Page 31 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Civil Engineering Project Management
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chosen by the prime contractor. This avoids the problems that can arise with
nominated subcontractors (see Section 15.8).
Quality Assurance (or QA) This is defined as all those planned and system-
atic actions necessary to provide confidence that a product or service will sat-
isfy given requirements for quality. Thus QA is concerned to ensure that
adequate systems are set up for checking that work is properly done, and that
such systems are complied with in practice. It is not a system for providing
‘best’ or indeed any specific quality of materials and workmanship, but only
to ensure that adequate administrative procedures are adopted to see the
specified requirements are met. All aspects of the construction process may
use QA. Consultants, contractors or suppliers can set up QA procedures cov-
ering the whole range of work they have to do, including checking work done
against those procedures and arranging for audits to demonstrate compli-
ance. Permanent QA systems may be certified and audited by an independent
organization or audits may be required by a promoter.
QA has the advantage of requiring people to manage their processes better,
but should not be taken as eliminating the need for checking the methods
and details of working. Checking that a procedure has been followed does
not necessarily mean that the work has been done correctly. Hence, although
a construction contractor may run a QA system, it is still necessary for a pro-
moter to be satisfied that the works have been constructed properly; for which
independent site supervision of construction on behalf of the promoter is the
best assurance.
Value engineering A non-specific term applied to any exercise to find out
possible savings, economies and better ‘value for money’ by investigating
alternative designs, construction processes, ways of planning and meeting
risks, etc. for a proposed project. The exercise often takes the form of arranging
a special ‘workshop study’ in which the client, designer, and contractor and
other parties involved take part, and put forward suggestions for discussion
and investigation.