Hydrocarbon Processing - August 2022 - 73

Plant Design,
Engineering,
Construction and
Commissioning
H. PAYAMI, Fluor, Aliso Viejo, California
Inspection and test plan: A tool for quality control
alignment during construction
Quality control (QC) is fundamental
for capital project success. It should be
an integral part of how construction is
executed. Compliance to project requirements
(e.g., drawings, specifications and
standards) can be verified through this
process. Increasingly, project stakeholders
demand robust QC programs to ensure
lasting results.
However, practitioners can testify to
the complexity of QC processes, which
can lead to misalignment among project
participants. The owner, general contractor
and trade contractors each have
a role to play in this process, but getting
everyone on board with the process can
be a monumental task. Fortunately, there
is one tool through which such alignment
can be reached: the inspection and
test plan (ITP).
What is the ITP? The ITP is a document
that contains a detailed list of QC
activities that should be performed by
the site team from multiple parties in
accordance with the defined quality
requirements. In other words, the ITP
functions as the overall roadmap of QC
activities. The inspection and test activities
listed in the ITP include the activities
before, during and after the construction
process.
The importance of the ITP for alignment.
Any process that involves multiple
parties for implementation runs the
risk of misalignment. If this risk eventualizes
in the QC arena, the consequences
could be serious. When the correct QC
requirements are not clearly communicated
to the constructor or other parties
as to what their roles are in inspection
activities, significant rework or, in worstcase
scenarios, major safety incidents
could ensue because of the violation of
design requirements.
The creation of the ITP in a collaborative
manner offers a practical approach
to bring all parties together to finalize
the detailed QC requirements and interfaces.
This interdisciplinary process
facilitates constructive discussions to determine
the suitable level of inspection
conducted by the key players.
The agreement on this document provides
project leadership the confidence
that the right processes are in place to
fulfill the quality requirements. Establishing
this confidence in a systematic
way is the noble goal of any quality assurance
(QA) program. In other words,
the ITP serves as a bridge between QC
and QA programs (FIG. 1).
Components of the ITP. ITPs commonly
contain the following items:
1. Inspection and test points
2. Acceptance criteria
3. Recording requirements
4. Scope of responsibility.
A sample ITP is shown in FIG. 2. The
upfront agreement on each of these items
has an enormous impact on construction
QC efforts.
Inspection and test points. In this
section, the project scope is broken
down into distinct steps to identify QC
activities. The joint review of these items
is both a scope and QC alignment opportunity
among engaged parties.
This list of QC activities will serve
as a valuable checklist to ensure that all
necessary inspections and tests are accounted
for in the construction process.
In most cases, an inspection or test cannot
be completed later if it was missed.
The ITP helps the team stay on track visà-vis
all QC steps.
Acceptance criteria. All parties
should be on the same page as to what
" done " means
for construction tasks.
The joint review of the ITP could facilitate
the agreement on the applicable
codes, specifications and other requirements
that must be met to complete the
ITP: bridge
between QA and QC
Quality assurance:
proactive processes
to prevent defects
FIG. 1. The ITP functions as a bridge between construction QA and QC.
Hydrocarbon Processing | AUGUST 2022 73
Quality control:
reactive processes
to detect defects
Hydrocarbon Processing - August 2022

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