Technical audits and expert inspections · Lesson 1 of 4

Technical audits and expert inspections: principles and terminology

Five words that overlap in daily use, the three parts of every finding, what a non-conformance report is, the difference between quality control and quality assurance, who the expert is, and what any inspection cannot tell you.

You will be able to: Define audit, inspection, observation, investigation and commissioning, name criteria, evidence, finding and non-conformance report, say who counts as an expert, and state the safety boundaries.

12 min · 12 slides · 9 questions

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Slide 1 of 12

Who does the checking

AFS fabricates flashing; it does not inspect buildings, run field water tests or give expert opinions on a roof.

This module is for the people who check: shop staff comparing parts and orders with written criteria, crews and foremen inspecting installed work, and architects and consultants who observe and report.

Sources

AFS fabrication limits - materials, thicknesses, bend rules and sizes the shop can make - Architectural Flashing Supply
NIBS Guideline 3-2012: Building Enclosure Commissioning Process (BECx), final 25 April 2012 - National Institute of Building Sciences, published by WBDG

Glossary

Audit: In this module, a planned comparison of records, parts or installed work against written criteria, with the findings documented. This is the module's working definition, built from NIBS Guideline 3 and UFC 3-110-03.
Audit criteria: The written requirements the work is compared with, such as the contract documents, the manufacturer's instructions or the owner's requirements.
Non-conformance report: A report generated when materials or systems do not comply with approved requirements, making quality unacceptable or indeterminate (NIBS Guideline 3).
Quality assurance: The determination that the designer and contractor followed established quality control guidelines (UFC 3-110-03).
Independent peer review: A review by a specialist with no relationship to any firm providing services to the project and no known conflict of interest (NIBS Guideline 3).
Building Enclosure Specialist: In NIBS Guideline 3, the party deemed an expert in the building enclosure systems, with the experience to design, critique, validate and support the team.