CEMP-CE

Engineer Pamphlet

715-1-2

Department of the Army

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Washington, DC 20314-1000

EP 715-1-2

February 1990

A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE 

CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL (CQC)

Distribution Restriction Statement

Approved for public release; distribution is 

unlimited.
EP 715-1 -2

February 1990

US Army Corps

of Engineers

A Guide to Effective

Contractor

Quality Control

(CQC)
This Pamphlet supsersedes EP 715-1-2, dated

November 1980.
A Guide to Effective

Contractor Quality Control

(CQC)

Effective control of construction operations instills

pride in work, gains favorable recognition, and saves

the contractor money. This booklet explains the

Corps* concept of CQC and can assist the

contractor to bring about effective control. It does

not attempt to tell the contractor how to manage its

organization or construction efforts but passes along

some reminders of lessons learned and some

suggestions as to just what the Corps of Engineers is

looking for from the contractor regarding Quality

Control.

Albert J. Genetti, Jr.

Colonel, Corps of Engineers

Executive Director, Engineer Staff
2

The contractor and the Government are both

interested in quality construction simply because it

means to the Government — getting our money*s

worth, and to the contractor — satisfactory

performance and profit.

CQC is a management system for producing

construction complying with the terms of the

contract. It encompasses all phases of the work,

such as approval of submittals, procurement, storage

of materials and equipment, coordination of

subcontractor*s activities, and the inspections and

tests required to be sure that the specified materials

are used and installation is acceptable to produce the

required end product.

The contractor and the Government both have a role

in obtaining quality construction consistent with the

contract requirements. The responsibilities of both

parties must complement each other and work in

harmony.
3

The contractor is responsible for: (1) producing

the quality product on time and in compliance with

the terms of the contract; (2) establishing and

utilizing a construction quality control program of

the scope and character necessary to achieve the

quality of construction outlined in the contract; and

(3) producing and maintaining acceptable records of

its quality control activities.

The Government is responsible for:

(1) establishing construction standards and quality

control requirements; (2) construction management

activities including, among others, checking

adequacy of contractor*s control (quality assurance

for acceptance), performing specified tests and

inspections as designated in the contract,

determining that reported construction deficiencies

have been corrected; (3) determining payments due

to the contractor; and (4) assuring timely

completion.

For a quality control program to be effective,

there must be a planned program of actions and lines

of authority and responsibilities must be established. 
4

It is necessary to analyze, develop, and document

how the designated QC representatives will manage

and control all construction operations. The plan

should be geared to fit the contractor*s needs. A

meeting is required, before start of construction,

between contractor and Government personnel to

discuss the required plan and the interrelationship of

the contractor and Government. Also, the

Government representative is available at all times to

discuss the planned control operations with the

contractor. The quality control plan should include

at least the following key considerations:

# The plan must include the contractor*s system for

tracking construction deficiencies to ensure

corrective action is taken in a timely manner.

# A CQC staff of adequate size and technical

capabilities to timely accomplish all quality control functions.

# Supervisory staff should have adequate time for

CQC activities, as well as the many management

responsibilities.

# Organizational lines of authority and responsibility must be clear and logical.

# The plan must explain the control, inspection, and

test procedures, both on site and off site, and

assign these responsibilities to individuals on the

CQC staff.

# Qualifications of the staff should match the control requirements of the plan and an individual*s

qualifications must be adequate for the duties

assigned.

# The plan must show the procedures for processing submittals and who will be responsible for

approving each submittal.
5

# The plan must strongly emphasize that quality

will be obtained through a preventive type of

control of each definable feature of work. This

requires an understanding of a definable feature,

as discussed later on in this guide. The plan will

include a listing of proposed definable features of

work.

# The coverage of testing must be adequate. The

plan must list the tests to be performed, and state

who will be responsible for the results, and who

will prepare and sign reports.

# Inspection and test report forms must be

comprehensive.

# Frequency of reporting and time for submitting

reports must be indicated.

It may be advantageous for a contractor to make

incremental submittals of the plan or to

supplement or revise the plan. If the plan is

determined to be inadequate by the Government, the

contractor should make the changes necessary to

assure the specified or needed control is provided

From years of experience,

it has been found that

certain procedures work

better than others and,

therefore, these are

usually included in the

contract documents. One

of these is the three

phase control concept.

The contractor*s control
6

of quality should be divided into at least three phases

for all definable features of work. A definable

feature is a task which is separate and distinct from

other tasks and has separate control requirements.

Each control phase provides the opportunity to

prevent problems and deficiencies. Generally,

construction knowledge and experience alone,

although necessary, will not get the job done. The

contractor*s quality control representative (CQCR)

must know in detail the requirements of the specific

contract. The CQCR can then put the general

construction knowledge and experience to work in

control and accomplishment of specific contract

requirements. The complete performance of the

phase controls is the contractor*s responsibility. The

role of the Government is to see that the control

phases are thoroughly and timely performed and

conducted by the contractor designated CQCR and

the CQCR is knowledgeable and adequately

performs the necessary control. The three control

phases are:

Preparatory phase. The preparatory phase, as it

applies to a feature of work, commences with

actions in advance of construction. A few examples

of preparatory actions are approval of shop

drawings, lift sheets, test reports, and mix designs; a

physical check of material on site against approvals 
7

and contract requirements, safety checks of

equipment, and other preparatory steps dependent

upon the particular operation. Certain types of

complex construction will require lift sheets or

detailed sketches to insure proper location and

installation of embedded items by all crafts. This is a

preparatory action which will pay dividends later by

locating conflicts between trade items sufficiently in

advance to permit timely correction. Advance

planning must be performed to determine that all

preparatory actions required prior to construction

have been accomplished.

Initial phase. The initial control of each separate

feature or segment of work is made at the outset of

the operation. Here is the best opportunity to get the

work off to a proper start in full compliance with

contract requirements. This is the time for the

contractor to establish standards of workmanship. If

there are differences of opinion in the interpretation

of contract requirements, the issue can be discussed

and settled at the outset of work much easier than

after the work is in place. The initial inspection

phase is a practical method of performing preventive

inspection and reaching agreements in advance.
8

Follow-up phase. Follow-up inspection and testing

is geared toward a level of effort to determine

continuation of compliance and workmanship

established during preparatory and initial phases.

Follow-up inspections and testing may be on a daily,

routine, or predetermined basis as required to assure

strict contract compliance. Follow-up inspections

become more productive when they are preceded by

thorough preparatory and initial phases. With

advance determination that material and equipment

are in compliance with the contract and with

workmanship standards established, follow-up

inspection becomes more effective.

Control of construction materials, fabricated

items and installed equipment. The contractor is

responsible for management and control of

submittals and the timely arrival of approved

materials and equipment. The contract will include a

listing of the required submittals. The contractor*s
9

management operation includes reviewing this list to

determine that all submittals are included. A

submittal register will be prepared using this listing

and, if applicable, included in the network schedule.

This can be performed in conjunction with the

planning of the procurement operation. It has been

found that at least 60 days lead time is necessary to

maintain adequate control; therefore, the contract

usually requires monthly updating of the register or

network actually projecting submittal need date 60

days in advance. This procedure should eliminate

construction being delayed by missing or

unapproved materials and equipment. The schedule

must allow adequate time for Government approval

when this approval is required.

The contractor is required to thoroughly review

each submittal to assure complete compliance with

all contract requirements, and certify compliance on

all submittals required in the technical provisions of

the contract.
10

The contract should be reviewed to determine the

control that will be necessary for off site

fabrication items to be procured and to arrange for

this control. The control procedures will be included

in the quality control plan.

Testing is a very important part of controlling

quality. Except for verification tests, the testing is

usually the responsibility of the contractor. This

responsibility includes:

# Checking the contract to determine

tests to be

performed.

# Selecting qualified

personnel or

laboratories.

# Making

arrangements for

timely conducting

of test.

# Selecting test

facilities, equipment,

and procedures that

comply with

required standards.

# Compiling and submitting the required

test documentation

in a timely manner.

# Seeing that all necessary follow-up tests are

made.
11

The Government may check laboratories,

equipment, and procedures for compliance with

requirements. The Government may also reserve the

right to use contractor*s laboratory equipment to

verify contractor test results.

A necessary phase of control not always spelled out

in the contract, but very important is the

completion phase or last follow-up. When a

segment of work is complete, the contractor should

carefully examine this work and prepare a list of

anything not completed or not conforming to

contract requirements. Work yet to be accomplished

could include paperwork, such as submittal of test

documents, certificates, diagrams, etc. An effective

control system closes out as many segments as

rapidly as possible. This also allows full payment to

be made. Therefore, effort should be spent

scheduling and following-up to assure early

completion of the items on the list and a sign-off

from the Government.

Documentation is the

proof of quality control

accomplished. The

necessary reports must

be designed to prove

adequacy of control,

completed in a way to

show accurately all

actions taken and, last

but not least, they must

be timely.

Reports should list for each phase of control the

factual results of control actions taken, observations

made and any remedial and corrective actions. In

addition, they should include complete information

on tests, rejected work, instructions received from

the Government and all prime and subcontractors*

activities during the reporting period.
12

The Government will be continually reviewing work

and studying reports to determine the adequacy

and effectiveness of the contractor*s control

system. The Government*s interest is in maintaining

the necessary control to prevent deficiencies and tear

out and it will therefore emphasize inadequacies in

the control system instead of individual construction

deficiencies. Also, by noting inadequacies in the

contractor*s control system as well as assuring that

defective work is corrected, the Government obtains

a true double check on quality.

When deficiencies are found in the control system,

there are many actions that the Government may

take, depending on the circumstances. Some of these

are: improving the quality control plan, correcting

deficient management, removing incompetent quality

control personnel, correcting defective work,

refusing to allow work to continue on defective

work, requiring personal superintendence by the

contractor, disallowing payment for the defective

work, and issuing an interim unsatisfactory

performance appraisal (may result in future low bid

rejection). Aggressive and effective application of

contractor*s quality control program minimize or

eliminate the need for the Government to take these

actions.

Through effective

quality control, the

contractor can instill

employee pride in their

work, gain a reputation

and recognition for

quality work and, at the

same time, increase the

profit margin.

j U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1991 - 321-093 - 1302/21414