This document discusses key elements and best practices for effective quality assurance programs in construction contracting. It recommends understanding who controls quality, fulfilling all project requirements, and using process controls as an opportunity for best practices. Specific best practices include having management support, the right people, effective internal inspection procedures, traceability of materials, leveraging technology for data analysis and reporting, reporting key performance indicators, and clear communication. The goal is to implement a systems approach to quality assurance that continuously improves performance.

1. Contractor Best Practices in
Construction Quality Assurance
Adam Hand, PhD, PE
University of Nevada, Reno (UNR)
2018 CalAPA Spring Asphalt Conference
Ontario, CA April 26, 2018

2. “key elements and best practices for implementation
of an effective quality assurance program”
• Key External Elements
– Know Requirements
 Fulfill Them
 Leverage Them for Innovation and Competiveness
• Key Internal Elements
– Senior Management Support
– Resources
 Roles (People), Facilities, Equipment
– Culture
 Core Values, Policy, …
– Systems Approach - Then Best Practices

3. External Requirements
• Bid Build
– Standard Specifications
– Special Provisions
– Local Market Competition Capabilities
• Alternative Procurement
– Project Specific Requirements
– Team Must Have’s to Succeed
 May Require “Different” Professionals

4. Internal Requirements - Management
Commitment for Quality
• Company or Corporate Level
– Important to President
 Communicated & Demonstrated
• Business Unit
– Important to Senior Manager
– Communicated & Demonstrated
• People care about what is important to their boss
– Making money & quality products do not have to be in conflict!
– Bad Actors must be dealt with, Good one must be publically
acknowledged & rewarded!

5. Resources - People
• Q Leaders – Right people make things very easy
 Fulfill owner requirements
 External/owner Perception (Peers), Mentoring
 Talent that creates ROI
• Reporting Structure – Actually Independence of
Production is Essential
• Good Partners Clearly Aligned Goals/Expectations
• Most Effective & Attitude, not number
• Workforce Training & Development continually

6. Resources – Facilities, Equipment, …
• What is Required to Service the Business/Project?
– Be Honest – Need vs. Want vs. Industry leadership
• Corporate, Division, Region,… can be effective
• Internal and External Perception
– Cargo containers?

7. Systems Approach
• A system is a cohesive conglomeration of interrelated
and interdependent parts that …that apply requirements
and requires support for the parts to be satisfied!
• Transportation System
– Interstates
– US, SR, Arterials, Collectors
– Buses
– Rail
– Airports...

8. Systems Approach
• Single Company Approach Fit to Business Unit or
Project Requirements, …
• Communicated and Supported – Takes Time
• Doesn’t Have to be Complex
Complex

9. Systems Approach
• ISO Standards
• Rigorous in Manufacturing
• ISO 9001 QM

10. Systems Approach
• ISO Format
• Sequence & Interaction Between Core Process

11. PDCA – Improvement - LSS

12. Submittal Cycle Time – LSS is Effective!
•  300M Design Build (Transportation)
• First DB Project for Owner
• LSS Team
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
0 20 40 60 80 100
SubmittalApprovalCycleTime
(Days)
Submittal #

13. Systems Approach Works
• Not How, but What the Expected Outcomes are
• Clear Responsibility
• Measure Performance
• Make Adjustments to Improve
• Doesn’t Have to be Complicated!
• One Size does NOT Fit All

14. USACOE Dam Project
• $236 Million Bid Build - Folsom, CA
• Joint Federal Project (JFP)-USACOE, US DOI, BOR
• 330,000yd3 Excavation
• Crush and stockpile 160,000yd3 6” minus
• 120,000yd3 Concrete (Batch & Place)
• 8 Million lbs of Rebar
• Approximately 4 Million lbs of Structural Steel and
Gates

15. Quality Organization

16. Paving Project
• Widening and Overlay
• $3M
• 10,000 tons of HMA
• Quality Requirements Different?
• Staffing Different?
• System the Same – Requirements, Resources,
Expected Outcomes, Performance

17. Contractor BP’s
1. Understand Who CONTROLS QUALITY
2. Understand & Fulfill Project Requirements
3. Know What is NOT Explicitly Required By Contract that is
Needed, And Do It!

18. 1. Who Controls Quality
• Who Controls It?
– Quality Manager
– QC Manager
– Inspector
– Technician
– Assurance Representative
– Owner
• Who is Responsible for It?
– Same Person(s)?

19. Wrong Question - Who Makes the Product?
• Superintendent
• Foreman
• Operator
• …
• Only PEOPLE that MAKE a Product
can control the quality of it!
– The crustier, the more challenging –
“Old School” is code

20. People
• Right People have the Right Attitude
• Invest in Them
• Training & Development
• Mentor
• People Create Success

21. People Communicating
• Partnering
– Internal and Customer
• Decision-making authority
• Response time
• Clear Expectations
• COMMUNICATION

22. Contractor BP’s
1. Understand Who CONTROLS QUALITY
2. Understand & Fulfill Project Requirements
3. Know What is NOT Explicitly Required By Contract that
is Needed, And Do It – Those are Best Practices!

23. Process Control – is it QC?
• A method for keeping a process within
boundaries and/or the act of minimizing the
variation of a process.
• Voluntary part of the Quality Assurance
program that could include sampling, testing,
inspection, etc.
• Responsibility of the Contractor.
Definition

24. Understanding the Term “Quality Assurance”
Where was
Process Control
in the Quality Assurance
picture slides?
24

25. Storage Silos
RAP Bin
Slat Conveyor
Cold Feed Bins
(Process Control)
Asphalt
Storage
Tanks
Secondary
Collectors
Example: PC vs QC vs Acceptance Gradation
measurements
Cold Feed
Collector Belt
(Quality Control)
Discharge
from Drum,
Slat
Conveyor, or
Storage Silos
(Acceptance)

26. Process Controls & Best Practices
• May or May not be the Same
• Both are Opportunities to Leverage
• Example BPs…

27. BP - Internal ITPs: Aggregate Production
Example
• What, where, when, how
• Simple, clear expectations, easily communicated
• Check and hold points
LA
Abrasion
(CTM
211)
Sodium
Soundness
(CTM 214)
Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Loadout Stockpile Stockpile
19.0mm
PMA
12/day 1/week N/A N/A N/A N/A 2/month
1/3
months
1/month
1/6
months
1/6
months
1/6 months
12.5mm
PMA
3/day 1/week N/A N/A N/A N/A 2/month
1/3
months
1/month
1/6
months
1/6
months
1/6 months
9.5mm
PMA
3/day 1/week N/A N/A N/A N/A 2/month
1/3
months
1/month
1/6
months
1/6
months
1/6 months
Dust 3/day 1/week 1/day 1/week 1/day 1/week 2/month
1/3
months
2/month
1/3
months
1/6 months
Specific
Gravity.Absorp
Fine Aggregates
(CTM 207)
Specific
Gravity.Absorp
Fine Aggregates
(CTM 208)
Fractured Faces
(CTM 205)
HMA Aggregates
Product
Sieve Analysis
(CTM 202)
Sand Equivalent
(CTM 217)
Durability Index
(CTM 229)
Specific
Gravity.Absorp
Coarse
Aggregates (CTM
206)
Don’t Underestimate Value of Inspection

28. BP-Control
Charts
• Priceless
• Time Series
• Individual or
Moving Average
• Correlation of
Properties
• Can’t Hide from
Data
Look at Multiple Charts

29. Process Control- Ideal
• Identifies Process Change Early Enough to Address
• Simple, Rapid
• Not Necessarily Documented – BPs that just are done

30. BP Self-Inspection - Effective Process
Control
• Visual
Inspection
• Does a Test
Need to be
Run?
• Inspect More,
Test Less!

31. Hot Plant BP Examples = Good PC Tools
• Hot Plant Control Room

32. BPs - Hot Plant Operator = Good PC Tools
• Continuous MMS on Collector Belt
• Continuous temp
– Ever Seen One?
• Gas discharge temp
• Slat Amperage
• Dust & VFDs

33. BP - Traceability

34. Traceability – What is it & Why does it
Matter?
• What is it?
– Traceability is the ability to verify the history, location, or
application of an item by means of documented recorded
identification.
– Traceability is the ability to discover information about
where and how a product was made.
• Why does it Matter?
– Proof of product for customer
– Did you or your supplier deliver what the customer
specified and can you prove it if challenged?

35. Example: Asphalt Binder Traceability
• Specification
• Purchase Order (PO)
• Bill of Lading (BOL)
• Certificate of Compliance
(COC)
• Submittals
• Traceability in Possession
– Labeling/Tagging
– Chain of Custody Forms
– Quality Control Testing
– Assurance Inspection and
Testing
• Plant Inventory Reports
• Plant Production Records
• Truck Tickets
• Mix Designs
When You are Buying When in Your Possession

36. Purchase Order
• Purchase order (PO) - a commercial document and
first official offer issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating
types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or
services. It is used to control the purchasing of
products and services from external suppliers.
• ALWAYS reference a Specification when issuing a PO

37. Specification
• 39-2.01B(3) Asphalt Binder
• Asphalt binder shall comply
with Section 92…

38. Purchase
Order

39. BOL
• Supplier to
Customer
• Receipt
Signature
Required

40. COC
• Illustrates Supplier
Compliance
• Does Not Eliminate
Need for QC or
Assurance Testing
Super Supplier
Product: PG 70-16 Customer: Pro Paving Co.
Code: CA12345Destination: Plant #456
Date: Today Transporter: Independent Lynn Trucking
Tank ID: CA2-4finish Bill of Lading: CA-3-PG70-16-#59
Spec: CT-Section 39 Contract #: CA-1000123123
PO #: CA-PO-598884

41. Labeling & Storage

42. Appear Traceable?

43. Appear Traceable?

44. Traceability
• Logging
Samples
• Labelling
Consistent
with
Logging
ID

45. Chain of Custody

46. Sample Storage and Integrity
• Traceable
• Inside or
Covered
• Temperature
• Time

47. Back to BP’s – Leverage Technology
• Hardware
– Plants
– Labs
– Equipment
– Tools
– Cameras
– Drones
• Software
• Real-time Feedback

48. BP - Value of QC Information System &
Technology
• All Data
• No Calc Erros
• No Wasted Time
• Real Time
– Instant Email
Notifications
– Auto Reporting
• KPI Generator

50. BP – Report Performance - Outcomes
• What is Driving Percent Earned
– Materials vs. Construction?
– Regional Specs?
– Local Management/Commitment?
– Resources?
– Cap Ex?
• Target is ?
– Same?
• Competition 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
North
1
North
2
North
3
South
1
South
2
South
3
East
1
East
2
East
3
West
1
West
2
West
3
YTD Percent QC/QA Bonus Earned

51. BP – Reporting Rework
• Defining
• Meaningfully Measuring & Pricing
• Intellectual Honesty vs. Pride, Fear, …
• True Cost of Quality
• Metrics

52. Summary
• Learn from Manufacturing – Management Support of
Systems Approach
• Know Who Controls Quality
• Understand Requirements
• PC = BP Opportunity
 People
 Inspection More, Test Less!
 Traceability
 Leverage Technology: Data, Analysis, Reporting, Auditing
 Report Performance – it is Contagious!
• Partner & Communicate with Team and Owner

53. Contact:
Adam Hand
adamhand@unr.edu
(775) 784-1439