Construction QA Glossary

As-built records

Documentation of what was actually constructed, as distinct from what was designed. As-builts typically include final survey data, levels and dimensions, marked-up drawings showing departures from design, and the material and test certificates behind them. On civil contracts, submission of as-built records is usually a condition of practical completion, and the principal keeps them as the permanent record of the asset. If the as-builts can’t be produced, handover stalls.

Checklist (inspection checklist)

A working document listing the specific checks required for a defined piece of work, drawn from the ITP and the specification. Each item records the result, who checked it, and when. A checklist turns the ITP from a plan into evidence: the ITP says what will be verified, the completed checklist proves it was. In CONQA, checklists are completed digitally at the point of work, with photos and sign-offs attached to the exact lot or unit they belong to.

Defect / defects liability period (DLP)

A defect is work that does not conform to the contract – wrong material, wrong dimension, workmanship below specification. The defects liability period is the window after practical completion, set by the contract, during which the contractor must return and rectify defects at their own cost; retention money or a bank guarantee is typically held as security until it ends. When a defect is alleged years later, the QA records decide whether the work was built to specification or not.

Factory acceptance test (FAT)

A test of manufactured equipment or an assembled product carried out at the manufacturer’s premises before dispatch, against an agreed test procedure, usually witnessed by the client or their representative. A passed FAT is commonly a payment milestone and a precondition for delivery and site acceptance testing. The FAT record – procedure, results, witness signatures – travels with the unit and is asked for again at commissioning and handover.

First article inspection (FAI)

A full dimensional and specification check of the first unit produced – the first panel, the first board, the first fabricated element – before the production run continues. FAI verifies that the moulds, drawings revision, materials, and process produce a conforming product, so that a systematic error is caught on unit one rather than discovered across the whole run. The FAI report becomes the reference record the rest of the run is measured against.

Handover pack

The compiled quality record handed to the principal or head contractor at completion: completed ITPs and checklists, hold point and witness point sign-offs, test results, material certificates, as-built records, and closed-out NCRs. Producing the handover pack is commonly a condition of practical completion and final payment. A pack that has to be reconstructed at close-out from phone photos and email threads is where projects lose weeks. In CONQA, the handover pack is compiled from records that already exist against each lot or unit.

Hold point

A point defined in the ITP beyond which work must not proceed until it has been inspected and released by the nominated party – typically the superintendent, the engineer’s representative, or the principal’s representative. Proceeding past a hold point without release is a breach of contract, and the work can be rejected or ordered removed at the contractor’s cost. In civil construction, hold point releases are part of the conformance record for the lot, which is what supports the payment claim.

ITC (Inspection and Test Checklist)

The working checklist used to record the execution of the checks set out in an ITP. The distinction is simple: the ITP is the plan of what will be inspected and tested; the ITC is the record that it happened, with results, dates, and signatures against each item. Completed ITCs are core quality records – they are what the principal’s representative reviews before releasing a hold point or conforming a lot.

ITP (Inspection and Test Plan)

A document that sets out, for a defined work activity, every inspection and test required: the check to be performed, the acceptance criteria, the specification clause it verifies, who performs and who witnesses it, and the intervention level – hold point, witness point, or surveillance. ITPs usually require approval by the principal’s representative before the work starts, and they structure the quality record for the whole activity. The ITP is the contract’s map of what must be proven, and to whom, before the work is accepted.

Lot / lot management

A lot is a discrete portion of work built under uniform conditions and treated as a single unit for testing and conformance – one layer of pavement over a set chainage, a single concrete pour, a run of drainage between structures. Lot management is the discipline of opening each lot, recording its testing and inspections, resolving any non-conformances, and closing it as conformed. On most civil contracts, payment is claimed lot by lot, and a lot that has not been conformed cannot be claimed. CONQA’s lot management ties every record to its lot as the work happens.

NCR (non-conformance report)

The formal record raised when work or material fails to meet the specification. An NCR states what is non-conforming and where, then records the disposition – rework, repair, or acceptance with the engineer’s concession – and the evidence that the disposition was carried out. A properly raised and closed NCR shows the quality system is working. An open NCR typically holds conformance of the affected lot, and with it the claim line.

Payment claim / progress claim

The contractor’s periodic claim, usually monthly, for payment for work completed, made under the contract and supported by security of payment legislation (the SOP Acts in Australia, the Construction Contracts Act in New Zealand). On QA-gated contracts, each line of the claim needs its supporting quality records – conformed lots, released hold points, test results – before the superintendent or engineer certifies it. Missing or incomplete QA records are one of the most common reasons a claim line is held: the work is done, but until the record exists in the format the principal requires, the money stays on their ledger.

QA records / quality records

The evidence that work was inspected, tested, and conforms to the contract: completed checklists and ITCs, hold point and witness point sign-offs, test results, photos tied to their location and date, material and calibration certificates, and closed-out NCRs. Contracts require quality records to be retained well beyond completion, typically through the defects liability period and often much longer. In CONQA, the quality record is built per lot or unit as the work happens.

Quality management plan / QA system

The documented system describing how quality is managed on a project or across a business: responsibilities, the ITP register, document control, inspection and testing regime, and the NCR process – commonly required to align with ISO 9001. “What is your QA system?” is now a standard tender question, and it is asking for more than a certificate. The strong answer names the system, shows a live record from a current job, and explains how evidence is captured at the work and how conformance gates the claim. A binder of blank templates answers the question badly; a record you can open on the spot answers it well.

Sign-off

The recorded approval by a nominated person that a check, hold point, lot, or unit meets its requirements: who approved, what exactly, when, and against which criteria. A sign-off is only as strong as the evidence attached to it: the photos, measurements, and test results that show what the approver saw and why the criteria were met. In CONQA, sign-offs are digital and carry a full audit trail of who approved what, when, and in what sequence.

Superintendent / engineer’s representative

The person who administers the contract on behalf of the principal: releasing hold points, issuing directions, assessing variations, and certifying payment claims. Under AS 4000-family contracts in Australia the role is the Superintendent; under NZS 3910 in New Zealand it is the Engineer, usually acting through an engineer’s representative on site. Their certification of a claim rests on the quality records behind it.

Surveillance

An intervention level in the ITP under which the nominated party monitors work on an ongoing basis without a mandatory stop. Work proceeds while surveillance verifies that the process – compaction method, welding procedure, curing regime – is being followed. It sits below witness and hold points in the hierarchy: a hold point stops work until release, a witness point requires notice with the option to attend, and surveillance is continuous oversight with no gate.

Verification evidence

The objective records that prove a requirement was met: measurements, test certificates, photos with a time and location, completed checks with a name against them. Good verification evidence has three properties – it is attributable to a person, traceable to the specific lot or unit and the specification clause it verifies, and contemporaneous, captured when the work was done rather than assembled afterwards. Evidence reconstructed at month-end from a camera roll fails the third test, and experienced reviewers can tell.

Witness point

A point defined in the ITP at which the nominated party must be notified and given the opportunity to attend and observe the inspection or test. Unlike a hold point, work may proceed if they choose not to attend within the notice period – the notification itself, and the record of it, is what matters. Witness points let the principal’s representative target their attendance while keeping the contractor’s programme moving, and the notice trail becomes part of the lot’s conformance record.

Construction QA Glossary. QA terms are contract terms.