Quality concepts
Root cause analysis
Root cause analysis is the step between finding a problem and fixing it for good: instead of stopping at the symptom, you keep asking why until you reach the condition that actually let it happen. A recurring leak is not solved by drying the wall. It is solved by finding the flashing detail the crew keeps missing and the reason they keep missing it. Without RCA a corrective action just cleans up the same defect over and over.
Run it with the Photo Gate
Construction quality control plan
12 items · 15 photos required
Why it matters
The same defect showing up on unit after unit is almost never bad luck. It is a detail nobody understood, a submittal that was wrong, a sequence that sets a trade up to fail. RCA is how you tell a one-off from a pattern and aim the correction at the pattern.
It keeps corrective action honest. A corrective action written without a real root cause tends to be "be more careful," which fixes nothing.
How it shows up on site
When a nonconformance repeats, the write-up asks why the work went wrong (training, materials, sequence, a bad detail), and the answer drives a change to the plan, not just a patch to the one item.
Guides that use it
- How to do root cause analysis on a defectTrace a recurring defect past the symptom to the cause that let it happen, then put a corrective action in place that keeps it from coming back.
- How to write a nonconformance reportWrite a nonconformance report that names the as-found condition, the requirement it fails, and the disposition, so it holds up when the item is argued about later.
Checklists that put root cause analysis to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Corrective actionThe step taken to fix a nonconformance and stop it happening again: both the repair and the change that prevents a repeat.
- NonconformanceInstalled work that does not meet the drawings, spec or accepted submittal, formally identified so it gets dispositioned, not ignored.
- DefectA flaw in materials or workmanship that makes the work fall short of what was specified or of accepted trade practice.
- ReworkTearing out and redoing work that failed inspection so it meets the spec: the costly disposition everyone is trying to avoid.
- Continuous improvementSteadily feeding what a job learns back into how the next work is planned, so the same defects stop recurring.
- Lessons learnedThe captured record of what went right and wrong on a job so the next crew doesn't relearn it the hard way.
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.
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