In various phases of restaurant construction a control needs to be established in order to guarantee the desired final quality. In order to avoid later expenses at a rework, an early quality control system should be put in place. Restaurant construction quality control involves testing and inspection of materials and works.Persons performing the quality control functions must have well-defined responsibility and authority; a process must be defined to develop a quality control plan before the start of any construction work.
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Quality Control Procedures
Organization:
The establishment of an organization chart is necessary and the relationship between different departments such as management, purchasing, construction among others must be determined. This chart will identify each group’s function and its related responsibility for the quality control.
Drawing:
In the quality control system of construction, contractors must establish some procedures to ensure that the latest and approved drawings are used for construction and examination processes. The drawings being used should be current. If bidding on preliminary drawings the most current version should be available for use with all signatures and dates clearly shown.
Material Control:
As soon as the equipment and materials are delivered to the site, the contractors must establish a process to ensure the incoming material, is recorded in a written report for identification and stored properly based on the codes and standards requirement. You can find construction material control check list for walls, ceilings, lightning, electricity, refrigeration and other factors in a post provided by Hammersconstruction.com.
If any loss, damage or quality faults are found, a Shortage/Damage or Non-conformity report is made and reported to the site manager using the “Shortage/Damage or Nonconformity Report”.
Correction of Non- Conformities:
The construction contractor quality control system must identify a process for corrective action for all non- conformities found by the plant owner or an end-user inspector or the contractor’s own quality control personnel.
Work Quality Specifications:
Specifications of work quality are an important feature of restaurant designs during the construction phase. Specifications of required quality and components represent part of the necessary documentation that should be done by a contractor. Typically, this documentation includes any special provisions of the building design as well as references to generally accepted specifications to be used during construction. General specifications of work quality are available in numerous fields and are issued in publications of organizations such as the American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). These general specifications must be modified to reflect local conditions, policies, available materials, local regulations and other special circumstances.
Examination and Inspection Program:
The quality control department must provide a project quality control program based on the received inspection and test plan and coordinate with a plant owner inspector in due time for witnessing the tests and inspections.
The construction contractor controls the individual inspection procedure for in-process or final quality control/testing, and records it. The records are the work instruction, checklists, and test records that give evidence that the work has passed quality control and/or testing with defined acceptance criteria.
It is also a requirement for the contractor to hold pre-inspection meeting(s) so as to resolve questions concerning compliance with the individual quality control procedure, specific quality control requirements, and related specification.
Record Retention:
The contractor will come up with a defining a system for maintenance and retaining the quality control records.
Codes and standards Required Examination and Tests:
The construction contractor quality control system must provide a process that ensures all construction activities such as fit-up, welding, assembly, erection, etc. are done based on the codes and standards requirement.
It is necessary that the construction contractor prepare and submit a Construction Quality Control Plan for each project and identify all required inspections and tests which are necessary to be done by codes and standards.
The quality control system needs to generate some procedures for proper execution of all required examinations and tests such as non-destructive testing, hydrostatic testing, performance test and run-out test.
The codes and standards that the contractor will follow will be laid out. These include codes and standards for installation, construction, fabrication, inspection and/or testing of materials, services, or equipment for the XXX Project is in accordance with those specified in the contractual documents, purchase order, requisition specification, data sheets and drawings.
Calibration of Measuring Tools:
The contractor’s quality control system will need to provide a system to properly calibrate measuring, inspection, testing and examination equipment.
Field Testing Procedures:
The Contractor will conduct field-testing to verify that control measures are adequate and conforms to contract requirements. The field testing activities will include:
• Arrange for, or conduct, field testing in accordance with applicable test parameters
• Verify that facilities and testing equipment are available and comply with testing standards and ensure that testing facilities are approved and are validated.
• Check test equipment calibration data against certified standards.
• Verify that all tests are documented and submitted as part of quality control system reporting.
• Review all test documentation prior to submittal.
Documentation:
The Contractor will maintain current records, providing factual evidence that required quality control activities and/or tests have been performed. These records shall include the work of subcontractors and suppliers and shall be in an acceptable form that includes, as a minimum, the following information:
1. Contractor/subcontractor and their area of responsibility.
2. Operating plant/equipment with hours worked, idle, or down for repair.
3. The Work performed each day, giving location, description, and by whom.
4. Test and/or control activities performed with results and references to specifications/drawing requirements. List of non-conformities noted, along with corrective action.
5. Quantity of materials received at the site with a statement as to acceptability, storage, and reference to specifications/drawing requirements.
6. Off-site surveillance activities, including actions taken.
7. Job safety evaluations stating what was checked, results, and instructions or corrective actions.
8. Instructions given/received and conflicts in plans and/or specifications.
9. Contractor’s verification statement.
These records shall indicate a description of trades working on the project; the number of personnel working; weather conditions encountered; and any delays encountered. These records shall cover both conforming and deficient features and shall include a statement that equipment and materials incorporated in the work and workmanship comply with the contract.
Harris is the author of this article and I run an online dogs accessories store in London. You can reach me at my FB profile Charris.