The Importance of Baseline Inspections

Introduction

Whenever there is an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project, owner-operators often have no choice but to accept hundreds of reports turned over by the contractor(s) and trust that the quality of materials being used are supplied according to their specifications. Maintaining an effective level of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) over any EPC project in the petrochemical industry is an essential and challenging task. Identifying flaws may be easy sometimes, but resolving them often requires substantial thought and effort and can wreak havoc on the project schedule.

When the construction manager is standing at your desk asking how much time your inspections will take, you must balance the responsibilities of maintaining quality with the pressure of completing the project on time.  If you rush your inspections, things can be missed, which could lead to significant consequences down the road.

Inspection gaps may or may not be managed through warranty shutdown, but only to a certain extent, as not everything can be accepted. The gaps can be assessed, and some things must be addressed. In many cases, warranty shutdowns are not always given the appropriate priority. More attention is typically given to issues that popped up during the turnaround after the first operational run.