ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT, AND CONSTRUCTION QUALITY

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INTRODUCTIONEngineering, Procurement, and Construction projects can vary greatly between

project size and deliverables. From building a new facility to adding on to existing facilities or making necessary improvements. The later of these will undoubtedly require the shut down of operations, so it is critical to ensure these operations are not affected by unplanned shutdowns which can be devastating to the company’s bottom line.

To help prevent any unplanned shutdowns, it is important to define each phase of the project and its constituent tasks that make up each phase.

2Figure 1

Preconstruction and fabrication

Construction and fabrication – Before transfer

of control

Commissioning and

Qualification

Operations - Post transfer of care, custody,

and control

Phases of construction quality program

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Cost

ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAMAs problems occur in each phase, associated costs can grow exponentially so it

is preferable to catch as many issues as feasible in the beginning stages of projects.

Due to project overruns, 1 many organizations have created a CQA (Construction Quality Assurance) team within projects to provide a quality oversight as CQA methods have been proven to ensure quality, lower costs, and improve efficiency.

The CQA program can also help to define staffing requirements, contractor expectations, and the reporting of and addressing quality issues. Software tools (Excel or other databases) are very helpful to record, track, and analyze reported issues and identify areas in need of improvement. This data provides CQA metrics for management review.

31 . S O U R C E : B R U C E B E C K A N D T I M I S L E , 2 0 1 7 J A N , A S Q Q U A L I T Y P R E S S , B U I L D I N G A S S U R A N C E

ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAM

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Figure 2

Construction Quality

Assurance

Design Review Contractor

Selection

Schedule managem

ent

Checklist developm

ent

Preconstruction

meetingRoot Cause

Analysis

Change managem

ent

Transfer of control

Metrics

Risk Assessme

nt

EPCProcurement contractors

Scheduler, contractor, PM team, EPC

EPC contractors

Contractor, subcontractor, PM team

Contractor, subcontractorContractor,

subcontractor, PM team

Contractor, Subcontractor, EPC, PM Team owner

Contractor C&Q

Owners, contractors PM team

Owners, EPC, contractors, subcontractors

Inspection

Constructability assessment

Expectations alignment, capability

assessment

Ongoing coordination & alignment

Discrete focus per job

Clarification & alignment

Verify quality of workTrend

analysis

Controlled change

Effective handover

Status awareness

Recognition alignment of

risk

C&Q = Commissioning and qualificationEPC = Engineering, procurement, and constructionPM = Project management

Who

What

Why

ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAMThe 1CQA program in figure 1, addressed these risks and oversaw construction

quality.

It established staffing needs, contractor expectations including reporting and addressing quality issues and also established software tools (Excel or other applicable software used for inspecting, recording and tracking quality issues on the job site.

These tools have become necessary for the generation of CQA metrics for management review reporting.

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THE CQA STRATEGYThe strategy for implementing CQA for similar projects consists of three main phases.

Figure 1, provides a breakdown of each phase. Copy has been provided for easy reference.

Phase 1: Preconstruction and Fabrication - This step is used to help identify errors and omissions in the specifications and drawings provided by the design team for contractors to prefabricate parts. This prefabrication step is used to minimize the need for onsite welding. This step is critical to ensure correct fabrication data is provided and interpreted by the vendors fabrication shops.

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Phase 1Preconstruction and Fabrication

Phase 2Construction and

Fabrication - Before transfer of

control (TC)

Phase 3Commissioning

and Qualification (C&Q)

Operations - Post transfer of care,

custody, and control (TCCC)

Phases of construction quality program

THE CQA STRATEGYPhase 2: Construction and Fabrication - Drawings, Specifications and standards

are reviewed with contractors and vendors to ensure they are clearly understood and the deliverables will meets expectations.

The CQA team shall reviews in-process and completed work from vendors and on site.

Any observations from meetings or in-process reviews shall be recorded, usually referenced as Quality Observation Reports (QOR) and tracked in the system under each phase in which they occur.

These recorded observations identify ownership and are prioritized for corrective action. Pictures are encouraged for documentation to ensure the issues have been clearly defined.

These recorded observations in a database provide a method for easy tracking and analysis. The tracking of recorded observations provide a means to easily determine the readiness for transfer of control (TC) from construction to commissioning.

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THE CQA STRATEGYPhase 3: Commissioning and Qualification (C&Q) – This phase provides CQA

team support. Observing issues during the C&Q phase is not uncommon. If a CQA program is effective, issues observed in this phase should have minimal impact to the project.

Recorded observations in this phase should be investigated and followed-up and resolved relatively quickly by the contractor.

CQA Strategy Summary - These three phases are designed to:1. Prevent quality problems by clearly communicating expectations and clarifying

any potential miscommunications, misunderstandings, or assumptions prior to commencing work.

2. Proactively find and correct any construction quality issues early in the construction phase.

3. Minimize construction issues found during C&Q phase.

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RESULTS AND DATAA properly implemented CQA program is a very valuable tool. It works with

Project management processes to provide a comprehensive program that will prevent quality issues and identify them in the projects early stages thereby keeping costs low (rework & scrap) and impact to project schedule at a minimum.

Routinely reviewing data recorded from each phase can provide significant CQA metrics for management reporting and can demonstrate how effective implementing CQA programs for projects.

This 1table provides some actual data taken from a project and illustrates how well the CQA program can help capture and reduce issues throughout an EPC Construction project.

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Phase Level 1 & 2 Level 3 Level 4 Total Percentage (%)

Pre-TC Construction

688 1269 199 2156 77.2

Post TC C&Q 53 561 22 636 22.8

Total Issues 741 1830 221 2792 100

RESULTS AND DATAKey aspects to follow for effective implementation – There are several aspects to implement a successful CQA program:

1. Take the time to meet with your contractors and help them understand the CQA program. They will be more accommodating if they understand what this program can do and help all parties to capture issues early in the process.

2. Use CQA subject matter experts (SME’s) who specialize in this service and can help to set up a CQA program for most applications.

3. Ensure your project managers are engaged and committed in the program. The CQA team should report to the project manager to ensure proper resources and participation is provided.

4. Use software to set-up a project database to record and track observations. E.g. Excel or other database software.

5. Integrate metrics into the project reporting process.

6. Ensure a the CQA manager and resources are available during the planning stages of a project. Ensure this occurs early in the project to influence design and site construction activities.

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SOURCES1. Bruce Beck and Tim Isle, 2017 Jan, ASQ Quality Press, Building

Assurance

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