UTILIZATION OF STATISTICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND INCENTIVE PROVISIONS IN QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

THE QUALITY ASSURANCE GROUP OF THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS HAS BEEN WORKING ON IMPROVED SPECIFICATION FOR HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION. THE WRITING OF SPECIFICATONS ENTAILS HAVING KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE CONCERNING ALL ASPECTS OF HIGHWAY DESIGN, MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES, LAW AND ECONOMICS, AND BEING CAPABLE OF EXERCISING SOUND ENGINEERING JUDGMENT. IN AN EFFORT TO UTILIZE THE STATISTICAL CONCEPTS IN RESEARCH SPECIFICATIONS, CONTROL OF MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM ACCEPTANCE BY WRITING END-RESULT ACCEPTANCE TYPE SPECIFICATIONS WHEREVER POSSIBLE. THE FOLLOWING GROUND RULES ARE BEING FOLLOWED: (1) THE CONTRACTOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPLYING THE MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION SPECIFIED UNDER THE CONTRACT, BOTH AS TO QUANTITY AND QUALITY, (2) THE STATE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVALUATING THE CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE TO THE SPECIFICATIONS, (3) OBSERVATION BY A STATE INSPECTOR IS A MAJOR DETERENT TO SLOPPY AND OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE WORK, (4) EACH ITEM OF MATERIAL OR CONSTRUCTION IS TO BE ADEQUATELY DESCRIBED IN STATISTICAL TERMS WHERE POSSIBLE, (5) A SAMPLING PLAN IS TO BE SPECIFIED FOR EACH ITEM TO BE SAMPLED, AND (6) THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION ACTION TO BE TAKEN, BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE RESULT OF THE PRESCRIPTIONS OF THE DESIRED QUALITY OF MATERIALS OR CONSTRUCTION CAN BE QUITE VERSATILE. THE LEVEL OF QUALITY CAN BE STATED AS THE TARGET VALUE. THE ALLOWABLE VARIATION OF THE AVERAGE QUALITY OR THE VARIATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL TEST RESULTS ABOUT THE AVERAGE CAN BE EXPRESSED EXPLICITLY. THE PERCENT COMPLIANCE CAN BE COMPUTED FROM THE TEST RESULTS WHERE A PERCENT COMPLIANCE IS SPECIFIED AS BEING REQUIRED. THE SAMPLING PLAN DEFINES THE SAMPLING AND TESTING PROCEDURES TO BE USED, THE POINT OF SAMPLING, AND THE NUMBER OF SAMPLES TO BE TAKEN AND TESTED. THE FOLLOWING VARIOUS ACTIONS MUST BE ITEMIZED IN A COMPLETE SPECIFICATION: (1) ACCEPT THE LOT, (2) REJECT THE LOT, (3) ACCEPT AT A REDUCED PRICE, (4) ACCEPT AT A BONUS PRICE, AND (5) REWORK AND RETEST WITH THE RETEST COST TO BE BORNE BY THE CONTRACTOR. DATA HAVE BEEN COLLECTED ON MANY RESEARCH PROJECTS. NEW REALISTIC, ENFORCEABLE PERFOR- MANCE TYPE SPECIFICATIONS AND NEW TEST METHODS ARE BEING DEVELOPED WHICH WILL MEASURE THE QUALITY OF MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE, THEREBY ALLOWING A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • pp 133-142, 13 TAB
• Authors:
  • McMahon, T F
• Publication Date: 1967-11

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Southeast Assoc St Hwy Officials

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceptance sampling; Acceptance tests; Construction; Contractors; Performance based specifications; Road construction; Specifications; Statistical analysis
• Uncontrolled Terms: Construction specifications; Responsibilities
• Subject Areas: Construction; Data and Information Technology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00215190
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: pp 109-115
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 4 1994 12:00AM