QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL GUIDELINES

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) sponsored the development of the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) Guidelines to provide a resource for transit authorities and others undertaking capital projects. The FTA requires grantees undertaking major capital programs to prepare a Project Management Plan (PMP) that includes a Quality Plan. Even for those projects not considered major, a Quality Plan can be a useful tool for guiding activities to assure project quality. Chapter 1 presents definitions and provides an overview of quality in capital projects. Chapter 2 presents fifteen elements that should be the basis of a quality program. Chapter 3 discusses alternative approaches that depend on the type of capital project, the size of the project, and the use of consultants for project management; as well as an overview of the use of independent assurance programs, QA/QC in design-build projects, information on test lab accreditation, a description of the value engineering process, and a section on software quality assurance. Chapter 4 discusses the development of the Quality Plan throughout the different project phases from project planning, preliminary engineering and final design, construction and equipment procurement, and testing and startup. The appendices provide selections of quality elements from several transit quality programs.