Quality Control Plan Template

for

Project Development and Environment Studies

DRAFT September 5, 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this Quality Control Plan template is to assist Consultants in following the standard of quality during the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study through implementation of quality processes early and throughout the study. The Consultants will achieve this by providing adequate time in the schedule for thorough reviews of the deliverables, using appropriately skilled personnel, and documenting review processes.

This template will be used on all PD&E projects where FDOT is the Lead Agency. Consultants providing PD&E services must implement a Quality Control Plan to ensure deliverables meet or exceed expectations of quality stated in the contract document. The Quality Control Plan is the Consultant’s plan, and not FDOT’s plan. Therefore, Consultants should scale this template to fit the size and complexity of each PD&E project. Additionally, Consultants are required to modify this template to match their organization and project team arrangement. The Consultant’s modified Quality Control Plan must meet FDOT project development procedures. Implementation of the Quality Control Plan must follow the Quality Assurance / Quality Control Procedure, Topic Number 001-260-001. The Consultant’s Quality Control Plan must be reviewed and approved by the FDOT Project Manager as instructed in the project’s Scope of Services.

Definitions

Quality is the degree to which a product or service conforms to valid customer's requirements (including laws, rules, procedures, policies and standards).

Quality Assurance (QA) is defined as planned and systematic activities of providing fact-based evidence that quality products and services are being delivered. Essentially, QA describes the process of enforcing quality control protocols.

Quality Control (QC) is defined as the activities of implementing, monitoring and continuously improving processes to ensure delivery of quality products, services, and information. QC includes such activities as providing clear decisions and directions, constant supervision by experienced individuals, immediate review of completed activities for accuracy and completeness, and accurate documentation of all decisions, assumptions, and recommendations.

Quality Control Plan (QCP) is a written set of procedures and activities aimed at delivering products that meet quality objectives for a project as stated in contract documents and other procedures, manuals, and guidance. A quality control plan will identify the organization or individuals responsible for quality control and the specific procedures used to ensure delivery of a quality product. A quality control plan will also detail quality assurance measures and the method of accountability and required documentation.

Project Development & Environment (PD&E) Study

PROJECT NAME

FM No.: ###

ETDM No.: ###

County Name, Florida

Quality Control Plan

Prepared for:

Florida Department of Transportation

District #

Prepared by:

COMPANY NAME

ADDRESS

Date

Table of Contents

1	Project Information	3

2	Project Goals and Objectives	3

3	Project Schedule	3

4	Responsibilities	5

4.1	Project Manager	5

4.2	Quality Manager	6

4.3	Document Reviewers	6

4.4	Document Preparers	6

5	Quality Control Activities	6

5.1	Kick-off Meeting	7

5.2	Use of Checklists	7

5.3	Reviewing Project Requirements	7

5.4	Coordination Reviews	8

5.5	Concept Plans Field Review	8

5.6	Quality of Sub-Consultants Work	8

5.7	Quality Assurance Review	8

6	Procedures for Reviewing Documents	8

6.1	Quality Control Procedure	8

6.2	Quality Process Log	10

6.3	Quality Control Documentation	10

7	Appendices	11

APPENDIX A – LIST OF DOCUMENT REVIEWERS	11

APPENDIX B - LIST OF DOCUMENT PREPARERS	11

APPENDIX C – QUALITY PROCESS LOG	11

APPENDIX D - PROJECT SCHEDULE	11

APPENDIX E - CHECKLISTS	11

APPENDIX F – QUALITY CONTROL CERTIFICATION	11

APPENDIX G - SCOPE OF SERVICES	11

List of Figures

Figure 61 Quality Control Tracking Stamp	10

List of Tables

Table 31 Project Deliverables	5

Project Information

This Quality Control Plan is written to meet the requirements for [Project Title]. The Quality Control Plan has been developed to ensure compliance with the requirements set forth in the contract for this Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study. [CONSULTANT NAME] (hereinafter, referred to as “CONSULTANT”) is committed to implement and follow this Quality Control Plan.

Consultant Project Office

[Add office mailing, email and phone information. This is the location where Quality Control Document will be stored]

Consultant Project Manager

[Add name, email and phone information]

Consultant Quality Manager

[Add name, email and phone information]

Project Goals and Objectives

[Reference the Scope of Services]

Project Schedule

Specific quality reviews will be held prior to submission milestone dates which must be reflected in the Quality Process Log. Refer to Appendix C for a sample of the Quality Process Log. The submittal dates to FDOT are outlined in the Project Schedule. These dates are subject to change with the agreement of the FDOT Project Manager. The project schedule is included in Appendix D. Table 3-1 lists project deliverables.

Table 31 Project Deliverables

[Note: Populate this table with the deliverables from the negotiated scope of services. In the Review column, indicate if the deliverable is Interim, Draft or Final]

Review	Document

Responsibilities

The CONSULTANT is responsible for performing the work in accordance with the requirements of the contract. At a minimum, the CONSULTANT will follow this Quality Control Plan prepared for the project. All deliverables will be reviewed by the CONSULTANT for completeness and accuracy before submitted to FDOT.

Each project team member is responsible for the overall quality of the project. The CONSULTANT Quality Control team will consist of at least the following:

Project Manager

Project Quality Manager

Document Reviewers

Document Preparers

The specific responsibilities and duties of these individuals are described as follows:

Project Manager

The Project Manager is responsible for implementing the Quality Control Plan. Specifically, the CONSULTANT Project Manager will do the following to implement the Quality Control Plan:

Coordinate and lead the quality control process.

Assign qualified professionals to perform project tasks and activities.

Ensure all professionals involved in performing project tasks and activities have a clear understanding of the scope and objectives of the project.

Ensure all professionals involved in the project are aware of the project schedule.

Ensure all professionals working on the project have a clear understanding of the project requirements and provisions for work.

Document the quality control process properly.

Certify that quality control procedures have been properly followed.

Additionally, the Project Manager, in collaboration with the Project Quality Manager, will:

Ensure sub consultants follow this Quality Control Plan or a similar plan

Schedule document reviews and ensure all comments from these reviews are resolved prior to submitting the deliverables to the Department

Evaluate the final products and ensure the deliverables meet the objectives of the project

Ensure the plans/reports are reviewed for consistency between disciplines and that there is communication among the quality control staff

Resolve any disagreements between the Document Preparer and originator of the comments (i.e. Document Reviewer)

Quality Manager

The primary responsibility of the Quality Manager is to coordinate the Quality Control activities required to achieve the quality requirements. The Quality Manager will liaise with project team leaders and the Project Manager throughout the PD&E Study to ensure that the Quality Control Plan is implemented and followed properly. This will include working directly with the Document Preparers and Document Reviewers to facilitate document control workflow, assisting with document formatting, and ensuring proper documentation.

Document Reviewers

The Document Reviewers are independent individuals qualified in their specific areas of reviews and are not directly associated with development of the project. Document Reviewers will review draft and final documents prior to submittal to FDOT to ensure accuracy, completeness, good documentation practices, clear and concise readability, and compliance with project requirements. This will include providing timely reviews and comments on how to prevent and/or correct errors in the documents prior to their finalization.

Document Reviewers must be familiar with environmental review procedures published in the FDOT PD&E Manual. A list of the Document Reviewers and their responsible review areas is shown in Appendix A.

Document Preparers

Document Preparers are the individuals who are assigned to work on various project tasks and activities on a full-time or part-time basis. Document Preparers will implement Quality Control to ensure that products and services meet or exceed expectations of quality on this project. The Document Preparers are originators of the Quality Control review. This includes providing expertise and adhering to quality objectives of this project. Additionally, Document Preparers will respond to all comments and issues raised by Document Reviewers as part of the overall Quality Control process.

A list of Document Preparers who will work on this project and be responsible for development of various technical studies/reports is shown in Appendix B.

Quality Control Activities

The CONSULTANT will perform Quality Control review on all technical documents and other deliverables such as letters, reports, plan sets, and calculations. This section outlines the key Quality Control activities while the actual Quality Control procedures are described in Section 6.

Kick-off Meeting

At the commencement of the project the Project Manager will conduct a Kick-off Meeting with the CONSULTANT Quality Control team for this project. At this meeting, the Project Manager will explain the Quality Control process; discuss the project’s quality objectives and team members Quality Control roles; and distribute a copy of the scope of services for the project along with the project schedule. The Project Manager will prepare and distribute meeting notes to all attendees.

Use of Checklists

Attached in Appendix E are the project checklists that were developed from information contained in FDOT’s Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Manual, other relevant publications, and tailored to the scope of the project. These checklists will be used for review of both draft and final document.

[The checklists are intended to be utilized in combination with thorough evaluation of the project submittals. The checklists are not a substitute for the FDOT PD&E procedures nor professional judgment of the preparers or reviewers. The checklists must be adjusted to reflect the scope of services for the PD&E study]

The following checklists will be utilized by the CONSULTANT

Environmental Document [select one and delete those which are not applicable]

Type 2 Categorical Exclusion

Environmental Assessment

Environmental Impact Statement

State Environmental Impact Report

Engineering Analysis

[Add other checklists e.g. technical reports as appropriate based on project scope]

The CONSULTANT will use these checklists when preparing the deliverables to ensure that the deliverables are complete and meet the FDOT’s project requirements. The reviewers will appropriately mark comments from their reviews on these checklists and the documents reviewed. The Project Manager will save the checklists and marked documents in the project file.

Reviewing Project Requirements

The initial Quality Control review is the responsibility of each individual professional who prepares deliverables. The second Quality Control review is the responsibility of Quality Control reviewer who confirms that the deliverables represent the PD&E scope and that the final PD&E study findings and conclusions meet FDOT requirements. Items to review for quality include but are not limited to clarity of the report, technical adequacy, appropriate level of analysis, completeness and accuracy of the information presented, and regulatory sufficiency. During the reviews, the Document Reviewers will also check documents and reports for spelling, grammar, and format for compliance with quality control standards and FDOT’s procedures. The Quality Control review will be documented in the Quality Process Log (Appendix C). The reviewers will perform the reviews based on the QC procedures described in Section 6.

Coordination Reviews

Coordination reviews are only required for multidiscipline scopes items (such as structures and traffic operations) or coordination with other projects. The CONSULTANT Project Manager, Document Preparers, and Document Reviewers will use the Quality Process Log (Appendix C) to document the coordination reviews. These reviews will check compatibility of all project elements and the inclusion of project requirements and conditions.

Concept Plans Field Review

The CONSULTANT Project Manager and key project team members will participate in a field review to ensure that the concept plans address field conditions, as required by the Scope. This review will be documented in the Quality Process Log (Appendix C).

Quality of Sub-Consultants Work

A schedule of submittals and requirements for deliverables for each sub-consultant will be included in the Project Schedule. Sub-consultants will be required to comply with this Quality Control Plan, or similar plan. The CONSULTANT Project Manager will regularly contact each of the sub-consultants to monitor their progress on this project.

Quality Assurance Review

The Quality Assurance review will be performed by Quality Manager, to verify the deliverables meet the PD&E procedures and project scope. Any comments from the Quality Assurance reviews will be addressed by the respective project team members.

Procedures for Reviewing Documents

Quality Control Procedure

[Modify the Quality Control procedure as needed based on the project requirement and CONSULTANT organization]

The Originator (Document Preparer) should:

Affix the Quality Control Tracking Stamp (see Figure 2) to the cover sheet of each document to be reviewed.

Initial and date the documents ready for review and submit them to the Quality Control reviewer along with appropriate supporting documentation, reference materials, and list of assumptions (when applicable) that will aid the Quality Control reviewers to complete review the document without asking the Originator any questions.

Figure 61 Quality Control Tracking Stamp

[Modify this stamp as needed based on the project requirement and CONSULTANT organization]

Quality Control Review
Initials	Date
ORIGINATOR (DOCUMENT PREPARER): Ready for QC (QC STAMP)
QC Document REVIEWER: Review Document
ORIGINATOR (DOCUMENT PREPARER): Address comments
QC DOCUMENT REVIEWER: verify changes
QA REVIEWER: Assure quality
QUALITY MANAGER: Verify QC is complete
PROJECT MANAGER: Sign QC certificate

The Document Reviewer should:

Note items that are correct with yellow.

Show corrections requiring changes or attention in Red.

Initial and date the document reviewed.

Return document reviewed to the Originator.

The Originator should then:

Review all items marked in red and make appropriate corrections.

Resolve disputed items with the Quality Control Document Reviewer and with the Project Manager, if necessary.

Initial and date the document and provide the Document Reviewer with revised document and the disposition of the original comments.

The Document Reviewer should then:

Ensure all comments have been addressed. The Quality Control Document Reviewer marks correct items with a green check and incorrect items with a green circle and remark.

Initial and date the document reviewed and return the document to the Originator for incorporation.

Coordinate with the Originator to ensure all comments are resolved.

Quality Manager should then:

Verify that the quality control has been properly performed and deliverables meet the PD&E Manual procedures and project scope.

Sign the Quality Control Certificate (Appendix F) and submit the document to the CONSULTANT Project Manager.

The CONSULTANT Project Manager should:

Resolve any disagreement in comments between the Originator and the Quality Control Reviewer.

Verify that the quality control has been properly completed.

Sign Quality Control Certificate (Appendix F) and attach the signed certificate with the submittal.

Quality Process Log

The Quality Process Log contained in Appendix C shall be used to track the production and review activities for each deliverable.

Quality Control Documentation

The Quality Control and Assurance activities will be documented in the appropriate Quality Control file established for this project. Quality Control file will be stored at the CONSULTANT office identified in Section 1 of this Plan and made available to FDOT Project Manager upon request. Items to be stored include:

Pertinent Correspondence

Checklists

Conceptual Plans

Calculations

Reports/Technical Memos

Document Reviewed (including corrections made, and the follow-up actions) and Submittals

Quality Control Certifications

Appendices

APPENDIX A – LIST OF DOCUMENT REVIEWERS

APPENDIX B - LIST OF DOCUMENT PREPARERS

APPENDIX C – QUALITY PROCESS LOG

APPENDIX D - PROJECT SCHEDULE

APPENDIX E - CHECKLISTS

APPENDIX F – QUALITY CONTROL CERTIFICATION

APPENDIX G - SCOPE OF SERVICES

Appendix A

List of Document Reviewer

Review	Document	QC Reviewer

Appendix B

List of Document Preparers

Review	Document	Responsible Professional (Document Preparer)

Appendix C

Quality Process Log

Review	Document	QC Review	QA Review
Initial	Date	Initial	Date

Appendix D

Project Schedule

Appendix E

Checklists

Appendix F

Quality Control Certification

CONSULTANT QUALITY CONTROL CERTIFICATION

Project Name:	_______________________________________________________________________

FM #: ___________________ FAP#: __________________ETDM#: ___________________ LAP

Consultant:	________________________________________

Document Type: TYPE 2 CE EA DEIS FEIS/ROD	SEIR

Document Version: Draft Final

Department Project Manager:	___________________________________________________

Check the box for each stand-alone technical report prepared for the Environmental Document. Fill in date the review was completed, name of the technical specialist responsible for review of the report, and date of verification that QC was performed and all comments were addressed or resolved, as appropriate.
Report	Date QC Review Completed	Reviewer (Print Name)	Verification Date
CSRP
NRE
PSR
CSER
WQIE
LHR
Air Quality
Utility Assessment
NSR
CRAS
Section 4(f)
(check one) De minimis Programmatic Individual
PER
PTAR
Other (specify)
All technical studies and reports have been satisfactorily reviewed by assigned specialists in their areas of expertise. I have performed the required quality control reviews for this project and find that this Environmental Document satisfactorily meets state and federal requirements, as applicable, and is consistent with the Department’s PD&E procedures and scope of services for this project. Quality control documents for these submittals are available in our project file for your review upon request.
Consultant Quality Manager	/ /
Print Name	Signature	Date
I have reviewed this Environmental Document and find that it was prepared consistent with the Department’s PD&E procedures.
Consultant Project Manager	/ /
Print Name	Signature	Date

Appendix G

Scope of Services