Quality

Control and Assurance

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OVERVIEW
• Quality
 The degree of excellence that the product or
service provides to users in present and future

 Users = Road Users  Tax Payers

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OVERVIEW
• Total Quality Management (TQM)
 Concept Developed by Dr. Edward Deming
 TQM = Quality Control + Quality Assurance
 Introduced in USA/Japan in 1940’s
 World War II
 General Electric

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OVERVIEW
• Road Quality

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OVERVIEW
• Three Components

Acceptance Quality
and Payment Control

Quality
Assurance

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Quality Control (QC) - Definition
“…….Within the context of highway construction
this includes materials handling and construction
procedures, calibration and maintenance of
equipment, production process control, and any
sampling, testing, and inspection that is done for
these purposes.”

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• QC ensures the production of uniform
materials that meet required specifications
through periodic inspection and testing.

QC is the producer’s responsibility!

= Contractor

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• QC is the process of making tests and
observations, monitoring these, and making
adjustments to the production and laydown
processes to ensure that the finished
pavement will have a high level of
compliance with the buyer’s specifications.
• The contractor is required to perform tests at
specified frequencies and make the data
available to the agency for review.

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Quality Control (QC)
 QC program guarantees that the products and
services will conform to the specifications

 Good QC program ensures NO REWORK

 Specification ensures adequate performance and
takes account of variations in materials

 Agencies use specifications for specifying and

accepting pavement materials/construction

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Quality Control (QC)
 QC involves constant testing and evaluation of
test results to determine whether production is in
control.

 QC also includes the actions of plant personnel in

making necessary changes and adjustments in day-
to-day operations

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Description of Program
 Quality Control Organization
 Project Progress Schedule
 Project Submittal Schedule
 Inspection Requirements
 Quality Control Testing Plan
 Documentation
 Corrective Action Requirements

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Description of program
 Is not same as Construction Management Program
 Major projects require on-site QC manager
 Allow production of acceptable quality materials
 Provide sufficient info to assure the contractor and
the engineer that the spec requirement can be met
 Allow the contractor to develop own QC standard

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Quality Controls Organization
QC Lab
Supervisor
General QC QC
Manager Manager Technicians

QC Field
Supervisor

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Progress Schedule
 Construction schedule prepared as network
diagram in CPM or any other format
 Info on sequence of work activities, milestone
dates and activity duration
 Update activities in regular basis (e.g., twice
monthly)

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Submittals Schedule
 Specification item number
 Item description
 Description of submittal
 Specification requiring submittal
 Submittal responsibility
 Submittal date
 Approval date

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Inspection Requirement
 During plant operation for material production,
quality control test results and periodic inspections
shall be utilized to ensure the quality of aggregate
and other mix components, and to adjust and
control mix proportioning to meet the approved mix
design and other requirements of the technical
specification.

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Inspection Requirement
 All equipment utilized in proportioning and mixing
shall be inspected.
 The QC program shall detail how these and other
quality control functions will be accomplished.
 During field operations, QC test results and
periodic inspections shall be utilized to ensure the
quality of all materials and workmanship.

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 QC Testing Plan
 Minimum number of tests and frequency
 Specification item number
 Item description
 Test type (e.g. gradation, binder content)
 Test standard (e.g., ASTM or AASHTO)
 Responsibility (e.g., plat technician)
 Control requirements (e.g., target, UCL and LCL)

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Documentation
 Maintain records of inspections and test performed
 Factual evidence
 Type and number of inspection and/or tests
 Results of inspection, nature of defects
 Corrective actions taken
 Signed by program manager and furnished to the
engineer

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Documentation
 Daily Inspection Report:
 Compliance with approved submittals
 Proper storage of materials and equipment
 Adherence to plans and technical specs
 Review of QC tests
 Safety inspection

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Documentation
 Daily Test Report:
 Technical spec item number and description
 Test designation
 Location and date of test
 Control requirements
 Test results, cause of rejection, recommendation
and retest

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Corrective Action Requirements
 Outline of actions to be taken when a process is
deemed, or believed to be out of control (out of
tolerance) and what is needed to bring it back into
control
 How the results of QC test and inspections are
used for determining the need for corrective
actions

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Contractor QC Program - Components
 Corrective Action Requirements
 Clear sets of rules or standards to gauge the
process is out of control and the corrective action
to regain process control
 Use of statistical quality control charts

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Typical Tests
 Binder Content
 Aggregate Gradation
 Moisture Content of Aggregate
 Moisture Content of Mix
 Mix Temperature
 In-Place Density Monitoring

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QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Testing Laboratory
 Qualification of personnel – lab manager, supervising
technician, and testing technician
 A list of equipment to be used for testing
 A copy of the laboratory’s QC system
 Evident of AASHTO AMRL Accreditation

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• Quality Assurance (QA) - Definition
“All those planned and systematic actions necessary
to provide confidence that a product or service will
satisfy given requirements for quality.”

• QA Involves:
 Quality Control
 Acceptance
 Independent Assurance

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• Quality Assurance (QA)
 Independent assurance encompasses those
activities that combine to produce an unbiased
and independent evaluation of all the sampling
and testing procedures used in the acceptance
program.

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• Quality Assurance (QA)
 QA is those activities necessary to ensure that
the quality of a product is as it should be.

 “to ensure the quality of a product” relates to

those decisions necessary to determine conformity
with specifications

 “as it should be” refers to the basic engineering

properties of the material or construction process.

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• QA assures the owner that the producer’s test
results are accurate. Random sampling and
testing are at greater intervals than the
producer’s process.

QA is the buyer’s responsibility!

= Client

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• Quality Assurance (QA)
 QA sets the standard that products and services
must meet.

 The function of QA should be based on user’s

needs not on the desires of the agency

 QA is not stagnant, but must be a continual

process that improves, changes, and seeks to
satisfy an ever-changing and dynamic user’s needs

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QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
• Quality Assurance (QA)
 Acceptance is defined as “all the factors that
comprise the owner’s determination of the quality
of the product as specified in the contract
requirements.”

 The factors include verification sampling, testing,

and inspection, and may include results of QC
sampling and testing.

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ACCEPTANCE
• Agency Acceptance Testing Activities
 Lot size  Defined in terms of time/area
 Method of test and point of sampling
 Random sampling

 Sample size  3-5 samples are needed

 Acceptance limits  Specifications set by agency
 Method of evaluation
 Percent Within Limit (PWL)

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ACCEPTANCE
• Agency Acceptance Testing Activities
 Risks associated with specification
 Two risks are involved

Contractor and Agency Risks

 Contractor Risk: The probability of rejection

of a lot when the lot is acceptable

 Agency Risk: The probability of accepting a lot

when the lot is unacceptable

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PAYMENT
• Payment
 Bonus/Price Adjustment System
 Both negative and positive price adjustments

 If the contractor adheres to the methods

prescribed and adherence is verified by the
inspector, 100 percent payment to the
contractor is ensured

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Quality Control Charts – Benefits
 Decrease variability
 Establish process capability
 Reduce price adjustment costs
 Decrease inspection frequency
 Serve as a permanent record of quality
 Provide a basis for acceptance
 Improves quality awareness

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Establish Control Limits (Example)
Mix Control Criteria Limit
Binder Content ± 0.4%

Air Voids ± 1.0%

19/12.5/9.5/4.75/2.36 mm Sieve ± 6.0%

1.18/0.6 mm Sieve ± 4.0%

0.30/0.15 mm Sieve ± 3.0%

0.075 mm Sieve ± 2%

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Statistics
 Average Mean = Median = Mode

 Standard Deviation
 Standard Error
 Outliers

• Percent Within Limits (PWL)

 Upper Control Limits (UCL) = JMF + Limit
 Lower Control Limits (LCL) = JMF - Limit

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Control Charts – What is Plotted
 JMF
 Lab (QC/QA)
 UCL
 LCL

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Control Charts (Binder Content)

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QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Control Charts (Gradation)
+2.0% +3.0% +4.0% +6.0%
100
JMF

UCL
80
LCL
Percent Passing (%)

QC
60

40

20

0
0.075

12.50
0.15

0.30

0.60

1.18

2.36

4.75

9.50

19.0
40
Sieve Size (mm)
QUALITY CONTROL CHARTS
• Control Charts (Gradation)
+2.0% +3.0% +4.0% +6.0%
100
JMF

UCL
80
LCL
Percent Passing (%)

QC
60

40

20

0
0.075

12.50
0.15

0.30

0.60

1.18

2.36

4.75

9.50

19.0
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Sieve Size (mm)
Questions?

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