Quality Assurance

Unified Business Technologies Inc•Sault Ste. Marie, MI

18h•Onsite

About The Position

DEFINED FEATURES OF WORK Contractor shall be responsible for all Quality Assurance of concrete within the New Lock Chamber, which is primarily the DFOW Mass Concrete. Provide independent Quality Assurance oversight of the Mass Concrete Definable Feature of Work (DFOW) and oversight of contractor’s concrete placement within the footprint of the New Lock Chamber for the New Lock at the Soo, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, thereby ensuring contractor’s compliance with contract specifications and drawings to USACE’s quality standards. This work includes the Contractor providing sufficient Quality Assurance Representative (CONREP) personnel and management to ensure the construction contract specifications and drawings are followed, working directly with Contractor Quality Control (QC) staff and Contractor Safety Personnel as well as working directly with USACE IPO Quality Assurance personnel, Technical Staff, Contract Administration personnel, and IPO Leadership Team. PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS: This work requires walking over rough terrain, climbing ladders, walking on uneven surfaces, including rebar cages, soft dirt, rocks, loose material, climbing aggregate stockpiles, working at height wearing fall arresting harnesses, muddy surfaces, slippery surfaces, wet surfaces, and working in extreme heat and extreme cold. Additionally, working around heavy, large construction equipment that is loud and vibrates excessively is common. Work may also involve working in a laboratory performing lab tests. The personnel performing testing will routinely lift concrete cylinders and aggregate samples. Personnel performing testing must be able to perform concrete testing, including bending motions, lifting concrete cylinders, heavy concrete testing equipment, aggregate sacks, and lifting and carrying buckets of material for testing. This position requires heavy physical work and is not sedentary. TRANSPORTATION ON SITE: All transportation on site, as well as transportation of testing equipment and samples, will be performed by the Contractor for their personnel. This typically involves using Side-By-Side 4-wheel drive equipment to successfully navigate the site in muddy or snowy conditions. Contractor will not be allowed to use pick-up trucks, cars, or any other transportation typically used on public highways while on the site. Access to the site and around the site can be performed by walking, but travel with testing equipment or back and forth from the Laboratory will be done by Side-By-Side equipment. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: The work is located within the secure area of the Soo Locks. Personnel provided under this Quality Assurance Task Order must be able to pass the security background check to have access to the site and must maintain this access throughout the entire time working at the site. Common reasons for not being able to pass a security check include, but are not limited to, felony convictions or a prison record. The list of disqualifying items is not made public, so the Task Order Contractor’s personnel selected must be screened by USACE prior to arrival on site.

Requirements

The CONREPs shall have completed OSHA-30 before arrival to the site.
All persons performing testing shall be certified as American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Field Testing Technician Level 1, ACI Certified for Concrete Strength Testing Technician, and ACI Aggregate Testing Technician Level 1.
The CONREP shall have a minimum of 5 years working in the Quality Assurance or Quality Control field working on Commercial or Industrial Construction, that includes Concrete placement and must be familiar with reading Plans and Specifications.
CONREPs must have experience working on USACE projects, or other heavy commercial or industrial construction. Residential construction is not a relevant substitution.
CONREPs shall have a valid driver’s License and be able to drive a “side-by-side” on the project site.
All staff working at the New Lock are certified according to the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for Concrete Laboratory Testing Technician Level 1 and ACI Field Testing Technician Level 1.
Personnel provided under this Quality Assurance Task Order must be able to pass the security background check to have access to the site and must maintain this access throughout the entire time working at the site.

Nice To Haves

Additional experience enforcing safety standards on a construction site is desired.

Responsibilities

Inspect on-going construction through on-site visits and review of construction contractor’s completed reports, test results, etc.
Independently inspect a variety of unusually difficult and complex ongoing construction that demands specialized competence and technical expertise in unusually complex construction operations.
Assure construction contractor’s work complies with the accepted construction schedule, the awarded construction plans and specifications, applicable safety regulations, and other applicable contract documents.
Inspect the materials, installation, and testing of completed work for contract compliance and work closely with Contractor representative to identify and ensure correction of deficiencies, and to suggest and advise on acceptability of alternative construction methods.
Review the construction contractor’s daily quality control reports to assure that the control operations are adequately documented (including such activities as level of inspection, documentation, deficiency correction, etc.). Perform and document surveillance to ensure the construction contractor is adequately following the USACE 3-phase quality control system. Provide daily quality assurance inspection (follow-up inspections) and surveillance of construction contractor’s Quality Control Program.
Review ongoing work activities to verify that materials and workmanship conform to contract requirements.
Attend quality assurance preparatory and initial inspections. Within 24 hours of an inspection, provide input on the daily Quality Assurance Report (QAR) via USACE Resident Management System (RMS), with particular emphasis on deficiencies found.
Verify site location, layout, and elevations of contract work prior to start of work. Verify that all QC requirements, including those established in the preparatory inspection, are in effect prior to the start of work.
Monitor construction contractor’s procedures for tracking deficiencies to assure acceptable corrective action and that an audit trail is maintained. Report findings on daily logs of construction Quality Assurance Reports.
Maintain a system for tracking deficiencies, field problems, and requests for information (RFIs).
Occasionally attend shop inspections for offsite fabricated items in support of the project pertaining to construction assemblies to verify contract compliance before shipment to site. These site visits are expected to be multi-day trips requiring alternate overnight travel arrangements. Note: Any requested overnight travel will be negotiated separately once the location and duration are known.
Attend and participate in technical reviews, construction conferences, quality control coordination meetings, in-progress reviews, and other conferences and meetings with construction contractors and USACE personnel.
Participate in the Activity Hazard Analysis (AHA) discussion and decisions.
Participate in progress payment reviews for work achieved by construction contractor.
Perform submittal reviews for complex submittals.
Participate in risk management for critical construction lifts.
Review construction contractor as-built drawings to ensure they are current and up to date.
Maintains working knowledge of EM 385-1-1 (USACE Safety and Health Requirement s Manual) and OSHA Construction Industry Regulations.
Prepare and sign daily reports to ascertain contractor progress on work performed.
Make recommendations for the Construction COR and ACO to accept or reject ongoing and completed work.
Ensure the Construction COR makes the final determination on interpretation of plans and specifications.
Independently conduct labor standard interviews to ensure compliance with Contract Labor Rates.
Independently inspect a specifically assigned standardized process such as conduit installation, electrical or equipment installation.
Attend USACE Three Phase Quality Control Process inspection meetings.
Serve as a mentor and provide guidance to less experienced staff in technical construction and quality assurance duties.
Independently check contractor payrolls for accuracy against what the contract documents require.
Independently inspect inventories of installed property to assure compliance with contract documents.
Attend all safety meetings scheduled for this project.
Maintain orderly working files for correspondence, minutes of meetings and conferences, submittal data, submittal registers, inspection and monthly progress reports, punch list and contract documents including amendments, notices to proceed, change orders, and modifications.
Maintain updated set of plans and specifications including all amendments, modifications, issued clarifications, and significant as-built notations. Conduct review of the construction contractor’s maintenance of accurate as-built drawings and provide comments on completed as-built drawings on a monthly basis.
Participate and take notes at pre-final and joint final inspections with customer. List and verify all punch list items are corrected prior to final payment. Perform a detailed comprehensive final acceptance inspection upon completion of all work required in the contract.
Prepare correspondence for USACE signature to construction contractors and other Government activities to implement actions relative to contract and project execution. All correspondence should be submitted in final form. This includes replies to requests for information (RFIs) and construction contractor’s discussion of contract requirements.
Monitor timeliness of construction contractor response to letters, transmittals, and other inquiries. Identify tardiness and corrective action that should be taken.
Prepares correspondence for the Project Office ACO/COR's signature.
Take possession of Government provided equipment, such as a computer, and maintain devices during work, ensuring all devices are cared for and returned in the same condition in which the devices were issued.
Within 2 months of starting support services, contract personnel shall complete First Aid / CPR and USACE Construction Quality Management (CQM) training.