How Infrastructure teams can standardise QA as they scale

In civil infrastructure, consistency matters just as much as speed. Projects are being delivered across multiple crews, subcontractors and locations, often under tight programmes and high scrutiny. Yet for many growing teams, quality work and documentation still depend heavily on individual experience, rather than repeatable systems.

When QA knowledge lives in people's heads instead of defined process, quality becomes harder to maintain. What might work for a small, tight-knit crew becomes unsustainable across larger jobs and different regions.

Why does growth cause disruption?

Early on, informal processes can feel efficient. Experienced engineers and supervisors know what "good" looks like, and following a set process can feel like double-handling. Issues are picked up through habit and implicit knowledge, but as teams grow, projects become more complex and companies scale, relying on that intrinsic understanding becomes a risk, rather than an asset.

It might be that new starters interpret requirements differently. Inspections can vary from crew to crew. Records are captured inconsistently, if at all. Managers spend more time answering questions and chasing missing information than improving outcomes. Over time, this leads to avoidable defects, rework, and friction with clients. The problem isn’t capability. It’s that experience hasn’t been translated into a system others can follow.

From individual expertise to repeatable processes

The most effective contractors don’t avoid making the most of their team's implicit knowledge. Instead they use it to build structure by turning individual know-how into repeatable and reportable standards. In practice, that looks like:

• Defining QA requirements up front → Inspection and test plans are aligned to project requirements before work begins, so expectations are clear from day one rather than rediscovered mid-build.
• Setting expectations that work on a job site → QA processes are realistic for engineers and supervisors to complete on site, regardless of project size or complexity.
• Capturing evidence as work is happening → Inspections, photos and approvals are recorded digitally in real time, reducing reliance on memory, paperwork or in person follow-up.
• Creating a single source of truth → QA information lives in one place, giving managers visibility across crews and projects without chasing updates.

As Von Jones at RSA Contractors, puts it:

“We’ve got some projects that are very complex, and some that are not very complex at all. What we have previously struggled with is a system that is flexible to use on all types of projects... Because CONQA is so easy to use, and not only by engineers, but also by supervisors, it can actually help us with our smaller, hourly rate projects too.”

Building quality that grows with you

As civil infrastructure teams expand, relying on individual experience alone is no longer enough. Standardising QA isn’t about adding bureaucracy. It’s about protecting quality, reducing risk, and giving teams the tools they need to deliver consistently at scale.