If you have a construction site inspection procedure in place and you think it has many flaws, it may be time to closely observe your Construction Site Inspection Checklists. Remember that only when you continue to modify your checklists according to your ongoing concerns and problems, your checklist remains an effective tool for defect prevention. Some of the best commissioning management companies in UK use effective tools to ease the work. Click to know more: https://www.global-cxm.com/commissioning/
9 Tips to Improve Construction Site Inspection Checklists
1. 9 TIPS TO IMPROVE CONSTRUCTION
SITE INSPECTION CHECKLISTS
Global CxM
2. If you have a construction site inspection procedure
in place, but you think it has some flaws, it may be
the time to closely observe your Construction Site
Inspection Checklists.
It’s quite common for an inspection checklist to lose
pertinence and the benefits it offers with time.
So, why does this happen? Remember that only
when you continue to modify your checklists
according to your ongoing concerns and problems,
your checklist remains an effective tool for defect
prevention.
3. IMPROVING YOUR INSPECTION CHECKLIST FOR
THE CONSTRUCTION SITE
Whether you want to create new construction site
inspection checklists or you want to enhance your
existing ones, the tips below will aid you in getting
closer to first-time quality.
1. Conducting Preparatory Meetings:
Prior to the start of the new phase of any given
project, conduct meetings with every subcontractor,
who will be working on the project.
Consider this as your chance to define expectations
related to quality, review job specifications, and
examine the checklists you will use to approve the
tasks.
4. Discuss potential problems and risks that are
specific to your project, and consider them as regular
inspection checkpoints.
Including problems specific to the task as specific
checkpoints highlights their importance while
ensuring important checks during the inspection
phase.
2. Beginning with a Fundamental Site Inspection
Checklist:
Have a fundamental checklist for every meeting you
hold.
It could be either the one you already have used in
the past or a template from your collection of
inspection checklists.
5. The template should ideally include sections for the
following:
Checkpoints to enhance awareness of critical
elements
Checkpoints to record compliance with project-
related requirements
A record of crucial measurements
Scores for safety, quality and timeliness
Required photographs of inspected tasks
Signatures
From this point onward, you can customise your
checklist as per the job at hand as well as the
subcontractors performing the task.
Every sub-trade must have its very own set of
checklists that concentrates solely on the work that
team is doing.
6. 3. Discussing Job-Ready Problems:
Most of the general contractors observe that
subcontractors are reluctant to self-inspections and
checklists at first, as they think it may increase their
workload or will eventually become a burden to
them.
On the contrary, these checklists can help decrease
job-ready problems from previous subcontractors
before the installation phase.
One of the proven ways to overcome any
resistance to making use of checklists is to begin
the conversation by raising questions about job-
ready problems or issues which subcontractor
might have experienced in the past that prevented
them from commencing the task.
7. Ask every subcontractor what bothers them most
when it is about beginning a new phase.
For instance, the framing team may require the
foundation to be flat and well dimensioned before
they begin to work.
Let every subcontractor know that their job-ready
requirements will be included in the job-completion
requirements for each subcontractor that comes
prior to them.
This facilitates a collaborative process, where
everyone wins.
8. 4. Discussing Job-Completion Needs:
Discuss with every subcontractor what a well-
implemented task looks like.
Talk about the common punch-list things you have
observed for a given kind of work and how you can
avoid them.
Add such items to your checklist within the heightened-
awareness section, so that your subcontractor keeps a
constant eye on such problems and issues while
ensuring that they are addressed and resolved before
the job gets completed.
By concentrating on common issues with their work,
subcontractors can focus on getting closer to first-time
quality.
Always add the job-ready items to the job-completion
requirements for the next subcontractor in line.
9. 5. Having Subcontractors Perform Self-
Inspections:
Once you have put your inspection checklists
together, these can be used by subcontractors to
carry out their very own inspections and to let you
know when their job would complete.
Since the subcontractor is the very first person to
inspect, they can check the items that will certainly
be inspected by others to avoid any call-backs.
You can also link this process to pay points, which
will offer extra incentive for them when it is about
inspecting their own work and signing off on the
same when it is done.
10. 6. Using Checklists during Site Walks:
You may already be visiting the site on a regular
basis.
How about doing it with a checklist? Many of us
think that it may consume a lot of extra time.
Interestingly, using a checklist during site walks is
not time-consuming, but it aids you in focusing on
the heightened-awareness problems.
Having a checklist in hand for reference additionally
lets you discover possible issues before they occur
and you can work with subcontractors to get them
addressed on time.
7. Performing Critical Milestone Inspections:
At specific critical points in a given project (also
called, hold points), the work of multiple trades
needs to be checked and have their completion
reviewed before moving further.
11. For instance, you may require milestone inspections for:
Site work
Structure
Foundation
Dry-in and MEP (pre-drywall)
Finishes for every unit
Final project turnover
In an ideal situation, such construction site inspections
are carried out by a QA professional.
However, they can also be performed by the site
superintendent. Since a project cannot move further
until all concerns are resolved at these critical points, it’s
important to get closer to first-time quality as early as
possible.
Your subcontractor’s inspection checklists facilitate this
process while keeping your job on schedule.
12. 8. Doing It Step Wise:
If you are getting started with inspection checklists,
the process can be overwhelming.
So, how will you develop a checklist for every
subcontractor for each phase of the work?
Thankfully, you don’t have to do it all at once
beforehand. You can add checklists as you move
forward while working with every subcontractor in
order to create them.
Once you are done with this, you can make use of
any existing checklists on future tasks and change
them, accordingly as and when required.
You can also ask subcontractors to create their own
versions of the checklists.
13. 9. Using Quality Management Software:
Quality management software is designed to assist you
in carrying out the inspection process more effectively
and efficiently.
It also helps with managing health and safety at work.
Some of the best commissioning management
companies in the UK are already using it, alongside
commissioning management software.
With built-in fundamental checklists that you can
customise per your needs, you get the majority of the
work already done for you.
For every subcontractor, you can instantly see which
types of defects are most common and you can also
add them to your heightened-awareness concerns’ list.
You can also include notes and capture pictures when
inspecting. All of this data gets updated and
communicated in real time, so that you can take quick
decisions while keeping the project up and running.