S02_Att8 Quality Requirements 01 40 00 19MAY20_556-23-101.pdf

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QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 01 40 00

QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

Quality Control

1. Quality Control is defined by the contract documents and associated resources referenced therein, including this Specification.

2. A Quality Control Plan shall be prepared and transmitted to the VA COR for review and approval prior to approval to mobilize. This plan shall describe the process the contractor will use to ensure that all requirements of the contract are fulfilled.

3. The Contract Documents present narrative quantitative and qualitative direction and guidance to enable the efficient and compliant delivery of the work.

4. Where questions arise, or opportunities for improvement present themselves, please prepare a request for information and transmit it to VA right away.

5. At the forefront of the compliance effort is the Project Manager whose prime responsibility is quality in its many forms. Quality, safety, timeliness, profitability, and company sustainability are compromised by the failure of the firm and its management to focus first on quality as a means to their desired ends.

6. Common terminology used in contract terminations for default includes “Failure to provide authoritative oversight and on-site presence in the person of a competent on-site superintendent ensuring adequate quality control and driving the construction schedule to completion of all work including correction of deficiencies… failed to make progress toward completion, poorly managed the project, and provided non-compliant work”. (FAR 52.236-6). This shall apply to the PM and the expectations of managerial leadership and technical competencies.

7. The contractor is responsible for performing, or having performed, all calculations, independent technical reviews, and other activities necessary to substantiate that the work under this contract conforms to contract requirements, including any applicable technical requirements (Code, regulation, industry standards, specifications, graphic direction, manufacturer’s requirements or guidelines, etc.).

8. Where brand names are used within the documents, they are to be expressly presented as performance standards, as a basis of specification, unless required under specific circumstances, in which case a Sole Source Justification and Analysis will have been performed.

A. Alternative equivalents may be presented at the pre-construction / kickoff meeting by preparing in advance the complete technical data for the specified products, and also the products which are to be presented as alternative equivalents, along with an orderly crosswalk document charting the two sets of characteristics side by side.

B. Where attributes of materials and systems alternatives may differ, reductions shall only be allowed in performance characteristics associated with Non-Critical Factors (the subjective, undefinable).

C. Critical Factors are objective, and defined by life, safety, and health codes, industry and VA standards, UL or FM fire resistance/combustibility/approval, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissivity (or any other indoor air quality impacting metrics), durability, acoustic performance, energy usage, and similar metrics which are objective and defined empirically.

D. Where the contractor offers an alternative equivalent which is superior in non-critical or critical factors, the COR shall determine which is the best value to the Government based on objective

01 40 00 -2 factors such as lifecycle cost, warranty terms, manufacturer’s inclusion of proprietary parts or technologies which effectively lock VA into situations where future work could be compromised by exclusivity, etc.

Quality Assurance

1. Quality Assurance is the process developed and carried out to ensure compliance with the documents developed under Quality Control.

2. A Quality Assurance Plan shall be prepared and transmitted to the VA COR for review and approval prior to approval to mobilize.

3. All products and systems planned for inclusion in this work shall be submitted by the General Contractor to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for review and response within 10 business days of NTP.

4. All preliminary submittals shall be submitted to the COR within 10 business days of Notice to Proceed (NTP) by the Contracting Officer. The General Contractor will NOT be allowed to mobilize unless and until the VA has approved their submissions for SOV, CPM schedule, safety plan, quality plan, mobilization plan, subcontractor and supplier information, and shop drawings, product data, samples, etc. for the first phase of the work.

5. The COR is willing to plan and conduct a collaborative review session with the general contractor (and AE Design Firm when applicable), and review the submittal packages in round-table fashion.

In the past this has resulted in clearing all, or nearly all submittals within a day or two with contractors who focused on quality as a path toward profitability.

6. If approached and executed correctly, the Administrative Closeout process should start immediately after Notice to Proceed with the preparation of proper submittals which after approval, updating, use in procurement, and submission become part of the project archive. The same is true of daily reporting and progress photos which are required to be transmitted each day to the COR. Project planning, correspondence, financials, and the as-built drawings, if progressively developed from the beginning of the project, only require a final update at the very end. If the contractor heeds this advice, the time gap between Conditional Acceptance of the construction, and Administrative Closeout of the contract (including Final Payment) should be quick.

7. Provide a submittal tracker log listing all submittals. Include a column for the Masterformat® number and name, product name, brand, model, date submitted to VA, and date returned from VA.

Resubmittals shall be tracked as separate submissions labeled “Resubmission”.

8. General Contractors are responsible for thoroughly reviewing the submittals of each subcontractor, and expecting the same of their subcontractors down through the tiers. A signed and sworn affidavit is required with each submission. If it is not present, VA will reject the submittal.

9. Contractors are required to include a cover sheet listing each submittal (included in a packet if part of a system), along with a signed attestation of compliance. Many contractors fail to properly compile the packages, preferring to assemble them by subcontractor rather than system. An example is a plumbing submittal package missing the mechanical insulation and or firestopping systems.

10. Contractors are required to provide one complete set of shop drawings, product data, product sample, and Safety Data Sheets (aka MSDS), clearly indicating which systems or products are proposed, and which options or characteristics are being selected using the manufacturer’s standard forms.

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11. The COR will evaluate each submittal for compliance, and either Accept or Reject each. There will be no category “Approved as Noted” given our collective experience of observing the disregard for notations offered to aid forward movement.

12. Alternatively, the COR has 21 calendar days to review each submittal and respond. Rejected submittals are not a valid basis for time claims. In fact, they can be the basis of contract termination or other actions by VA.

13. Submittals which are rejected shall be resubmitted with corrections. If a submittal is then found to be substantively incomplete or technically noncompliant, the issue shall be turned over to the Contracting Officer for remediation, including but not limited to directing the General Contractor to immediately replace their Project Manager assigned to the project, and or replace the offending Subcontractor. Additionally, under 52.246-12, Inspection of Construction, this quality assurance effort entitles the Government to charge the Contractor all additional costs for inspection and re-inspection of the submitted work. Based on experience, contractors who persist in attempting to submit noncompliant documents tend to also persist in attempting to deliver noncompliant work – often to their own detriment. We do not intend to allow our staff (or contracted AE where applicable) to be victimized by this behavior.

14. Approval of a submittal never constitutes a change to the quantity, quality, cost, or duration of a contract. While this language is clearly essential for inclusion in the construction documents (likely multiple times), it applies equally to the AE and the GC.

15. The contractor is solely responsible for submitting and delivering complete and compliant work.

Defective work shall be removed and replaced at the contractor’s expense.

16. Products and systems delivered to the site, and installed in the field, are subject to verification of conformity at any time throughout construction, and even throughout the warranty term – and beyond (in which they become classified as Latent Defects), and shall be required to be removed and replaced with compliant products and systems immediately and without cost to the Government.