EPC Construction CQA Program
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The CQA (Construction Quality Assurance) program oversees construction quality through three phases: 1) Preconstruction and fabrication to identify errors and ensure correct fabrication, 2) Construction to review drawings and completed work, recording any issues. 3) Commissioning to minimize issues found and resolve them quickly. The CQA program establishes staffing needs, contractor expectations, and tools to record and track issues, generating metrics for management review. When implemented properly, CQA keeps costs low by finding issues early and reducing schedule impacts.
EPC Construction CQA Program
- 1. ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT, AND CONSTRUCTION QUALITY 1
- 2. INTRODUCTION Engineering, 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 $$ $$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$$ $$$$$$ $$$$$$ $$$$$$ Cost
- 3. ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAM As 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
- 4. ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAM 4 Figure 2 Construction Quality Assurance Design Review Contractor Selection Schedule managem ent Checklist developm ent Preconstru ction meetingRoot Cause Analysis Change managem ent Transfer of control Metrics Risk Assessme nt EPC Procurement contractors Scheduler, contractor, PM team, EPC EPC contractors Contractor, subcontractor, PM team Contractor, subcontractorContractor, subcontractor, PM team Contractor, Subcontracto r, 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 work Trend analysis Controlled change Effective handover Status awareness Recognition alignment of risk C&Q = Commissioning and qualification EPC = Engineering, procurement, and construction PM = Project management Who What Why
- 5. ESTABLISHING A CQA PROGRAM The 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. 5
- 6. THE CQA STRATEGY The 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. 6 Phase 1 Preconstruction and Fabrication Phase 2 Construction and Fabrication - Before transfer of control (TC) Phase 3 Commissioning and Qualification (C&Q) Operations - Post transfer of care, custody, and control (TCCC) Phases of construction quality program
- 7. THE CQA STRATEGY Phase 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. 7
- 8. THE CQA STRATEGY Phase 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. 8
- 9. RESULTS AND DATA A 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. 9 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
- 10. RESULTS AND DATA Key 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. 10
- 11. SOURCES 1. Bruce Beck and Tim Isle, 2017 Jan, ASQ Quality Press, Building Assurance 11