Quality control plan: what it is, what to include, and how to write one.
A quality control plan — QCP — defines the controls for a specific discipline, work package or scope: which activities are controlled, which inspections and tests verify them, what acceptance criteria apply and what records prove the work was checked. It sits one level below the project quality management plan and directly above the inspection and test plans and checklists used in the field. This guide explains what a QCP is, what to include, and how to write one that a client reviewer will approve and a site team will actually use.
A quality control plan is scope-specific. Where the quality management plan governs the whole project, the QCP defines the controls for one discipline or package — welding, civil works, coatings, E&I — including inspection arrangements, acceptance criteria and records.
A QCP only works when it names the referenced specifications, the responsible inspectors, the hold and witness points and the record forms. Anything left generic becomes a negotiation after the first non-conformance.
- 01Write the QCP for a defined discipline or work package — not the whole project, and not a single activity.
- 02Every control in the plan needs three things: a referenced requirement, a verification method and a record.
- 03List the ITPs and checklists the QCP governs by document number, and keep the register current.
- 04Define who inspects, who releases hold points and how the client's representative is notified.
- 05Revise the QCP when scope, specifications or subcontractors change — a plan at Rev 0 late in the job has stopped describing the work.
What a quality control plan is — and where it sits
The term gets used loosely in tenders, so it is worth fixing the definition before writing anything.
A quality control plan is a document that defines how quality will be controlled for a specific scope of work: a discipline such as welding or coatings, a work package, a system, or a phase of construction. It identifies the activities to be controlled, the specifications and acceptance criteria that apply, the inspections and tests that verify conformance, the people responsible, and the records that will be produced.
It is not the project quality management plan. The QMP governs the entire project — organisation, processes, audits and records. The QCP executes one slice of it. Nor is it an inspection and test plan: the ITP sequences individual inspections and tests for a single activity, with hold, witness and review points. The QCP is the layer in between that says which controls exist, why they exist and how they fit together.
| Document | What it answers | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Quality management plan / project quality plan | How quality is governed on this project — organisation, standards, processes, audits, records | Project |
| Quality control plan (QCP) | Which controls apply to a discipline or work package, and how inspection is organised for it | Discipline / package |
| Inspection and test plan (ITP) | Which activities are inspected or tested, to what criteria, at which hold and witness points | Activity |
| Checklists and inspection records | The field evidence that each check was performed | Record |
What a quality control plan should include
A workable QCP for a fabrication or construction discipline typically runs 10–25 pages and contains the following.
How to write a quality control plan, step by step
The sequence matters more than the template. Work from the contract outward.
- Step 01
Extract the requirements for your scope
Pull every quality obligation for the discipline out of the contract, specification and drawings into a requirement list. This list — not a previous project — is the skeleton of the plan.
- Step 02
Define the controls
For each requirement, decide the control: inspection, test, surveillance or review. Every control needs a verification method and a measurable acceptance criterion traced to a specification clause.
- Step 03
Build or reference the ITPs
Sequence the controls into inspection and test plans with hold, witness and review points, and list them in the QCP by document number. The QCP governs the register; the ITPs carry the detail.
- Step 04
Assign people and authority
Name the inspectors and their qualifications, confirm their independence from production, and state who releases hold points and who can stop work in this scope.
- Step 05
Define the records
List every form, report, certificate and photograph the scope will produce, with naming and retention rules that match the project's turnover index.
- Step 06
Issue for approval before work starts
Submit the QCP with its ITPs and forms to the client or owner's representative, close comments in a tracked log, and only then start controlled work. Controls approved after execution cannot govern what has already happened.
Why quality control plans fail in the field
Copied from the last job
Specification numbers, client names and even project titles from a previous scope left in the text. Reviewers reject these on page one, and crews ignore them from day one.
Criteria without references
Statements like 'workmanship shall be acceptable' instead of the clause, tolerance or code paragraph an inspector can actually measure against.
No hold point logistics
Hold points listed but no notification period agreed, so witness attendance becomes the schedule constraint and points get waived under pressure.
Records defined too late
The record set is decided during turnover instead of in the plan, and the data book has to be reconstructed from site files and inboxes.
Free construction quality control checklist
The field end of the control plan: a 30-point construction QC checklist you can adapt for your scope.
Free MRB index template
Every record the QCP promises should land in the turnover data book. Download the ten-section MRB index in Excel or PDF.
Control plans that hold up under client review
A quality control plan only works when the documents around it exist: a governing project quality plan, ITPs with real acceptance criteria, notified hold points, an NCR workflow with defined disposition authority and a turnover index agreed at the start. On EPCM programmes and fabrication scopes, that chain is what turns a control plan into evidence at handover.
We write and review quality control plans against the contract, build the ITP registers and record structures beneath them, and audit execution mid-project while the gaps are still cheap to close.
Project Quality Management System
Quality plans, discipline control plans, ITPs, hold points, NCR control and turnover documentation for capital projects and fabrication scopes.
Questions we get on this topic
What is a quality control plan?
A quality control plan (QCP) is a scope-specific document that defines how quality will be controlled for a discipline, work package or phase of work: the activities controlled, the specifications and acceptance criteria that apply, the inspections and tests that verify conformance, the responsible personnel, and the records produced as evidence.
What should a quality control plan include?
A quality control plan should include the scope covered, referenced specifications and standards with revisions, the QC organisation and responsibilities, personnel qualification requirements, the register of ITPs and checklists with hold and witness points, acceptance criteria, calibration requirements, materials control, non-conformance handling, the records produced, and the client and third-party notification arrangements.
What is the difference between a quality control plan and a quality management plan?
The quality management plan governs the whole project — organisation, processes, audits and records. A quality control plan sits beneath it and defines the controls for a specific discipline or work package, such as welding, civil works or coatings, and is normally issued together with the inspection and test plans for that scope.
How do you write a construction quality control plan?
Start from the contract: extract every quality obligation for the scope into a requirement list, define a control with a measurable acceptance criterion for each, sequence the controls into ITPs with hold and witness points, name qualified inspectors with real authority, define the records and turnover format, then issue the plan for client approval before controlled work begins.
Who prepares the quality control plan?
The discipline QC lead or project quality manager prepares the QCP, working from the contract and specification with input from construction or fabrication supervision. On most projects it is issued to the client or owner's representative for review and approval before work in that scope starts.
Is a quality control plan the same as an inspection and test plan?
No. The ITP sequences individual inspections and tests for a single activity, with acceptance criteria and hold, witness and review points. The quality control plan is the governing document one level above: it defines which controls exist for the discipline, lists the ITPs it governs, and sets the organisation, qualifications, materials control and record requirements around them.
Need a quality control plan a client will approve?
Send us the scope and the specification, and we'll tell you what your control plan is missing before the reviewer does.