Project Quality Management Plan For Concrete Trade: Guidance On Quality Assurance And Control

Requirements for Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Question:

Discuss about the Quality Management Plan Guidance For Concrete Trade.

This Project Quality Management Plan (PQM) document gives guidance on concrete trade in relation to Quality Assurance and Quality Control activities. These activities are essential to make sure that the product meets the requirements set by project specifications. These specifications are the ones captured in the tender documents and as will be prescribed by the relevant authorities. Outlined in this document are requirements for strength and durability, quality assurance tests for structural and mass roller compacted concrete and a summary of all the checks done before, during and after placing of concrete.

Quality is the art of conformance to set standards and requirements. It can be viewed as a standard of something when measured against other similar types of the same thing. Projects are said to meet the needs of the client out of them meeting and surpassing their needs It is the main factor that determines the serviceability of a structure. Concrete trade quality refers to conformance to relevant codes as stated below;

ISO 9000:2006 Quality management systems – Fundamentals and Vocabulary.

ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements.

AS/NZS ISO 10005:2006 Quality management systems – Guidelines for quality plans.

AS ISO 10006-2003 Quality management systems – Guidelines for quality management in projects.

AS ISO 10013-2003 Guidelines for quality management system documentation.

ISO 9004:2009 Managing for the sustained success of an organization – A quality management approach.

AS ISO 10007-2003 Quality management systems – Guidelines for configuration management.

HB 90.3. The Construction Industry – Guide to ISO 9001:2000

The act of sustaining a desired level of excellence through management is the mode of attaining quality management. The combination of QA and QC activities in order to attain quality requirements is called quality management. It includes all planned and systematic activities necessary to provide confidence that the constructed structure will perform satisfactorily during its service life. The quality assurance team will perform quality testing in order to determine acceptability of work. The tests conducted are done to ensure that there is conformance of quality standards to the set thresholds. Quality control involves managing, controlling and documenting work to ensure that the final output conforms to the specifications of the contract. The Quality Management Plan will vary with the type of structure being put up.[1] More complex and unique structures will require more prescriptive specifications. The concrete mix design will be designed and other related activities such as curing and placing also governed by the relevant authority.

The material requirements for quality checks can be viewed in two ways. First is the strength requirements and then the durability requirements. The strength requirements are a major factor that ought to be put in check. The structural integrity of structures is directly affected by the strength of the constituent members.  The next factor to be checked are the durability requirements of a structure. Structures are designed for a set number of lifetime which is set in the codes. The lifetime of a structure could either be a design life of 50 or 100 years in accordance to the period specified in the design stage.

Relevant Codes for Concrete Trade Quality

The minimum requirements for quality testing are set in the standards articulating the strength qualification of compressive strength. The required strength class of concrete should be higher than the design strength to ensure that 90 percent of tests conducted do not fail. As a rule of thumb, the test samples should not fall below than the desired design strength by 500psi.[2] A documentation of all strength tests conducted is kept with the office of quality assurance and quality control in order to track the progress of work.

The strength requirements are also governed by the minimum requirements of the appropriate material to be used. The grading and water absorption of course and fine aggregates is also put in check to ensure the attaining of required strength of concrete.[3]

Minimum durability requirements for concrete are also set in the codes. The concrete cover is one of the measures that can be used to ensure durability requirements of the structure are met. The protection of concrete can take various forms. It includes corrosion protection for reinforcements, water exposure, criteria for sulphate environments and freezing and thawing environments. The abrasion resistance of aggregates used is also a measure that checks on the durability of concrete produced. The mix design procedure ought to be followed in order to ensure that the concrete produced meets the requirements of strength and durability.

A laboratory recognized by local authority for strict adherence to set standards is the one that will conduct all the test. The minimum requirements of quality assurance and control are met when the testing laboratory does the following; they are independent of the contractor, use certified quality technicians and they follow a quality assurance program. The procedure to be used for the tasks are set in the relevant codes governing construction practices in the region. The codes acceptable for this report had already been highlighted in the section above.

The test procedure includes the following activities; testing the properties of fresh concrete, the strength of hardened concrete, documentation of the water to cement ratio used in the mixing of concrete ingredients and actual quantities used in proportioning the mix. The test batch should also include the reports of the aggregate gradations and moisture contents of the aggregates.

Mass concrete can be defined as concrete which has such a volume that contingency measures have to be put in place to curb the heat of hydration generated during setting of concrete, and the tendency to crack caused by shrinkage of volume. A roller compacted mass concrete is usually of no slump consistency compacted by a vibrating roller. Dam projects are examples of such types of structures that require the putting of measures to curb heat caused by hydration.[4]

The quality assurance testing procedures for mass roller compacted concrete are similar those of structural concrete. Concrete cube samples in the standard moulds will be used in order to determine the compressive strength of concrete. Due to the danger of thermal cracking arising from heat generated through hydration, additional measures should be put in place.

The QMP usually has a list of the definable feature of work and the major quality assurance items therein. The QMP provides general direction by outlining the major quality assurance and control parts of the specification.[5] In the specifications are documented all the acceptable values, limits, material control and workmanship of the completed work. The QA/QC then uses a checklist to make sure all the relevant items are checked as the work progresses. Below is a summary of the testing activities carried out in the QA/ QC department.

References

1. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling by Harold R Kerzner. A book published by John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
2. Total quality management in education by Edward Sallis. A book published by Routledge publishers 2014.
3. Gower handbook of project management by Rodney Turner. A book published by Routledge publishers 2016.
4. Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases by John S Oakland. A book published by Routledge publishers in 2014.
5. Quality management for organizational excellence by David L Goetsch and Stanley B Davis. A book published by pearson Upper Saddle River, NJ in 2014.
6. Modern construction management by Frank Harris and Ronald McCaffer. A book published by John Wiley & Sons in 2013

[1] Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling by Harold R Kerzner. A book published by John Wiley & Sons, 2017.

[2] Total quality management in education by Edward Sallis. A book published by Routledge publishers 2014.

[3] Gower handbook of project management by Rodney Turner. A book published by Routledge publishers 2016.

[4] Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases by John S Oakland. A book published by Routledge publishers in 2014.

[5] Quality management for organizational excellence by David L Goetsch and Stanley B Davis. A book published by pearson Upper Saddle River, NJ in 2014.

[6] Modern construction management by Frank Harris and Ronald McCaffer. A book published by John Wiley & Sons in 2013.

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