Construction Quality Control Checklist: 5 essential elements

The Construction quality control checklist guarantees the quality of the final product through specific checkpoints. Discover the 5 essential elements!

If you are a professional in the AEC sector, you will surely know that during the design phase validating all the data of an IFC model with the appropriate ifc checker is essential. During the construction phase, it will then be necessary to carry out quality checks on the various materials, with specific means and procedures. Quality Control Checklists make this process leaner and more efficient.

But do we really know how to use these checklists for quality control and  their essential elements? Let’s find out in this article.

What is the purpose of a construction quality control checklist?

A previous article analyzed the main details of  Construction Quality Control  and came to the conclusion that a construction quality control checklist is a fundamental tool to ensure timely and effective quality control.

A Quality Control Checklist is precisely a list, used in the construction sector, whose purpose is to ensure that all critical aspects of quality control are examined carefully and that communication of roles and responsibilities within the team is rapid and unambiguous.

Among the main reasons that push the design teams towards the use of a quality control checklist in the process, we can find:

• create greater awareness of high-risk or high-likelihood problems;
• provide a record of inspections which also contains a list of what has been inspected.

What are the 5 best practices for a good quality control checklist?

For construction quality control to be truly effective, quality control checklists must be as short and intuitive as possible.

Below are 5 best practices to create checklists that allow you to get the most out of the quality control process:

1. Do not reproduce the entire technical specification
   We know that the technical specification document is important within a project, but it is not necessary to copy and paste it entirely in a quality control checklist because it would make it excessively long and misleading. Synthesis is paramount.
2. Focus on the most common issues:
   there is no need to create an excessively long list of items to be audited. Simply enter the issues most commonly used in the AEC sector and periodically review the checklist to remove or add any issues.
3. Maintain Matching Checkpoints
   To ensure that the staff involved in the quality control perceive the checklist as a really useful tool and that it speeds them up in their work, it is important that the checkpoints are kept concise and limited to a certain number.
4. Use the right features for each control point
   Each checkpoint has a slightly different purpose from the other, so it is useful to identify the appropriate features for each of them taking into account:
   • the checkboxes used to display the status;
   • how data is collected within fields and tables;
   • observations and comments;
   • images with markup, timestamps and GPS position;
   • direct access to documents, drawings and technical specifications (files or hyperlinks);
   • reference images of the work done correctly to teach/train on what to look for;
   • instructions for inspectors;
   • the reason why an issue has been reported (damage by others, processing, material defect, etc.);
   • the corrective actions necessary to solve a reported problem (repair, replacement, training);
   • priority of the items reported;
   • expiration date of the individual items;
   • responsible for the work carried out and the problems encountered.
5. Use the right language
   Checkpoints should be as specific as possible, so that the team, inspectors and anyone else reading them have a clear understanding. It is good practice to include specific indicators such as measurements, temperatures and tolerances in order to provide complete and accurate data to future readers. Control points should also be presented in the form of statements rather than questions in order to provide maximum clarity.

What are the 5 essential elements of a construction quality control checklist?

The points to be analyzed, listed in a quality control checklist, vary according to the type of construction.

However, there are 5 essential elements that will always appear within a good quality checklist, and they are:

1. Product requirements (technical details)
   This point represents a fundamental step of the QC (Quality Control) because it is ensured that the material used meets the project requirements. In this phase, aspects such as: material used, weight and size, labels, etc., are generally checked.
2. Packaging requirements
   When the materials are delivered to the site, the very first thing to carry out is the quality control of the packaging protecting the products during transit. In this phase, weight and size of the packaging, labelling, material used for packaging are verified.
3. On-site product tests and checks
   This step is very delicate, it must be carried out carefully and, according to the material to be checked, also with the right equipment. Especially in construction, it is a matter of carrying out checks on building materials and their physical and mechanical characteristics, setting the right type of test, procedure, expected results and tolerances.
4. Defect classification
   Defects or inconsistencies in the product or material are likely to be detected as a result of the on-site inspection. At this stage, it is important to classify the detected defects that according to the AQL (Acceptable Quality Limits) will be accepted on site or not.
5. Collaboration between the project team, suppliers and QC staff in drafting inspection checklists
   This point is often underestimated, but collaboration between the actors involved in the QC process is essential for a clearer and mutual understanding of the requirements on the product, packaging, etc.

How to draw up a construction quality control checklist?

We have seen what are the 5 essential elements to take into account and include within a construction quality control checklist.

While it is certain that these elements are always present in a good quality checklist, it is equally true that operating in the construction sector  checklists vary according to the product or material to be checked.

In order for you to get an idea of a real checklist, here is the template of a checklist to be used in the case of concrete quality control:

Construction Quality Control Checklist Sample Template

Construction Quality Control Checklist Sample Template-Part 2

Using quality raw materials that correspond to the project requirements is essential to achieve all design objectives, satisfying customer needs.

Implementing BIM in design and validation workflows, can also be of great help and that’s why I suggest starting off your design by validating BIM models using the IFC checker. This approach will surely guarantee a high-quality final result!