Chapter 93 Quality assurance

Quality assurance is an essential part of the design and construction process and provides confidence to the other parties to the contract that the end product will be built to at least a minimum standard. The specification defines this minimum standard – in geotechnical engineering there are many different model specifications available to suit different construction processes. An additional complementary project-specific specification is needed considering the unique nature of the project and its ground conditions. Workmanship is verified either by a resident engineer, or similar, or by the contractor undertaking self-certification. A key component of quality assurance is the identification and reparation, if necessary, of non-conformances. If any workmanship is thought to be faulty, or if there is a failure, then a forensic investigation will need to be carried out. The records produced by the quality assurance procedure provide factual data for use as part of this investigation.