Quality concepts
Quality audit
Also called: QA audit
A quality audit is a planned, independent review of whether the quality system is actually being run as written: are inspections being done at the hold points the plan names, are nonconformances being logged and closed, do the records exist and hold together. It looks at the process and its evidence rather than re-inspecting each piece of installed work. An audit finds the gap between the quality plan on paper and what the field is really doing.
Why it matters
A quality plan that nobody audits tends to quietly decay — hold points get skipped when the schedule tightens, NCRs stop getting logged, photos go missing. An audit is the periodic check that the system is still real, not just filed.
It also surfaces patterns a single inspection cannot. Finding that a whole trade's concealed-work photos are missing, or that corrective actions close without verification, points at a process fix, not a one-off repair.
How it shows up on site
A reviewer pulling a sample of definable features of work and following the trail — plan says inspect here, was it inspected, is the photo there, was the NCR closed — and writing up the gaps as findings against the quality system.
Checklists that put quality audit to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Quality assurance (QA)The planned system of procedures, plans and checkpoints set up before work starts so the right result is built the first time.
- Objective quality evidenceRecorded, verifiable proof that work met its requirement — a measurement, test result or timestamped photo, not an assurance.
- NonconformanceInstalled work that does not meet the drawings, spec or accepted submittal — formally identified so it gets dispositioned, not ignored.
- Continuous improvementSteadily feeding what a job learns back into how the next work is planned, so the same defects stop recurring.
- Quality control (QC)The hands-on inspection and testing of installed work against the spec — checking the actual product, not the process that made it.
- DeficiencyWork that is incomplete, missing or not up to standard — the catch-all a punch list and inspections use for anything that still needs attention.
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.