Back to basics for quality inspections

Quality not quantity is key when it comes to quality inspections, Tony Smith, technical compliance director for Sir Robert McAlpine, told GIRI’s spring members’ meeting in a presentation that focused on getting it right on site.

“There are a myriad root causes of error, but the coalface is where we have that last opportunity to get it right,” said Tony. 

The process of quality control has changed significantly in the last 30 years, but its function remains the same – and so do the issues, said Tony. “When I first started doing quality inspections, I had a pen and paper and a tick sheet. Quality inspectors felt they had done a good job if they ticked all the boxes, and it was taken for granted that this meant that a quality job had been done. But the figures tell us that isn’t always the case.”

Clipboards and tick sheets might have been replaced by technology, but the ‘tick box’ mentality still exists, said Tony. “We now take tablets to site and we can take photos of work – and that’s great. We have technology coming at us thick and fast. However, we need to rewind and go back to basics and consider what a quality inspection is actually for.”

Not just a tick-box exercise

The ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard provides a definition of what a quality inspection should be, which is to verify that what is built conforms to the specified requirements. “I think a lot of our people doing quality inspections don’t fully appreciate that, and feel that if they have been out to see the work and have taken a couple of photos, they have done their job.”

When Tony started his role as technical compliance director at McAlpine two years ago, there was a drive for more frequent quality inspections, but speaking at the members’ meeting, he questioned whether ‘more’ equates to ‘better’. “I believe it is a case of quality not quantity. It doesn’t necessarily stack up that if you do more inspections, quality will be better. I would much rather see 10 really good inspections that satisfy a purpose than 100 poor quality inspections.”

To underline this point, Tony shared a series of photos taken from quality inspections. The first showed a square column. “It’s a lovely square column. The problem is that it should have been a round column. What is the point of a quality inspection if all you do is take photos? I see this all too often now. We used to be happy if we were ticking boxes. Now we are happy if we have taken a photo. But if the work is wrong, the whole thing is pointless.” 

Another photo was taken of a vinyl installation. The entire process of installation was documented in photographs, including the materials and the adhesive. The inspection was signed off. It was only later when Tony reviewed the inspection that he noticed that the wrong adhesive had been used. “Our quality inspection records should not just be a record of what has been built, but a record that we have built it correctly.”

Yet another photo pictured a tape measure used to measure the distance between studs on a partition. “What we want to see on our quality inspections is the design information that specifies the distance required between studs. In this instance, the specified distance has been verified on site, and we have assured that compliance.”

McAlpine uses FieldView for quality inspection. Instead of a series of tick boxes, this uses a RAG (Red Amber Green) system. “Often, I see inspections that are green, green, green. But we don’t live in a perfect world. I would encourage people doing quality inspections to demonstrate that they have actually found something wrong, because nine times out of 10 there will be an error. I want to see the odd amber or red in amongst the greens. We should be using these great tools we have now to identify the errors and manage them through to compliance.”

Required competencies

What competencies are required to ensure good quality inspections? “We need to educate our quality inspectors as to what quality inspections should look like, and that is what I am doing now with in-house training. And yes, we need to look at data, because we are a data-driven society, but that data can only tell us how many inspections we are doing, not if they are any good.”

He explained that McAlpine is tackling this through quality community peer reviews. “We have individuals within the business in various job functions who are passionate about quality. They visit projects and start peeling the onion – they look beyond the ticks to the content of inspections and share good practices from other projects. Gradually, I am seeing the standard of our inspections improve.”

Tony added that the other key area is around technical competence. “At a basic level, anyone who can read and understand a drawing can carry out a quality inspection, but we want our inspectors to have more depth to their understanding. We need to get manufacturers on site, training our people. We need to make use of trade body guidance. As a tier one contractor, we have an over-reliance on the competence of the people doing the work.”

In closing, he said the members: “Think of inspection forms not just as records but as tools to guide you through the inspection process. The forms will ask if X has been done correctly. Use this as a prompt to look up the design information and establish what ‘correct’ means before you do the inspection and then verify if it is correct.”

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