Quality Control “A Necessity Not an Option”

Quality control is a means by which project design engineers may help eliminate some construction-related problems and address the issue of an engineer's obligation to the general public. Ignoring quality control or relying on sporadic inspections are fundamentally inadequate approaches since they do not obtain basic construction data for the engineer, fully monitor the quality of materials and workmanship critical to structural integrity, or ensure that the owner gets what he has paid for. The project engineer has an obligation to treat quality control the same way he treats quality design. Project owners must be made aware of the risks involved and how quality control can address some of these risks. The main ingredient of a soundly engineered approach to quality control during construction is the assurance that the engineer's ``standard of care'' will not change after the design phase. A qualified resident inspector—an extension of the design engineer—will determine how effective quality control will be. Not only can expectations of design performance be met, but the construction phase can be become less demanding and the whole project more cost-effective if early attention is given to quality control.