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Understanding About Inspection and Test Plan (ITP)

For each activity on a construction site, there would be a corresponding Method Statement as well as Inspection
and Test Plan including Checklist shall be developed.

I’ve experienced in one of the projects that I’ve involved with was we did not have ITP in the very beginning but
when a newly appointed quality manager came into play, after few months when the project begins then the
development of ITP had started. I was thankful that my new manager was so knowledgeable about the proper
documentation. I learned a lot with him. Since then I learned more about making ITP. How happy are you if you
are with a leader who has a vast knowledge of the quality system. It will definitely rub off on you.

ITP is one of the most important project document that you need to provide for each activity and it must be
prepared way ahead before the start of the activity.

You will lose on your inspections if you will not prepare itp, I am telling you this because that was my experience. I
don’t want to happen it to you.

Preparation, Review, and Approval

Inspection and Test Plan is made and issued by the Quality Engineer, it should then be reviewed by the Quality
Manager, Construction Manager and approved by Project Manager before it shall submit to the Engineer.

As it is always required by the contract or specification, Method Statement and Inspection and Test Plan including
Checklist shall be submitted to the Engineer for approval.

The QA/QC Engineer shall maintain a register of all Inspection and Test Plan (ITP) including Checklists.

ITP
Inspection & Test Plan (ITP) – An Inspection & Test Plan is the program of inspection, testing of materials, and
survey shall be prepared and submitted by the contractor to the Engineer for approval before usage and
application to the site.

The QA/QC Engineer shall maintain a complete master set of approved Inspection and Test Plan.

The inspection process shall have the inspection criteria for every Inspection and Test Plan item. Here are the
following:

Surveillance ( S ) = random attendance at site, no signature required on the Inspection Request ( IR ) or its
accompanying documentation.

Execution ( E ) = attendance at the site is a must, the signature is always on Inspection Request and Checklist.

Witness (W) = attendance at the site is expected, the signature is required on check sheet of Inspection
Request ( IR ) and Checklist, but if the signatory is not present to sign at the time, follow on work may proceed
and the document(s) to be signed off later.

Hold Point (H) = attendance at the site is mandatory and signature is required on the check sheet of Inspection
Request at the time of the inspection to release the following work.

Review ( R ) = documents to be reviewed, no signature required on the Inspection Request or its accompanying
documentation.
Records (RE) = documentation to be recorded, no signature required on the Inspection Request or its
accompanying documentation.

Test ( T ) = attendance is required, signature required on check sheet of Inspection request and checklist
 It will have a great impact on a project if there is ITP established. The easiness of writing your inspection
description, writing the code or specification, identification of the inspection action code, and knowing the
acceptance criteria of a specific activity, almost everything is in an Inspection and Test Plan. It is a blueprint of
inspection.

So, start making it and surely you’ll amaze on what will happen with your project.

What is Witness Point & Hold Point?

There are two important inspection action codes in the Inspection and Test Plan they are called hold point and
witness point. Few or many had been a little confused about these inspection action codes.

The Hold point and Witness point are always found and indicated in the Inspection and Test Plan. They are the
construction stages which may need supplementary inspection or verification.

The purpose is to make sure specification requirements have complied accordingly and to proceed for the
following activities. So Verification process is outlined and documented in the Inspection and Test Plan as Hold
Point and Witness Point.

Here is the best definition of Hold Point & Witness Point:

Hold Point is a mandatory verification point beyond which work cannot proceed without approval by the Engineer
or Consultant or Municipality Inspector. The work cannot proceed until the Engineer or Consultant is able to verify
the quality of the completed work and releases the Hold by means of Inspection Request approval.

Witness Point is an identified point in the process where the Engineer or Consultant may review, witness, inspect
method or process of work. The activities, however, may proceed.

Here iS a sample of Hold Point & Witness Point:

Hold Point: The first floor of our project is to be cast but it must be inspected by the Municipality Inspector before it
will be poured with concrete. The Hold Points there is the inspection or verification of the Municipality Inspector;
once the Inspection is approved it will release the Hold.

So in short statement “The activity of pouring concrete cannot start without the approval of the Engineer or
Municipality Inspector.”

Witness Point: We were on painting activities for a second coat, the Inspector just witnessed the applications of
coatings.

“There is a chance to attend an activity but does not involve obligation, the activity can proceed without approval.”

We can visualize now the difference between Hold Point and Witness Point.

How To Prepare A Good Inspection & Test Plan – Part – 1

In the construction, there are several kinds of documents that you will encounter and produce as well, such as
method statement, checklist, forms of different kinds, but the Inspection & Test Plan or ITP is the most important
that you’ll have to make first. Why? Because ITP is the book of each inspection and testing on your project. In my
first job in Dubai, I have seen an ITP that consist of all the work inspections. It was like compacted in one
document. It was like a general ITP, but it is not really challenging, the best ITP that I would discuss here is that
an ITP of each work like ITP for Excavation Works, ITP for Concrete Works, ITP for Block Works etc.

If you are a newly assigned quality engineer in an ongoing project and you found out that they were not producing
ITP, it will be a mess project. How are you going to monitor inspection stages, the test, the acceptance criteria,
the references, etc? Without ITP, believe me or not if you’ll not make it, you are going to mess out the whole
project.
 ITP will serve as a tracking device. After the first inspection, then you’ll go to the next. By the way, the activity
description that you’ll going to write in the ITP that will be the title in your Inspection Request. That is why you will
not really lost in your inspections. Remember that…

Now here I am going to show you how easy to prepare an ITP? I have written about “Understanding About
Inspection & Test Plan” for you to understand how an ITP is made.

Here are the steps to do “How to prepare an Inspection & Test Plan.” And you could follow and apply to your
project.

1. Read Specification.

When you want to start writing the ITP, you must firstly read the specification of the work that you are going to
make an ITP for. Like “Block Works” you should read carefully the whole specification, not only once, but twice or
much better, several times because there are terms sometimes that you have to understand well. During your
reading, you can highlight the important terms so that when you come back you can immediately track it.

The specification is your basis for writing ITP.

2. Drawing, Method Statement & Material Submittal.

Make sure that the drawing is approved, if not, make sure that it is being submitted to the consultant because that
will be incorporated in the ITP as preliminaries. The same with the method statement and material submittal,
especially material submittal, there are some works that you’ll going to use the technical data of a material and
you are going to pick some acceptance criteria’s from there. You will learn later in the next article how to identify
and write the “Acceptance Criteria.”

3. Define Activity Description.

You could ask yourself by saying “What could I inspect in the first place?” In the specification that you’ve just read
many times and perhaps you’d found this word “preparation or examination” that could be a hint of an activity that
you are going to inspect first before the succeeding activity proceeds. You can see the sample of this
article Understanding About Inspection & Test Plan.

How To Prepare A Good Inspection & Test Plan – Part – 2

By Noel Mades-Posted on February 27, 2015In Inspection and Test Plan10 Comments
Continuation of Part – 1

4. Test or Inspection Performed.

Let’s take this Inspection & Test Plan Sample, and see under the Test or Inspection Performed column. You will
just write “Approval” for the documents that to be included such as the method statement, material submittal and
inspection and test plan.

And write “Visual” for the material and activity to be inspected.

5. Stage or Frequency.

We’ll just jump off to the material to be inspected because there is no certain frequency for the documents or
submittal. So we’ll go to the material and define what is the frequency. Once the material arrives on site then you
may write the frequency “Every material arrive on site” or just simply “Material Arrival on Site.”

If you have mock-up sample for blockwork activity then your frequency there is going to be “1 wall panel (6
meters).”
 In the activity of surface preparation and setting out your frequency there would be “Prior to laying of every
course.” The last activity is “Completed blockwork” then your frequency there would be “Every completed
panel/area.”

6. Code or Specification.

Under this column you will just write the corresponding code or specification to the “Activity Description” you’ve
written. The Clause from the particular area of the specification. Like, for example “Specification Section 07300
Clause 1.0” is where the word “Surface Preparation” activity was written.

7. Acceptance Criteria.

The acceptance criteria are the most important part of your ITP, why? Because this is your basis how you are
going to approve or accept the material arrive and work done on site respectively. So think deeply about this item.

In the “Blockwork” activity sample, let us say for example materials. What will be your acceptance criteria? No
thinking twice, it would be “Approved Material Submittal as Code A/B or 1/2.” You will then write it in the row of
material in your ITP under acceptance criteria column.

How about the “Setting out and surface preparation” activity? In the setting out activity, when you hear “setting
out” it can immediately pop-up into your mind that it is made by a surveyor, therefore your acceptance criteria
there would be a survey report, make sure the surveyor has signed it off before you submit to the
Engineer/Consultant.

The “Surface Preparation” activity, how do you accept that? It could be surface is clean, surface is chipped-off etc.
But that sentences are most likely to be written in the Checklist. So, the most general term would be “No
unsatisfactory conditions.”

8. Inspection or Verification.

Under the inspection or verification, there are three parties involved which they are Contractor, Consultant or
Engineer and Client or Employer. Now, there are corresponding responsibilities or task these three parties are
involved in and to be represented by E as execution, W as witness point and H as hold point. First is Contractor
which normally the party who will execute the project. Second, the consultant or engineer who will commonly
checked the work or material, the inspection criteria will be either witness or hold.

The client or employer will most commonly have a hold point status which you can see the difference of witness
and hold points in this article.

Now! How do you identify the inspection criteria such as witness point, hold point, surveillance and record?

Let’s say for example, we have “mock-up of blockwork/CMU” it is written in the specification you’ve just read this
line “Approval of sample panel is for texture, size, colour of masonry units; and other materials and construction
qualities specifically approved by Engineer or Consultant.” So you will place H as hold point under the Engineer
column and the Employer or Client then would be W as witness point. But sometimes the specification will be
superseded when the Employer will decide to check the mock-up sample.

“Surveillance” is usually referred to the Employer, let’s have an example again, if there is “material arrival shall be
checked by Engineer” then you will write H as hold point, so the hint are the words “checked by Engineer” and
then if it doesn’t mention “checked by Employer” so then you will write S as surveillance.

“Record” is referred to Engineer when it comes to the approval of documents. So therefore you will write R as
record under Engineer in the row of preparation of documents (ITP, Method Statement).

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Project Quality Plan, ITP & Checklist Documents Construction – Step By Step Guide
 By Noel Mades Posted on May 16, 2015In QA/QC Engineer Guide5 Comments
I would like to make a post about the questions that I received from the email of a friend. I will not write in here the
questions he’d asked about but rather reply on that by making a post and write in an orderly manner as a step-by-
step guide.

Every Engineer must understand how the related documents have to be made, when it is needed to be done, and
the comparison.

After the project is awarded to a contractor, the fabrication of documents can then be started. Here is a
guide about the project documents that will be prepared prior to the commencement of activities on the site.

1. Project Quality Plan or PQP

A project quality plan is to be considered as a book of the project which I already written in this article Project
Documents That A Quality Engineer Must Read Before Start Work.

The quality plan shall be the first to be constructed and submitted to the Engineer for approval prior to the
commencement of the work on the site.

I remember when I was in the previous company, I just want to keep the name. When the project was awarded to
us the Project Manager advised me to prepare a Quality Plan. So, I then started to prepare, after how many days
I was able to submit the said project document.

By the way, you can proceed anyway the construction like preliminaries, clearing and grubbing and excavation
etc. while the PQP is being constructed.

2. Inspection and Test Plan with Checklist need to submit.

The inspection and test plan shall be made next to the PQP and it will be submitted separately. The ITP is our
book of inspection as I also wrote in one of the articles here, where in the stages of the inspection are indicated
from start up of an activity to the completion.

Let us give an example of an activity that needs to be written in the ITP, like Blinding Works. In the blinding works,
there are parts of work to be inspected such as 1. Compaction test, 2. Setting Out of formation level, 3. Pouring
blinding concrete.

By the way, if the Anti-termite is mentioned in the project specification, it will then be included in the ITP
inspection stage before pouring blinding.

The checklist shall then be made parallel to the ITP because the ITP shall be submitted to the Engineer together
with the checklist.

3. Inspection Request

There are multiple stages of a work that needs to be checked, so the first up to the last stage shall be raised via
“Inspection Request” which I also wrote in this article “10 Project Forms That Quality Engineer Must
Have.” Everybody can find it there the meaning of Inspection Request.

You might be asking now “when and Inspection Request shall be raised?”

In our example of ITP for Blinding Works above. When the formation level is compacted, you can then raise an
Inspection Request” for compaction test as your first stage in your ITP. So, the title description in the IR would be
“Inspection for compaction test.” Just simple as that and then once the IR is approved the succeeding works can
then proceed and eventually you can raise an inspection request for setting out and pouring blinding concrete,
you can raise the two IR together because setting out is just getting survey report from surveyor, but it need to be
checked by the consultant.
 4. Checklist

Here is a definition of Checklist

Checklist – A list of items shall be noted or checked in a completed activity. It is always attached to the Inspection
Request. To be signed by concerns parties once the inspection is approved.

The checklist shall be signed off by a QC Engineer and attached to the inspection request before it will be
submitted to the consultant. Please remember that the consultant might not accept the inspection request without
checklist attached.

Here is a sample of Checklist for Blinding Works.

In Progress Inspection:

1. Is the soil compacted?

2. Is the area clean?

3. Are compaction tests done?

4. Form work completed?

5. The level of formation is correct?

So, work on the project site should have ITP and Checklist approved by consultant. By the way the forms of ITP,
Checklist and Inspection Request shall be approved also by consultant.

Hope everyone have read this post learned about how the workflow is done.

If you learned and enjoyed reading, you may share this with your favorite social network below.

10 Project Forms That a QA/QC Engineer Must Have

In a newly opened project, a QC Inspector or QA/QC Engineer must acquire forms to be used. This project forms
can be taken from the Quality Manager as he must provide these for a project. The Quality Manager shall make
the Project Quality Plan (PQP) and these project forms shall be incorporated with PQP for approval by the
Engineer or Consultant.

For the beginners, you must know the uses and importance of this project forms that I will explain one by one.

Here are 10 Project Forms that a Quality Inspector or QA/QC Engineer Must Have:

1. Document Transmittal Sheet (DTS)

This form will use to submit documents, drawings etc. This shall be filled by a Document Controller, writing the
specific titles for the submittal and attach necessary attachments and of course, it shall be the advice from
Technical Manager.

2. Material Submittal Sheet (MSS)

This form will use to submit materials for site use. Make sure that required field or spaces to fill up are completely
filled with correct descriptions such as Supplier, Material Description etc.

3. Request for Information (RFI)

This form will use if there is something that is not clear in the drawing to better understand or clarify a certain area
of the work, so the contractor will send an RFI to the Engineer or Consultant for clarification.

4. Subcontractor’s Approval (SA)

This form will use to submit to the Engineer for approval of any subcontractor that take subcontracts work in a
project.
 5. Confirmation of Verbal Instruction (CVI)
The contractor will use this form to confirm to the Engineer or Consultant for the verbal instruction he stated
during the meeting or phone calls or site joint inspection.

If the work proceeds without submitting CVI is performed at the contractor’s risk.

6.Inspection Request (IR)

This form will use if there is part of activity that is ready for inspection. The inspection request shall be submitted
24 hours before inspection. IR shall not be accepted by the Engineer if the time of inspection is less than 24
hours, so take care about the time it might create delays on your project if it is accumulated.

Succeeding activity cannot proceed without the approval of the previous activity. Unapproved inspection request
can be the medium to hold payments for requested progress billing of the contractor. It is always necessary to get
approval for your inspections to avoid payments delay issue. See here the IR form in PDF or download IR
form excel file.

7. Daily Report
This form will use to list down all the activity on site on daily basis including the machinery, plant, manpower,
weather report.

8. Weekly Report
This form will use to list down the weekly progress on site including percentage complete of the activities

9. Concrete Pouring Request (CPR)

This form will use to request pouring concrete. It shall be sent to the Engineer or Consultant one day or 24 hours
before the time of pouring.

10. Non-conformance Report (NCR)

This form will use for nonconformity noticed by the Engineer and shall be issued to the contractor. Nonconformity
will exist if the specification, drawing and other standards are not followed during the execution of the project. The
NCR is sometimes used to hold the payments of the contractor’s billing, no payments shall be made unless NCR
is rectified and approved by the Engineer. See here the NCR form or download NCR form word file.

These are all the project forms we handled from the start and until completion of the project.

Project Documents that a QA/QC Engineer Must Read Before Start Work
By Noel Mades
Before a QA/QC Engineer starts his or her work on a newly opened project he or she must initially take the time
reading the important documents constituted on the project.

The QA/QC Engineer shall ask the documents from his Quality Manager if no any documents available at his or
her hand.

The QA/QC Engineer may also approach the project document controller to request the copy of important
company documents, that he or she needs to study.

Here are the important documents that a QA/QC Engineer must read before the start of the project:

Specification
The specification is a set of requirements or detailed description of work to be done, materials to be used in a
project.

It is given to the contractor from the employer on the tendering period. It is filed in the document controller office
ready for any site staff to request for a copy.

This documents shall be the first one to read by the QA/QC Engineer.
 Project Quality Plan
A plan that describes the responsibilities, functions and procedures to be followed in a project, to meet the
projects quality control requirements.
The Project Quality Plan shall be made by the Quality Manager of the project and it shall be submitted to the
Engineers for approval before the commencements of any activity on site. It is a guide-book of a project.

Drawings
This is a plan or sketches of the project. The QA/QC Engineer must read and study the drawings carefully.

The drawing has four categories, Structural, Architectural, Electrical, Mechanical including Heating Ventilation and
Air-conditioning ( HVAC ).

Why it is said “carefully” because in the general notes it is sometimes written there the most important
requirements especially in the structural drawing. Highlight the most important lines to easily track back when you
want to read it again.

Other documents such as Quality Manual, Quality Policy, Quality Procedures etc. These are the company
documents that a QA/QC Engineer must also read.

We will discuss more about documents so please subscribe to this site to get new updates in your inbox.
The QC Inspector Duties and Responsibilities
During my stay in our country Philippines in the year 2006, I had plan to work abroad but I really don’t have an
idea what best career will I specialized, then I have a friend who’d just come back from Saudi Arabia taught me
what job to take, you know to work abroad you have to specialized one field only. So what happened I decided to
take the Quality Engineering career and to become a QA/QC Engineer which is my current job now and last to
become a Quality Manager someday.

The Seven Major Components of Project Quality Plan That Really Needs to Implement in Construction
In any project, one of the critical components of its success will be having a well-developed project quality plan.

The project quality plan is developed with the main aim of producing deliverables that adhere to quality process
standards.

The project manager to guide the stakeholders, as well as his team in meeting quality requirements, standards
and the quality assurance mechanisms of the project in question, will thus use the quality plan. There are
many components the Project Quality Plan have and these components here are part of that.

Here are 7 major components of a project quality plan that you should remember and apply in your
project.

1. Brief Description of the Project

The project brief is a detailed document explaining a summary of the idea, how you have seen it working, and
what is needed to get it there.

The brief is at times references as a project summary, project breakdown, project proposal or a scope of the
working document.

Project briefs are shared with the people that will be working with you on that project, to help them comprehend
how you would want the construction work to proceed.

You now need to make sure that you capture this on paper. The brief may vary from a simple outline to a very
detailed document. The option you choose will depend on the type of control you would want to have in the
creation process.

If you intend on providing more control to the people working with you on the project, consider creating a brief that
encourages using different routes, than simply narrowing down in a single direction.
 2. Control of Project Quality Plan
Depending on how closely a construction organization follows the project management methodologies, you will
find yourself as the project manager having to deal with a project execution plan.

The general idea of the plan is to make sure that there are clear checks and balances on the construction project
which will ensure that a quality product is delivered by your team.

The good news is that as the project manager, you will not have to develop the Project Quality Plan, as it is
developed by quality assurance manager, but the challenging news, as a quality engineer is that you will be in
charge of the supervision and implementation during the execution of the project by the construction team, as well
as ensuring that you deliver everything outlined in the document.

The staff such as construction manager, section manager, project engineer, planning engineer, procurement
engineer etc. shall ensure compliance of the project quality plan.

3.Project Scope of Work

Any construction project that is undertaken requires a scope of work to be described. The scope of work is like a
project rulebook.

Irrespective of the construction work to be performed, every business requires a scope statement.
It may not be easy outlining the scope of work as many projects come with their own variables, which influence
the project. There are also many deliverables and project expectations that must be met.
The project manager is in charge of writing the scope of work. In the document, he or she will need to outline the
construction features such as:

Resources
• Deliverables
• Projections
• Available manpower
• Cost
• Schedule
All these tasks should be performed in a sequential manner to ensure that they are orderly and are listed in a
clean manner.

4. Project Organization Chart

A project organization chart is used to describe the structure of the project team, with the direct and indirect
reporting relationships being clearly mapped out.

The organization technique followed in this step provides a normal set of roles and responsibilities customizable
for each construction project.

The chart will need to cover all personnel resources that will be required, both on a full time and part time basis.

At this point, the project manager is also expected to recruit the project team members, making sure to clearly
point out the different types of external contractors that may be needed. The manager will also need to identify
additional stakeholders that may need to be consulted or informed of the status of the project.

5. Project Quality Audit Plan

The rationale behind having a project quality audit plan is to determine whether the methodologies that were
chosen have provided the project manager with all the processes and procedures needed to ensure the success
of a project.

A quality plan is therefore used to determine the concerns held by the project stakeholders, team members and
its sponsors as well.
 Once it is completed, it should provide recommendations on how flaws, concerns, and other important issues will
be overcome to ensure that the project remains on track.

For a project manager, uncovering issues, challenges, and project concerns are one of the most important tasks
attached to their roles, and hence the need to use an audit report to achieve this fete.

6. Inspection and Testing Procedure

When it comes to quality control on a project, inspection and test plans and procedures are probably the most
important documents that a project manager can have with him or her.

When you have a clear, concise and robust ITP, it makes things easier for you on site, as it defines the
responsibilities and tasks that have to be performed on site.

The document will plan and manage the inspection activities that provide for assurance, control and records facts
of the work that has been done so far.

It is important to make sure that the Inspection and Test Plan follows the sequence of works that have been
described in your Works Method Statement.

It should also be clear on the contractual requirements for tests and frequencies.

7. Method Statements
In construction projects, method statements are widely used in controlling the specific health and safety risks
which have been identified after a risk assessment, such as working at height, equipment installation, demolition,
lifting operations as well as the use of the plant.

The method statement will help in managing work and ensuring that all necessary precautions have been sent out
to all those who are involved.

The format to be used in reviewing and using the method statement should be clarified when the project is
starting out. When preparing it, make sure that the statement is not longer than is needed.