The power of a robust quality control program became evident in the midst of a fast-track, college residence tower renovation.
Plano-Coudon had been contracted to add air conditioning and perimeter insulation to each room within the existing building, along with renovating the lobby and other ancillary areas.
“The job had some critical dimensions that needed to be adhered to. This required each of the subcontracting teams to execute an agreed upon detailed plan,” said Thomas Koch, LEED® AP, Senior Project Manager.
To achieve the precision and consistency needed on the project, Plano-Coudon developed templates for each room.
“Then, to make sure that each room received the same attention to detail, all rooms had a sign-off sheet where each foreman signed off on their teams’ installation. This was followed by a Plano-Coudon team member after confirming each installation,” Koch said.
The quality control process proved vital to maintaining the fast-track schedule while alleviating corrective rework, he said. It also fostered an ownership mentality among team members that heightened individuals’ commitment to delivering top-quality work.
Plano-Coudon has always executed rigorous quality control processes. Recently however, we added a new level of standardization and sophistication to those processes.
Over the course of several months, a team of Plano-Coudon superintendents, project managers and executives created the comprehensive Plano-Coudon Quality Control Process and Manual.
“Quality control is a start-to-finish activity on all projects. From the first day, to the last, you are doing quality control on everything, including requests for information, proper submittals, verification of construction materials testing, and proper checks and balances to see to it that the correct materials are ordered and then stored and installed correctly,” said Ted LaPierre, General Superintendent.
The quality control initiative enabled the team to review quality control processes for all construction tasks across the broad spectrum of projects built by Plano-Coudon. The team also reviewed quality control lessons learned from previous projects and industry best practices. In addition to the comprehensive manual, the team produced a series of checklists to help field staff thoroughly complete and document all quality control steps. Finally, it integrated the quality control program into Plano-Coudon’s Procore software to provide digital tracking and accountability of all quality control items.
“This approach gives us an upper hand in documenting quality control by Plano-Coudon,” LaPierre said. “The fact that all the superintendents and subcontractors will use the same checklists will see to it that our quality control is thorough and verified.”
The process, Koch said, can provide clients with full and detailed confidence that they are receiving quality projects while also helping subcontractors avoid rework or warranty issues.
“Plano-Coudon’s comprehensive quality control manual also helps the company meet specialized quality control requirements on certain projects,” said Cliff Milstead, LEED® AP, Project Executive. “On certain projects, the owner needs a full-time quality control manager or customized quality controls. We have our thorough quality control framework that we can easily tailor to those projects.”