Quality concepts
Control point
A control point is a specific, planned place in the sequence where the work is checked before it proceeds, set in the quality plan or ITP so the inspection is scheduled, not improvised. Some control points are hold points that stop the work until signoff; others are witness points an inspector may observe without halting progress. Naming the control points in advance is what makes an inspection program predictable instead of a matter of catching the right moment by luck.
Run it with the Photo Gate
Inspection and test plan (ITP)
11 items · 8 photos required
Why it matters
The most important inspections are the ones that have to happen before something gets covered, poured or loaded, and those are exactly the ones easiest to miss in the rush. Fixing them as control points in the plan puts the check on the schedule where it cannot quietly slip.
Control points also make coverage auditable. When the plan names where checks occur, a quality audit can ask a simple question of each one: did the inspection happen, and is the evidence there?
How it shows up on site
An ITP that lists control points across a definable feature of work (inspect before cover, witness the test, hold before pour), each tied to who inspects, the acceptance criterion, and the photo that records the result.
Checklists that put control point to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Hold pointA stop in the inspection and test plan where work cannot continue until a required party inspects and signs off the release.
- Witness pointA step where a party is invited to observe the work, but the crew may proceed if that party doesn't attend within the agreed notice.
- Definable feature of workA discrete, separately inspectable task or segment of work with its own start, finish, and acceptance criteria within the QC plan.
- Punch itemA single outstanding deficiency on the punch list: one specific thing to fix, located and tracked to closure before turnover.
- Fitness for purposeWhether installed work actually does the job it was put in to do, not just whether it matches the drawing line for line.
- Workmanship standardThe agreed level of finish and craft installed work has to reach where the spec sets a target but no exact tolerance.
Knowing the term is step one. Proving it is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.
30-day trial · No card required