You may be unfamiliar with Inspection and Test Plans (ITPs) as a novice in the construction quality control industry, and you are curious about how to create an ITP for each construction activity.
This is a crucial procedure that has the potential to significantly impact both the project’s success and satisfaction levels.
And by taking a methodical approach, you may make these ITPs that will assist you in maintaining control both while performing construction activities and prior to turning over the finished product to the owner.
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How Can a Construction Inspection and Testing Plan be Written?
The following is a detailed guide on creating an Inspection and Test Plan for construction projects:
1- Begin by using a template.
It takes a lot of time and effort to create an ITP for construction activities from scratch; time and energy that could be better used elsewhere.
Additionally, when you start the Inspection and Test Plan from scratch, it could be simple to overlook crucial components.
A general template for each ITP could serve as a reference, help you save a ton of time, and enable you to create an expert ITP that will be easy to use and ensure quality.
You can quickly and easily modify the basic templates to match your project’s unique process, saving time and effort.
If you don’t already have any ITP templates, you might be able to get them online for a cheap cost per template, like the Architectural ITP Templates, where the cost per template is less than the cost of two hours of your time.
In the case that you don’t want to use pre-made templates and instead want to start from scratch, you’ll need to first create the fields that will be used in each ITP, but without the content inside the table because this will vary depending on the particular system and its components.
2. Go to the Owner/Consultant’s Inspection and Testing Specifications.
Along with the standard I&T activities, the owner and their consultant may specify additional inspection points or tests to be performed for each activity, such as installing HVAC equipment, constructing asphalt roads, or installing power cables, and the acceptance criteria may be more stringent than usual.
In order to prevent rejection during the inspection process, you need to research the owner’s requirements and specifications.
3. See the Testing Requirements & Procedures provided by the vendor.
Similar to what was discussed in the preceding section, the vendor that provided certain systems or items may have had specific procedures for off-loading, packaging, installing, inspecting, and testing their products.
Additionally, especially if the equipment and systems are covered by the vendor’s warranty, they may demand that they be off-loaded and installed under their close supervision. They may also require that the testing be completed independently and in accordance with their test procedures.
Ensure that the owner’s vendor requirements are completely covered by the owner’s ITP and that these requirements and procedures are in line with your ITP.
4. Explain the Acceptance Criteria.
List the requirements for each inspection and testing activity result that must be met on the ITP table in order for it to be accepted.
For instance, depending on the cable type, size, installation circumstances, owner requirements, etc., there are minimal allowed resistance values for power cables’ IR test.
There are minimum and maximum allowed values for clearances from the ceiling and from other equipment and systems when installing HVAC equipment and ducts.
Either include the allowed values in the ITP table or make reference to an other document that is an attachment to the ITP and has all of these values.
5. Make a Reference to the Documents that are Needed
Inspection would be performed in order to refer to a reference document or a group of documents to ensure that the construction works are correct.
For instance, installation of power cables would necessitate adherence to particular “Approved for Construction” drawings, but IR value testing would require adherence to a particular set of DC voltage levels, as detailed in a particular table or datasheet.
When performing any inspection or test activity, be sure to refer to the relevant document or collection of documents.
6. Establish Each Party’s Role in the I&T Phase
Depending on the importance of the system and the test size, each member of staff may play a distinct role during any given inspection or testing activity.
For instance, before the cables are covered by the backfilling process during the installation of electricity cables underground, the contractor’s QC engineer may need to inspect each one, and the inspection must be placed on Hold (H) until the engineer arrives.
The code (S) or (R) would be used on the ITP table for the owner’s engineer for that particular activity since the owner’s engineer (consultant) might only need to attend a portion of the inspection or review the inspection reports given by the contractor’s QC engineer.
In other circumstances, such as the vendor or a particular test firm or lab, the same holds true for third party workers.
7. Make the Checklists and Reference Materials and Attach them to the ITP.
Where are you going to record the results of these I&T activities? The ITP table is the reference you need to follow while inspecting and testing certain activities.
That is the purpose of the checklists.
Each ITP document should be accompanied with Quality Inspection & Testing Checklists, and each activity on the ITP table should be referenced to on one of these checklists, with fields to refer to the I&T results.
When inspecting a particular system or object, each checklist may be utilized more than once.
If one hundred MV power cables, for instance, need to be tested for IR value, the test might be conducted over multiple days, with the results of each group of cables’ testing recorded on a single copy of the same form or checklist.
You also need to use the same checklist multiple times, once for each HVAC unit, when visually inspecting it.
Remember to fill out the area, zone, or part of the system that has to be inspected on each checklist or inspection and testing form.
In order to define the approval criteria for the I&T activity, don’t forget to attach the relevant tables and datasheets.
8. Submit the ITP for Clearance.
You need approval on the Inspection and Test Plans to be used before you start the I&T activities.
And for this reason, you need to submit them for approval to the owner’s engineer.
After reviewing the initial version, the owner’s engineer may approve the ITP or they may follow up with questions or comments.
When necessary, revise the ITP in accordance with the engineer’s instructions, address any misunderstandings or misinterpretations that may have led to the ITP’s denial, and then submit the updated version of the ITP.
Before being officially accepted without comments, the Inspection and Test Plan should go through the submission and reviewing process.
But keep in mind that you might need to consult the vendor or the third party before updating the ITP based on the comments the owner’s engineer makes on I&T activities that might be related to items that fall under the vendor’s warranty or might be requested to be performed by a third party.
In summary
For engineering projects and construction projects, creating Inspection and Test Plans (ITPs) is an iterative process that starts with ITP templates, requires customization to fit your project, requires approval from engineers, and requires revisions to the ITP documents as needed, until final approved ITPs for each activity are obtained.
When developing Inspection and Test Plans and Quality Control procedures, you can start from scratch, but it would require a significant amount of time that might be saved by starting with generic templates that you can modify to fit the specific demands of your project.
tag: # How to Write an ITP (Inspection and Test Plan) for Construction?
Written by:
Jose S. Villegas is a seasoned professional and civil engineer in the construction industry with over 24 years of experience. He has worked on various construction projects ranging from small to large-scale projects. He has a deep understanding of the construction process, from quality to implementation and completion.
