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QUALITY AND PRACTICES FOR ITS ASSURANCE 11 contractor's methods and require the contractor to provide certifications from an approved testing laboratory that materials meet specified standards. Inspection and in-place testing of completed work on critical components (such as chilled or hot water lines, or welds on jet fuel lines) are usually included among specified controlled inspections. The owner may elect to conduct additional inspections, termed discretionary inspections, to further enhance quality assurance. The owner or the owner's representative may choose to conduct these discretionary inspections depending on the circumstances of the construction project. The location, complexity and criticality of the project, the availability of trained inspectors, the background and experience of the owner's representative, and the tradition in an agency or geographic area influence the degree to which discretionary inspections are performed. Inspection is generally given more emphasis as a quality assurance tool when there has been a demonstrated deficiency in a contractor's performance. Federal agencies cannot depend only on the reputation of the contractor as a basis for disqualification or for scheduling inspections, but may adjust their quality assurance activities in response to demonstrated performance. (This "reputation" factor is utilized routinely in the private sector.) However, unwarranted emphasis on inspectionâparticularly when on-site representatives of the owner are responsible, as is frequently the case in government constructionâtends to foster unproductive adversarial relationships between the contractor and the owner. The appropriate level of inspection must be adequate to assure quality but not so much as to reduce productivity. THE FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS Review of each agency's method of obtaining conformance with the design documents by the construction contractor reveals differences in the organization for and practice of
QUALITY AND PRACTICES FOR ITS ASSURANCE 12 inspection among these agencies. In large measure, the variations are the result of or are driven by such factors as an agency's historical experience, institutional priorities for use of manpower and dollars, types of project, and sources of funds. In spite of these variations there remains a thread of consistency generated by the need to conform to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) establishes the core procedures used by the FCC sponsors and other federal Executive-branch agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with Congressionally appropriated funds. The FAR system, developed in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Procurement Policy Act of 1974 and subsequent amendments, is issued under the joint authorities of the Administrator of General Services, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under the broad policy guidelines of the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy. The FAR replaced and consolidated the older Federal Procurement Regulation (FPR) and Armed Services Procurement Regulation (ASPR). However, supplemental regulations conforming to the FAR are issued by the individual agencies. The FAR precludes agency acquisition regulations that unnecessarily repeat, paraphrase, or otherwise restate the FAR and it limits agency acquisition regulations to those necessary to implement FAR policies and procedures within an agency. However, individual agencies determine what repetition and restatement are necessary to the agency's mission. Appendix C lists those portions of the FAR that most affect construction projects and construction contract administration. The FAR does not specifically define the terms quality, quality control, or quality assurance, but does include definitions and guidance relevant to construction quality. Contract quality requirements are those technical statements in the construction contract that relate to the quality of the product or service and the inspection or other quality controls required of the contractor to assure conformance to contract requirements.
