Section J Attachment 5 - NWK Supplement for Contractor CQ Plans for Remedial Actions 21Oct2020.pdf

ATTACHMENT 5

NWK SUPPLEMENT FOR

CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL PLANS FOR REMEDIAL ACTIONS

1. General The Contractor is responsible for quality control and shall establish and maintain an effective quality control system in compliance with the Contract Clause entitled “Inspection of Construction.” The quality control system shall consist of plans, procedures, and organizations necessary to produce an end product which complies with the contract requirements. The system shall cover all construction operations, both on-site and off-site and specific requirements shall be included in individual Task Orders.

2. Quality Control Plan

2.1 General

The Contractor shall furnish for review by the Government, not later than twenty (20) days after receipt of notice to proceed with a Task Order, the Contractor Quality Control (CQC) Plan proposed to implement the requirements of the Contract Clause entitled “Inspection of Construction.” The plan shall identify personnel, procedures, control, instruction, test, records, and forms to be used. Operations will be permitted to begin only after acceptance of the CQC Plan or acceptance of an interim plan applicable to the particular feature of work to be started. Work outside of the features of work included in an accepted interim plan will not be permitted to begin until acceptance of a CQC Plan or another interim plan containing the additional features of work to be started.

2.2 During the course of the contract, the Contractor will receive various Quality Assurance comments from the Government that will reflect correction needed to Contractor activities, or that will reflect outstanding or future items needing the attention of the Contractor. The Contractor will acknowledge receipt of these comments by specific number reference on their Daily CQC Report and will also reflect on their Daily CQC Report when these items are to be completed, once completed or corrected to permit Government verification.

2.3 The Contractor’s schedule system shall include, as specific and separate activities, all Preparatory Phase Meetings (inspections); all O&M Manuals and all Test Plans of electrical and Mechanical Equipment or Systems that require validation testing or instructions to Government representatives.

2.4 Content of the CQC Plan

The CQC Plan shall include, as a minimum, the following to cover all construction operations, both on-site and off-site, including work by subcontractors, fabricators, suppliers, and purchasing agents:

a. A description of the quality control organization, including a chart showing lines of authority and acknowledgment that the CQC staff shall implement the three phase control system for all aspects of the work specified. The staff shall include a CQC System Manager who shall report to the Project Manager or someone higher in the Contractor’s organization. Project Manager in this context shall mean the individual with responsibility for the overall management of the project including quality and production. See also Paragraph titled “Control”, below.

b. The name, qualifications (in resume format), duties, responsibilities, and authorities of each person assigned a CQC function.

c. A copy of the letter to the CQC System Manager signed by an authorized official of the firm which describes the responsibilities and delegates sufficient authorities to adequately perform the functions of the CQC System Manager, including authority to stop work which is not in compliance with the contract. The CQC System Manager shall issue letters of direction to all other various quality control representatives outlining duties, authorities, and responsibilities.

Copies of these letters will also be furnished to the Government.

d. Procedures for scheduling, reviewing, certifying, and managing submittals, including those of subcontractors, off-site fabricators, suppliers, and purchasing agents. These procedures shall be in accordance with the procedures as listed above.

e. Control, verification, and acceptance testing procedures for each specific test, feature of work to be tested, test frequency, and person responsible for each test. Laboratory facilities shall be approved by the Contracting Officer.

f. Procedures for tracking preparatory, initial, and follow-up control phases and control, verification, and acceptance tests including documentation.

g. Procedures for tracking construction deficiencies from identification through acceptable corrective action. These procedures will establish verification that identified deficiencies have been corrected.

h. Reporting procedures, including proposed reporting formats.

i. A list of the definable features of work. A definable feature of work is a task that is separate and distinct from other tasks and has separate control requirements. It could be identified by different trades or disciplines or it could be work by the same trade in a different environment. Although each section of the specifications may generally be considered a definable feature of work, there is frequently more than one definable feature under a particular section. This list will be agreed upon during the coordination meeting.

2.5 Acceptance of Plan

Acceptance of the Contractor’s plan is required prior to the start of construction. Acceptance is conditional and will be predicated on satisfactory performance during the construction. The Government reserves the right to require the Contractor to make changes in the CQC plan and operations including removal of personnel, as necessary, to obtain the quality specified.

2.6 Notification of Changes

After acceptance of the CQC plan, the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing a minimum of seven calendar days prior to any proposed change and provide qualifications of proposed replacement if requested. Proposed changes are subject to acceptance by the Contracting Officer.

3. Coordination Meeting

After the Preconstruction Conference, before start of construction, and prior to acceptance by the Government of the CQC Plan, the Contractor shall meet with the Contractor’s quality control system personnel. During the meeting, a mutual understanding of the system details shall be developed, including the forms for recording the CQC operations, control activities, testing, administration of the system for both on-site and off-site work, and the interrelationship of Contractors Management and control with the Government’s Quality Assurance personnel. Minutes of the meeting shall be prepared by the Contractor and signed by both the Contractor and the Contracting Officer or designated representative. The minutes shall become part of the contract file. There may be occasions when subsequent conferences will be called by either party to reconfirm mutual understandings and/or address deficiencies in the CQC system or procedures which may require corrective action by the Contractor.

4. Quality Control Organization

4.1 CQC System Manager

The Contractor shall identify an individual within his organization at the worksite who shall be responsible for overall management of CQC and have the authority to act in all CQC matters for the Contractor. The CQC System Manager, or designated representative, shall be on the site at all times during construction and will be employed by the Contractor, except as noted herein. An alternate for the CQC System Manager will be identified in the plan to serve in the event of the System Manager’s absence.

4.2 CQC Organizational Staffing. The Contractor shall provide a CQC staff which shall be at the worksite at all times during progress, with complete authority to take any action necessary to ensure compliance with the contract.

4.3 CQC Staff. These minimum requirements will not necessarily assure an adequate staff to meet the QC requirements at all times during construction. The actual strength of the CQC staff may vary during any specific work period to cover the needs of the work period. This listing of minimum staff in no way relieves the Contractor of meeting the basic requirements of quality construction in accordance with contract requirements. All CQC staff members shall be subject to acceptance by the Contracting Officer.

4.4 CQC System Manager. The CQC System Manager shall be assigned as System Manager but may have other duties such as project superintendent in addition to quality control, as determined by the Contracting Officer. The responsibilities of the CQC System Manager shall include:

a. Review and approval of Contractor submittals.

b. Inspection of materials and equipment received on-site to assure compliance with contract requirements.

c. Inspection of on-site laboratory equipment to include verification of proper calibration and safety and health equipment to assure proper operation and accuracy.

d. Inspection of Field Activities.

e. Supervision of Quality Control testing as required by the contract documents.

f. Authority to immediately implement changes to correct deficiencies discovered as a result of above inspections.

4.5 Supplemental Personnel. The Contractor shall provide as part of the QC organization, whenever the complexity of the work warrants, specialized personnel for the following areas: geological, hydrogeological, chemical, safety, health, health physics, electrical, mechanical, civil, structural, environmental, and architectural. These personnel shall assist and report to the CQC System Manager.

Each person will be responsible for assuring the activity complies with the contract requirements for their area of specialization.

5. Control

Contractor Quality Control is the means by which the Contractor ensures that the work, to include that of subcontractors and suppliers, complies with the requirements of the contract. The controls shall be adequate to cover all operations, including both on-site and off-site activities, and will be keyed to the proposed work sequence. The controls shall include at least three phases to be conducted by the CQC System Manager for all definable features of work, as follows:

5.1 Preparatory Phase

This phase shall be performed prior to beginning work on each definable feature of work and shall include:

a. A review of each paragraph of applicable specifications.

b. A review of the contract drawings.

c. A check to assure that all materials and/or equipment have been tested, submitted, and approved.

d. A check to assure that provisions have been made to provide required control inspection and testing.

e. Examination of the work area to assure that all required preliminary work has been completed and is in compliance with the contract.

f. A physical examination of required materials, equipment, and sample work to assure that they are on hand, conform to approved shop drawings or submitted data, and are properly stored.

g. A review of the appropriate activity hazard analysis to assure safety requirements are met.

h. Discussion of procedures for constructing the work including repetitive deficiencies.

Document construction tolerances and workmanship standards for that phase of work.

i. A check to ensure that the portion of the plan for the work to be performed has been accepted by the Contracting Officer.

j. Discussion of the initial control phase

k. The Government shall be notified at least 48 hours in advance of beginning any of the required action of the preparatory phase. This phase shall include a meeting conducted by the CQC System Manager and attended by the superintendent, other CQC personnel (as applicable), and the foreman responsible for the definable feature. The results of the preparatory phase actions shall be documented by separate minutes prepared by the CQC System Manager and attached to the daily CQC report. The Contractor shall instruct applicable workers as to the acceptable level of workmanship required in order to meet contract specifications.

5.2 Initial Phase

This phase shall be accomplished at the beginning of a definable feature of work. The following shall be accomplished:

a. A check of preliminary work to ensure that it is in compliance with contract requirements.

Review minutes of the preparatory meeting.

b. Verification of full contract compliance. Verify required control inspection and testing.

c. Establish level of workmanship and verify that it meets minimum acceptable workmanship standards. Comparison with sample panels is appropriate.

d. Resolve all differences.

e. Check safety to include compliance with and upgrading of the safety plan and activity hazard analysis. Review the activity analysis with each worker.

f. The Government shall be notified at least 48 hours in advance of beginning the initial phase.

Separate minutes of this phase shall be prepared by the Contractor and attached to the daily CQC report. Exact location of initial phase shall be indicated for future reference and comparison with follow-up phases.

g. The initial phase should be repeated for each new crew to work on-site, or any time acceptable specified quality standards are not being met.

5.3 Follow-Up Phase

Daily checks shall be performed to assure continuing compliance with contract requirements, including control testing, until completion of the particular feature of work. The checks shall be made a matter of record in the CQC documentation. Final follow-up checks shall be conducted and all deficiencies corrected prior to the start of additional features of work which may be affected by the deficient work.

The Contractor shall not build upon or conceal non-conforming work.

5.4 Additional Preparatory and Initial Phases

As determined by the Government, additional preparatory and initial phases may be conducted on the same definable features of work if the quality of on-going work is unacceptable, if there are changes in the applicable CQC staff, on-site production supervision or work crew, or work on a definable feature is resumed after a substantial period of inactivity, or if other problems develop.

6. Tests

6.1 Testing Procedures

The Contractor shall perform specified or required tests to verify that control measures are adequate to provide a product that conforms to contract requirements. Testing includes operation and/or acceptance tests when specified. The Contractor shall procure the services of a Corps of Engineers approved testing laboratory or establish an approved testing laboratory at the project site. The Contractor shall perform the following activities and record and provide the following data:

a. Verify that testing procedures comply with contract requirements.

b. Verify that facilities and testing equipment are available and comply with testing standards.

c. Check test instrument calibration data against certified standards.

d. Verify that recording forms and the test identification control number system, including all of the test documentation requirements, have been prepared.

e. Results of all tests taken, both passing and failing tests, will be recorded on the CQC report for the date taken. Specification paragraph reference, location where tests were taken, and the sequential control number identifying the test will be given. If approved by the Contracting Officer, actual test reports may be submitted later with a reference to the test number and date taken. An information copy of tests performed by an off-site or commercial test facility will be provided directly to the Contracting Officer. Failure to submit timely test reports as stated may result in nonpayment for related work performed and disapproval of the test facility for this contract.

6.2 On-Site Laboratory

The Government reserves the right to utilize the Contractor’s control testing laboratory and equipment to make assurance tests and to check the Contractor’s testing procedures, calibration, techniques, and test results at no additional costs to the Government.

6.3 Furnishing or Transportation of Samples for Testing

Costs incidental to the transportation of samples or materials will be borne by the Contractor. Samples of materials for test verification and acceptance testing by the Government shall be delivered to the laboratory specified by the Contracting Officer’s Representative for each Task Order.

Coordination for each specific test, exact delivery location, and dates will be made through the Contracting Officer’s Representative under the Task Order.

7. Completion Inspection

At the completion of all work or any increment thereof established by a completion time stated in FAR Clause 52.211-10 entitled “Commencement, Prosecution, and Completion of Work,” or stated elsewhere in the specifications, the CQC System Manager shall conduct an inspection of the work and develop a “punch list” of items which do not conform to the approved drawings and specifications. Such a list of deficiencies shall be included in the CQC documentation, as required by paragraph DOCUMENTATION below, and shall include the estimated date by which the deficiencies will be corrected. The CQC System Manager or staff shall make a second inspection to ascertain that all deficiencies have been corrected and so notify the Government. These inspections and any deficiency corrections required by this paragraph will be accomplished within the time stated for completion of the entire work or any particular increment thereof if the project is divided into increments by separate completion dates.

8. Documentation

The Contractor shall maintain current records providing factual evidence that required quality control activities and/or tests have been performed. These records shall include the work of subcontractors and suppliers and shall be on an acceptable form that includes, as a minimum, the following information:

a. Contractor/subcontractor and their area of responsibility.

b. Operating plant/equipment with hours worked, idle, or down for repair.

c. Work performed each day, giving location, description, and by whom. When Network

Analysis (NAS) is used, identify each phase of work performed each day by NAS activity number.

d. Test and/or control activities performed with results and references to Specifications/drawings requirements. The control phase should be identified (Preparatory, Initial, Follow-Up). List deficiencies noted along with corrective action.

e. Quantity of materials received at the site with statement as to acceptability, storage, and reference to specifications/drawings requirements.

f. Submittals reviewed, with contract reference, by whom, and action taken.

g. Off-site surveillance activities, including actions taken.

h. Job safety evaluations stating what was checked, results, and instructions or corrective actions.

i. Instructions given/received and conflicts in plans and/or specifications.

j. Contractor’s verification statement.

These records shall indicate a description of trades working on the project; the number of personnel working; weather conditions encountered; and any delays encountered. These records shall cover both conforming and deficient features and shall include a statement that equipment and materials incorporated in the work and workmanship comply with the contract. The original and one copy of these records in report form shall be furnished to the Government daily within 24 hours after the date(s) covered by the report, except that reports need not be submitted for days on which no work is performed. As a minimum, one report shall be prepared and submitted for every seven days of no work and on the last day of a no work period. All calendar days shall be accounted for throughout the life of the contract. The first report following a day of no work shall be for that day only. Reports shall be signed and dated by the CQC System Manager. The report from the CQC System Manager shall include copies of test reports and copies of reports prepared by all subordinate quality control personnel.

9. Notification of Noncompliance

The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor of any detected noncompliance with the foregoing requirements. The Contractor shall take immediate corrective action after receipt of such notice. Such notice, when delivered to the Contractor at the worksite, shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of notification. If the Contractor fails or refuses to comply promptly, the Contracting Officer may issue an order stopping all or part of the work until satisfactory corrective action has been taken. No part of time lost due to such stop orders shall be made the subject of claim for extension of time or for excess costs or damages by the Contractor.