The Role of a Quality Verification Engineer (QVE)

(c)Wojciech Remisz, M. Sc., MCSCE, P.Eng.

N.B. The pronoun 'he' will be used to imply both genders (must be: experienced, reliable, with integrity, non-biased, confident making decisions for which he will be responsible and which will be respected)

Rules of the game
Over the past few years we have noticed many substantial changes in the way bridge contracts are tendered and executed. Looking for savings everywhere, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation has reduced its field staff of inspectors and engineers. Part of the workload has been thus transferred to Quality Verification Engineers, to be retained by general contractors as independent reviewers and checkers. All major work components must now be certified as completed in conformance, or in general conformance, with the tender documents. The following comments are based on the personal experience of the author and his fellow employee engineers, in the Ottawa area while working on twenty something bridges, and are not restricted to MTO projects only but signal the trend and demand for Quality Verification Engineering in general.

The experience card
One day structural engineers were using slide-rules, next electronic calculators and now many advanced computer programs. With each tool they were getting more and more accurate, but theoretical results. It looked like the more decimal places the better. I have witnessed them applying numbers, while accurate mathematically, but without physical meaning to calculations they became so fascinated that they met the stress criteria by the third decimal point. What nonsense and lack of practical approach. There are so many variables involved that, rather, we should make sure the whole thing makes sense on site and that it is feasible to do at all. If my life has to depend on this third decimal place, thank you, I will go somewhere else. A few years back a junior geotechnical engineer was watching the driving of steel pipe piles for temporary platforms to refusal. They hit bedrock, and a pile was exhibiting 2mm of elastic shortening with each blow for the last 10 blows. But his notion was that he needs 30 blows and more penetration, so he asked the operator to keep banging. The veteran operator assured him that they are OK but junior insisted: keep blowing. After several more strokes of a diesel hammer they effectively smashed the pile like a pop can. Perfectly good elastic shortening became plastic deformation and a source of confusion. Decimal places at the office did not make any sense on site, seven meters under ground. Junior left the site but gained experience and understanding of physical properties of materials, which he knew only from the books.

The responsibility card
There are not too many engineers now who have spent time shoveling concrete, welding or driving nails. Some skills come with field experience after seeing and doing so many projects in various situations, talking to tradesmen or other inspectors before one starts to see, feel and relate it to the design drawings. Hence the requirements for at least five years of experience are common. The QVE must understand the design principles and inevitable construction tolerances. He will be the last person to see a structural component be permanently incorporated into the project, so he has the last chance to stop the operation, call for remedial actions or accept it in good faith and as per the best of his abilities. The contractor as well as the owner are relying on his certificate of conformance stating that the work has been done in general compliance with the design, stamped drawings and approved changes. He is taking responsibility, so he is vested with the authority to request adjustments and approve the location of construction joints, splices and connections, just as long as they meet the required criteria established by the design.

The preparation card
For obvious reasons, the work being checked is on site and not at the engineer's office or even close to it. Travel time must be included and may become a substantial component of the final invoice for projects in remote areas. Also, before going out, one must know exactly what is to be checked, against which codes of practice, drawings and specifications. Are there any unusual requirements, materials, methods? Review of the whole design package, shop drawings, and preparation of checklists may take additional office time 'invisible' to the contractor on site.

The flexibility card
An engineer in a position of QVE is responding to the contractor's request on very short notice: a day or even a few hours, and hence has to be fully committed to the project on a stand-by basis. Keep in mind that the moment the reinforcement is in place they want to pour concrete. Every day on site is precious since one rainy day can delay some operations by four days; and tradesmen whose work you are about to check may be leaving for other tasks. Heavy equipment must be moved in or out and materials ordered with sufficient lead-time. The person in charge must be confident in making decisions in a responsible manner without unjustified delays. Also we know that not every workman on site is doing what he has been trained to do. I had pipe-layers working as carpenters/rodmen/concrete finishers, because on a relatively small site one has to be a "Jack of all Trades". They need more guidance and clarification and will appreciate a brief tutorial from a person of experience.

The accuracy card
Obviously, the cost of the services comes to the mind of every estimator and there are no clear cut rates to go by. Arrangements can be made by visit, by certificate or by the hour. Not every visit will result in a certificate. Often, site visits last much longer than expected if the forms are not closed, joints not set properly, rebars need to be fixecl and so on. You need to calculate the number of construction joints, stages, interim inspections of major components, and drawings to be reviewed in order to figure out the range of services. For a new bridge construction we averaged 20 site visits and 10 drawing reviews related to concrete works only. For costing a crude estimate, a starting point is 1.5% of the value of the bridge being inspected. A QVE is providing a "certificate of insurance" to the contractor, and a contractor is paying a premium on this insurance to a QVE. Does it make sense? And a QVE is paying his premium to the insurance company. Whatever, be prepared for some $350 plus per item. Often penalty for non-compliance would be in the same range or a little more. Currently MTO has set a flat rate of $500 per occurrence requiring re-inspection.

The honesty card
It has been observed that requirements are changing, getting more stringent with each project, but it is also clearer who is responsible for what. The format for certificates has been well established now and it must be followed carefully since it contains some words of legal importance. Any deviations, last minute approved changes and observations shall be noted as well, and there would be no problems later on to do "as-builts". For instance, the fact that certain bars are electrically insulated from the others (all stainless from black steel): future half-cell testing would give erroneous results; expansion joint gap setting and temperature; additional splices; substitution of rebars with different sizes. It has been our practice to take many photos of details for each project, since failure of a detail may lead to the failure of a component with little or no warning and such a picture may be a crucial piece of evidence. Also, take photos of people working, yes, labourers, foremen - in the future they might provide additional 'golden nuggets' of information. Wherever possible, ask and note the superintendents' and the foremans' names.

Above all, be clear on your requirements: remember that someone trusted you and will rely on your written words, so be honest and serve well the client and public at large.

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January 26, 2001