Hi Natalya,
Thanks for raising the question.
Please bear with me on my response.
Quality is conformance to requirements.
Requirements inform us
what to do and
how to do it.
But frequently clients only have
expectations.So, the first step in QC/QA is confirming
exactly what the client's expectations are,
as translated into
what will be done and
how it will be done. Until this step is completed,
no work ought to be done.
Once that first step is done, then based on the complexity of the work,
phase-gate reviews will be done as a function of the
complexity of the work, i.e. do NOT fall into the trap of the
"30/60/90" reviews.
For the phase-gate reviews, use a known technical person who will follow a process you trust.
Your fee will have included a budget for such work.
Do NOT fall into the trap of
"Saving money" by
"Doing it yourself."cheers,
Bill
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William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
Buffalo, N.Y.
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2017 19:52
From: Jimmy Galvez
Subject: How to QC if it's just me?
Hi Natalya,
Great question! Let me echo what others have mentioned. First, great question because of your acknowledgement/recognition on the importance of QAQC in the process. In addition to my everyday task as engineer and project manager, I currently assist in my company's QAQC program. The important fist step is to develop a program focusing on the quality control and quality assurance that sets your goals for your work but is flexible enough for the deliverable. As Dwayne mentioned, the program has to allow for flexibility for a single report review that may require less QAQC time than a 100 sheet plan set. Based on my practice and training that I've attended. QAQC is acknowledged as a part of the project delivery process whether is set as a separate line item or it shows up in your work based structure as a "senior engineer" time. A personal friend of mine started his own engineering firm based on the understanding that a peer review and senior engineering would be needed. So he had a senior engineer on call to provide that experience and hence that fellow QAQC. I agree with others on the approach for having that mentor to carry out courtesy reviews. As an option, you could explore this option at least until your projects and fees can prove out on charging for that additional support.
As commentary to your second question, when my company hires subconsultants, we do expect it to be completed. Nonetheless, as others have mentioned even though I expect a finish product, I still carry out general QAQC of their work for alignment with the work we are contracted to carry out. My QAQC for their work would not be necessarily be for technical content as they are the experts but I do need to ask the question if their recommendations appear different and/or additional coordination is needed to bring into alignment with the goals of the project. Let me know if there are any other questions I can help with or if I can expand on this initial response.
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Jimmy Galvez P.E., M.ASCE
Project Manager
Houston TX
(510)325-8148
Original Message:
Sent: 02-24-2017 10:33
From: Natalya Sokolovskaya
Subject: How to QC if it's just me?
A quality check by another person seems a must for any engineering work. What do you do if you are an independent subcontractor? Your subcontract likely specifies that you can’t further subcontract any job tasks, yet, it also likely to specify that you are legally responsible for your portion of the work.
If you are an independent subcontractor, do you QC your own work?
If your company subcontracts a task to someone, do you expect it to be “ready to go” or do you run your own QC on it?
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Natalya Sokolovskaya P.E., M.ASCE
Wynnewood PA
(323)382-6176
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