in your construction projects, our software also offers a host of other features such as:
For more information, sign up for a free demo to see how our software can help you improve your quality management.