Further to my article “protection – a very first instrument of a building Engineer,” I want to talk about standard as another priority a building engineer owns on a project site. It gives immense pleasure in constructing something of a standard that offers complete customer satisfaction and meets contract requirements.
On a project site, you will receive a dedicated orientation by the QA/QC department, elaborating company vision, client’s involvement, inspection processes, and inspection and testing plans (ITP’s’s).
In addition to orientation, you need to read and be aware of the following instruments or documents to help yourself satisfactorily execute the work. Always make sure that the papers are the latest and are approved.
As a construction engineer, understand and get to know your customers. You have you in- house Quality Control department to satisfy before you offer the completed work to your client. Sometimes clients deploy third party inspection agencies and independent testing agencies.
So in a typical setup, you will your quality team comprises of the following:
Is it aesthetic? Something world-class? Excellence? An expensive product?
For a project, ”Quality ”is conformance to contract specifications, codes, standards, client satisfaction, achieving what was promised in mockups, and following the processes.
Good standard reduces re-works saving cost and time. Adopting well-planned standard systems helps you deliver the work right the first time. standard is not achieving more than what is specified; it’s not about gold plating.
As per ISO 9000, Quality is a “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills the requirements.”
It’s the second most crucial document (following protection Plan) a project site develops. This document complies with ISO-9001:2008. More than a million organizations implement them in some 175 countries. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are among ISO’s most well-known standards ever.
ISO 9001 helps organizations to implement standard management. ISO 14001 helps organizations to implement environmental management.
The project Quality Plan includes:
These are a set of procedures developed by the undertaking as part of the QA exercise to carry out the works. Following these standard operating procedures by everyone ensures uniformity in the delivery of the assigned task and performance.
Some examples are Document Control procedure, Document Numbering procedure, HSE procedure, and Project Site Set up, Daily Report, etc.
They provide you with an understanding of the requirements of the product you are delivering. For example, a concrete specification tells what must be the grade of concrete for the construction of piles or underground water tanks. Specifications developed by the project are must-read by every construction engineer.
Projects develop hundreds of specifications covering various trades, namely Concrete, Steel, Masonry, Coating, Earthwork, Road works, etc.
Project data bank offers you with access to read these documents for application. Codes and standards are listed in the specifications. Every country produces its codes, and the works need to be conforming to these codes.
As a construction engineer, be aware of International standards, namely ASTM, BS, ACI, AISC, ISO, IS, and many more. In Qatar, I use to refer to QCS – Qatar construction Specification quite often. Your project work also needs to conform to local country codes and manuals.
The ITP lists commodities and items to be inspected, and players involved in the inspection. In short, they are called ITP’s prepared for monitoring the fieldwork. There will be four types of inspections, namely Hold Point Inspection, Witness Inspection, Surveillance, and Review.
As a building engineer, it is your responsibility to raise inspection requests 24 hours in advance for QC to come and inspect. Standard formats will be available to carry out checks of certain work.
for instance, if you are seeking to get a clearance to pour a foundation, a Concrete Pour Card will have to be filled. This pour card lists out various checks to be carried out by QC.
Hold point inspection involves approvals from all people involved in the inspection before proceeding to the next step. Witness point inspections involve the same players, but the construction engineers may proceed with the next step if no one shows up or communicates.
Both of these inspections call for 24 hours advance notice by building engineer to people involved in the inspection.
Surveillance inspection happens as QC rep or client’s engineer moves around the site & make an observation of the ongoing works. They may talk to building Engineer if they notice anything unsatisfactory or non-conforming.
There will be plenty of Standard forms to record inspection, testing, and other QC functions. Some examples are as below:
In addition to forms, there will checklists developed by QC for your use.
Datasheets, material approvals, vendors requirements are some of the additional documents you need to refer to during the execution of the work.