What Are Quality Control And Quality Assurance? | Difference Between Quality Control And Quality Assurance

Quality control (QC) and Quality assurance (QA) are very important aspects of construction projects without which you cannot imagine a successful completion. These are two integral parts of the construction project. Proper implementation of QA and QC not only results in a sound project but also leads to a more economic project by the means of optimization. Hence, it is very important to learn the definition of both. That’s what this article is all about.

In every industry, quality is one of the most important departments through which a product or commodity is checked so as to achieve perfection and will have a good life likewise in the construction industry quality department ensure that the construction is performed according to specifications and plans, on time, within a defined budget and safe work environment.                     

Quality Control:

It includes all the tasks and activities which are performed in-ground as per the quality guidelines prescribed in quality assurance documents such as Project Quality Plan (PQP) or quality assurance plan (QAP), inspection test plan (ITPs), Job procedures (JPs). In order to discover that the quality targets as laid down in the QA documents are actually achieved in the systemic way as suggested in these documents. Quality documents generated while performing these tasks are quality control documents or QC documents.          

For example, Concreting in order to have a clearer picture of quality documents. The guideline or framework for achieving the desired or target quality for concreting is provided in QA documents such as ITPs, JPs, codes, and so on. As mentioned in these documents different activities like designing concrete mix design reports, laboratory reports, and inspection reports are QC documents similarly calibration of measuring and test equipment and conducting quality audits QC activities and the audit reports and resulting calibration are QC documents.

Quality control is usually performed by manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, etc., and has to be approved by their clients or consultants who are representative of clients.

Quality Assurance:

It is the process of deciding and identifying all the quality requirements of the project, identifying quality documents such as specifications, codes, etc that are relevant to the quality requirements of the project and making them available to use, making the new project-specific quality documents such as Quality Assurance plan (QAP) or Project Quality Plan (PQP), inspection test plan (ITP), Job procedures (JP), etc. That would provide the necessary guidelines for ensuring that the targeted quality requirements that are planned for the project are achieved in a timely and systematic manner.

All the documents providing guidelines or quality parameters for that purpose are come under the quality domain and are called QA documents. Examples of QA documents are the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP), Project Quality Plan (PQP).

PQP and QAP are said to be one of the most elaborate quality documents in a project. It provides the complete guideline for achieving the planned or target quality for all aspects involving the project such as planning, designing, procurement, construction, engineering document control, etc.   

QA documents like (ITPs) and JPs are mostly construction-specific. Examples are ITPs and JPs for concreting, grouting, earthwork, and many more, all of these are construction activities.

Difference Between Quality Control And Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance	Quality Control
It makes sure the work is going Right thing Right way	It makes sure the result of What we’ve done are what we Expected
It focuses on building quality and hence preventing Defects	It focuses on building quality and hence Detecting Defects
It deals with PROCESS	It deals with PRODUCT
It is for Entire Life Cycle	It is just for the Testing part
It is a Preventive process	It is a corrective process
It is a Staff Function	It is a Line function