Quality: The Valuable Role of Inspection & Test Plans
An Inspection & Test Plan is a Quality roadmap for any fabrication or field project, breaking down a complex project into manageable portions from start to finish. It helps everyone involved understand the end goal, the tasks required to get there, and the right people to ask for help along the way.
What is included in an Inspection & Test Plan?
As part of an overall Quality Control Plan, the Inspection & Test Plan (ITP) is a customized document that:
Outlines the types of inspections and tests that must be completed to verify quality
Lists all industry standards and customer specifications related to the project
Confirms what types of documentation will be provided to the customer, such as a hydrotest form, to confirm that inspections and tests have been implemented and completed according to the ITP
Identifies those involved and each person’s responsibilities for action and/or documentation (includes roles such as project manager, site manager, quality manager, quality inspector, third-party inspectors, etc.)
Who writes an Inspection & Test Plan?
Developing an ITP should be a collaborative process between the customer and the Project Team. In this way, customers have a chance to review the quality program, provide points of input, and share any concerns regarding quality expectations before works starts.
The Project Team, by knowing and understanding what the customer wants, is better able to deliver on expectations. Taking it a step further, the ITP helps individual workers understand important points in the quality program. ITPs are required for code work and can also be useful for defining the quality requirements of non-code work projects.
As the project progresses, documentation is assembled in a book. This “Quality Story” can be periodically reviewed by the customer to make sure the project is on track and that all quality inspections and tests are being completed according to plan.
Examples of ITPs in Action
When working with SEFA Industrial Solutions, an ITP is one of the first documents we provide. Customers have a voice in the process and know which of our employees will be responsible for quality actions and inspections. Included below are two examples of how an ITP contributed to making sure custom inspections and tests took place.
Hold Point for Customer Inspection: Most customers simply need documentation that the right inspections and tests are happening at the right points. As part of the fabrication of a pressure vessel, our customer wanted to inspect welds on an internal component. This step was added as a specific hold point to the ITP so that the customer could complete their inspection to verify the quality of the welds and to check that all the internal parts were assembled as designed. Customer inspection of internals is a valuable hold point for tank or vessel fabrication as this is the only chance for a customer to verify fabricated components prior to final assembly.
Testing Responsibility and Documentation: Fabrication and installation of connected stainless steel piping for a filtered water system required specific cleaning and testing to make sure the system was free of contaminants. These requirements were outlined in the ITP, including the chemicals used for cleaning, the name of the third-party entities responsible for testing, and a description of the documentation that would be delivered to the project team.