Documents & records
Quality control plan
A quality control plan is the contractor's written system for making sure the work meets the contract before anyone else has to catch that it doesn't. It sets out roles and responsibilities, the standards and specs work will be checked against, the inspection and test regime, and how nonconformances get identified and closed. On many public and commercial jobs it's a required submittal in its own right.
Why it matters
Without a QC plan, quality lives in people's heads and disappears when they leave the job. The plan defines the inspection and test plan, the checklists, the photo and documentation requirements, and the nonconformance process as one connected system — so the record that proves compliance is a byproduct of doing the work, not a scramble at the end.
How it shows up on site
A working QC plan drives the three-phase rhythm many jobs use — preparatory, initial and follow-up checks for each definable feature of work. It points to the ITP for the checkpoints, the checklists for the details, and the NCR process for anything that misses, keeping all of it traceable to a location and a date.
Checklists that put quality control plan to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Inspection and test plan (ITP)A document that lays out, activity by activity, what gets inspected or tested, who does it, against which standard, and what record it produces.
- Nonconformance report (NCR)A formal record raised when installed work does not meet the drawings, specs or an accepted standard, and the plan to resolve it.
- Submittal registerThe master log that tracks every required submittal, its review status and its due date across the whole job.
- Daily construction reportThe dated record of what happened on site each day — crews present, work done, weather, deliveries, inspections and issues.
- Punch listThe running list of incomplete or defective work a contractor has to fix before an area is accepted and closed out.
- Request for information (RFI)A formal written question from the contractor to the design team when the drawings or specs are unclear, conflicting or incomplete.
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.