CVS 466: CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT II

Chapter 8: Inspection & Quality Control

L. O. Muku

Department of Civil& Structural Engineering

7-Mar-24
Need for Inspection and Quality Control
 The objective of inspection and quality control is to achieve sound construction work which
results in structures of good quality at reasonable cost.
 Inspection and quality control are required on all construction projects to ensure that work
is done in accordance with plans, specifications and good practice and to avoid defects.
 An entirely safe design may be completely ruined by careless execution. This can lead to
defective work with possibility of failure of the structure.
 Careful inspection and quality control is, as important as the preliminary investigation and
design.Thus, it is necessary to inspect the structure during its various construction stages.
 Comprehensive inspection forms one of the important considerations for efficient and
satisfactory construction along with innovative design, appropriate specifications, reliable
construction practices, and a committed construction team.
 Inspection need to be carried out at various stages of the work in order to achieve the
desired quality. While carrying out the inspection of works, materials, products etc., these
are to be compared with predetermined standards.
 These standards specify generally the limits of permissible variability, and the purpose of
inspection is to find out, by observation and or testing, whether the quality of work,
materials or products lies within the acceptable limits of variability or not.
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Need for Inspection and Quality Control…
 Generally, inspection of construction work at various stages covers:
(i) Sampling, identification, examination and field testing of materials;
(ii) Measurement and proportioning of construction materials;
(iii) Examination of layout; formwork, foundation etc.;
(iv) Testing specimens in the laboratory;
(v) Observation of construction equipment and plant;
(vi) Preparation of records and reports.

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Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Principles of Inspection
1) An inspector is generally entrusted with the job of inspection. The inspector is a
professional having knowledge of principles and methods involved in execution of
works.
2) He/she should have the requisite competence, skill, personality and confidence to get
the work according to the plans and specifications.
3) To start with, an inspector has to familiarize oneself with the plans and specifications of
the construction project.
4) For efficient inspection, specifications form a very important consideration and should
be studied thoroughly by the inspector.
5) An inspector is generally authorized to stop any work which is not carried out
according to plans and specifications.
6) In order to avoid faulty construction and delays, inspections should be made promptly at
regular intervals and inspection recommendations implemented immediately.
7) The inspector is authorized to stop use of materials and equipment which do not
comply with the specifications and sound engineering practice.
8) He/she is authorized to have removed or repaired any faulty construction. The
inspector should report immediately to superiors about his observation and action.
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Need for Inspection and Quality Control..
Enforcement of Specifications
1. Specifications consist of instructions for guidance of construction and inspection staff in order
to construct sound and stable structures.
2. Specification requirement may be divided into the following two groups:
• Requirements which are definite
• Requirements which are laid down by the engineer-in charge
3. Specification requirements in the latter case become necessary where precise requirements
cannot be laid down due to insufficient investigations or where difficult or new situations may
arise.
4. In case of earthwork, specification requirements may be further grouped based on
performance or procedure.
5. When performance is the essence of requirements, it is not logical to insist on any particular
procedure or equipment to be used to produce the specified result.
6. When procedure is the essence of requirements, the inspector may not insist on achievement
of specific performance.
7. It is essential that specifications are framed in clear terms indicating precisely the specific
requirements along with allowable variations to accommodate unforeseen field situations.
8. Proposal for any modification of specifications require careful examination of design
requirements, site conditions, financial implications etc.
9. All such modifications are to be approved by the Chief Engineer or other competent authority
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before putting these into practice.
Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Stages of Inspection & Quality Control
 Inspection should be carried out at appropriate stages as the construction work proceeds.
 Any defect noticed during inspection should be pointed out and rectified immediately in
order to avoid unnecessary wastage of time and effort.
 In construction works, there are certain stages in which individual items are required to
be inspected so as to avoid dismantling of work already completed.
 The cutting, bending and fixing of reinforcement, erection of formwork, embedded
materials, placement of concrete etc. call for careful planning and coordination between
construction and inspection teams.
 The important items required to be inspected during construction are:
• Earth work
• Masonry
• Reinforcement and plain cement concrete (R.C.C)
• Sanitary and water supply services
• Electrical services.
 Assignment 1: Explain the aspects that an inspector should check during inspection stages of a
project with the following components: presented by any Group in week 8
i). Earth work G5 &3 ii). Masonry G6 iii). Reinforcement and plain cement concrete
(R.C.C) G5 and 1
iv). Sanitary and water supply services, G2 & 7, v). Electrical services G4
 Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Technical services and inspection team
 Adequacy of construction work is done by visual examination, measurements and testing.
 The local conditions, nature and importance of the work, and the skill of the inspector
determines the extent of employing these methods.
 During initial stages of construction, the judgment of the inspector requires to be
confirmed at frequent intervals by actual tests and measurements until his inspection ability
to establish adequacy by visual means is proved.
 During investigation of a project, certain tests are conducted to establish the characteristics
of various types of available materials.
 A suitable design is formulated using available materials with or without processing
requirements.
 For effective field inspection, properly trained personnel, suitable equipment and
laboratory facilities are required.
 Depending on the size and nature of a project, suitable laboratory facilities for inspection
and quality checks are established.
 The inspection and quality control team should be adequately staffed and trained.
Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Testing of structures
The following are the main methods of testing structural components or structures for
safety, stability and soundness:
 Non-destructive tests- Schmidt rebound hammer, ultrasonic pulse velocity, core test
etc.
 Full scale load test
 Leak proof and dampness test.
Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Statistical Analysis
 The adequacy of quality of construction work is assessed by visual inspection, measurement
and testing. The extent of application of each of these techniques depends on the local
conditions and importance of the structure.
 For a reliable and scientific approach to quality control on large projects, statistical analysis
is adopted.
 In quality control, large number of observations have to be taken in order to ascertain the
reliability of true quality of product that needs tabulation and analysis of huge data.
 For example, a record may be maintained of the tensile strength of steel bars, compressive
strength of cement, fineness modulus of coarse aggregates, cube strength of concrete etc.
 The various observations taken during testing are checked against standard specifications.
 If found within the specifications, the materials are approved for use in the construction
work, otherwise, a fresh lot may be ordered.
 Statistically, the variability of quality is measured by ‘Standard Deviation’ and ‘Coefficient of
Variation’. These terms are used to measure the degree of quality control on any
construction site and accordingly to modify the design, if necessary.
 Standard deviation (SD): is one of the most important and widely used measures of
deviation and variability of quality. A small SD means a high degree of uniformity of
observations as well as homogeneity of quality, while a large SD means just the opposite.
Need for Inspection and Quality Control
Statistical Analysis…
 Coefficient of variation (CV): is an absolute measure of dispersion. The corresponding
relative measure is known as the coefficient of variation. It is used in those problems where
variability of two or more groups is required to be compared. The group for which CV is
greater is said to be more variable or conversely less consistent, less stable or less
homogeneous. CV = SD/mean,