Quality plans and ITPs

Quality on a construction project is not one person's job. The contractor controls it, the Consultant reviews it for the building permit, testing agencies measure it, and the owner checks that the whole system is working. A quality plan says who does what. An inspection and test plan, or ITP, turns that into a list of checks, each tied to a moment in the work when it is still cheap to fix a problem. This lesson shows owners how to ask for both and how to read them.

Learning outcomes

• Separate contractor quality control, the Consultant's general review and the owner's verification, and name the CCDC 2-2020 and Building Code rules behind each.
• List what a project quality plan should contain and when the owner should receive it.
• Read an ITP line by line, including hold, witness and review points, acceptance criteria and records.
• Set up hold points for Northgate's slab and tilt-up panels ahead of M4 and M5.

The lesson

Three layers of quality

Owners often assume the architect "inspects" the building. It does not, and that gap is where quality problems hide. There are three layers.

Contractor quality control. Under a stipulated price contract, the contractor controls the Work and is responsible for building it to the Contract Documents. CCDC 2-2020 puts the means, methods and sequencing with the contractor (GC 3.1), and GC 2.4 makes the contractor correct defective work promptly, whether or not it was paid for. Quality control is the contractor's own inspection, testing and correction, done every day by its superintendent, its subcontractors and the testing it is required to do.

The Consultant's general review. Ontario's Building Code (Division C, Article 1.2.2.1) requires an architect, a professional engineer or both to carry out general review of construction for many buildings, including a warehouse of Northgate's size. Professional Engineers Ontario describes general review as periodic site visits to see whether the work is in general conformity with the permit documents, on a sampling basis, with written reports. The PEO guideline is plain that the general review engineer does not do quality assurance for the client or the contractor.

Owner verification. The owner, or its representative, checks that the first two layers are working: that the plan exists, that hold points are released by the right people, that test results arrive and that failures are closed out. On many projects the owner also retains an independent inspection and testing agency for concrete, soils, steel and roofing.

What CCDC 2-2020 gives the owner

GC 2.3, Review and Inspection of the Work, is the owner's quality toolbox. In paraphrase, it does five things. The Owner and Consultant get access to the Work at all times (2.3.1). The contractor must give reasonable notice when work designated for tests or inspection is ready (2.3.2) and pass copies of certificates and inspection reports to the Consultant promptly (2.3.3). If the contractor covers designated work before it is tested, it must uncover and restore it at its own cost (2.3.4). The Consultant can order any work examined: if it does not conform, the contractor pays for the examination and the fix, and if it conforms, the owner pays (2.3.5). And the contractor pays for the tests the Contract Documents assign to it or that law requires (2.3.6).

GC 2.4, Defective Work, completes the picture. The contractor corrects work the Consultant rejects, and pays for damage the correction causes to other work. Where correcting it is not expedient, the owner can keep the work and take the difference in value off the price. The owner's own Supplementary Conditions often tighten this; the OAA-OGCA recommended set, for example, makes the contractor correct defects it finds itself, not only those the Consultant identifies.

Note the trigger in 2.3.2: "designated" work. The specifications and the ITP, not the general conditions, say which work needs notice before cover-up. If no one designates the slab reinforcement as a hold point, GC 2.3.4 has nothing to bite on.

The project quality plan

The contractor's quality plan is the document that says how it will meet the quality requirements on this project. ISO 10005:2018, the international guideline for quality plans, applies to a specific output such as a project or contract, whether or not the organization holds ISO 9001 certification. For an owner, a useful plan answers seven questions:

1. Who is responsible for quality on site, and who can stop work?
2. How subcontractor quality is controlled, including their own ITPs.
3. How submittals and mock-ups feed into the inspection plan (see lesson 10).
4. The list of ITPs, one per work package or trade.
5. How tests are scheduled, who performs them and how results are reported.
6. How non-conforming work is recorded, corrected and closed, using numbered non-conformance reports (NCRs).
7. Where the records live and how the owner gets them at turnover.

In MasterFormat specifications, these requirements usually sit in Division 01 sections on quality requirements and quality control (01 40 00 and 01 45 00). As lesson 2 explained, they must be ready before tender; after award, a new quality plan requirement is a change.

Anatomy of an ITP

An ITP is a table. Each row is one check on one element of the work. There is no single standard layout, but good ITPs share the same columns: the activity, the standard or specification clause it is checked against, the acceptance criteria, the method and frequency, who performs and who verifies, the type of control point, and the record that proves it was done.

The control point type is the heart of it:

• Hold point (H). Work stops until the named party has inspected and released it in writing. Concrete is not placed until the reinforcement is checked.
• Witness point (W). The named party is notified and may attend. If they do not arrive within the notice period, work may proceed.
• Review point (R). The named party reviews the record after the fact, such as a test report or survey.
• Inspection (I) or surveillance (S). Routine checks by the performing party, or spot audits by the verifier.

The hold point loop

A hold point only works if everyone knows the notice period and who can release it. Figure 3 shows the loop. Halvorsen finishes the element and does its own inspection first. It then gives notice under GC 2.3.2, with the notice period the specifications set. The releasing party inspects. If the work passes, it signs the release and work proceeds. If it fails, an NCR is raised, Halvorsen corrects and asks for reinspection. If a hold point is covered without release, GC 2.3.4 lets the Consultant require it to be uncovered at Halvorsen's cost.

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) is a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse in Vaughan, built for Northgate Logistics Inc. (fictional) by Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) under CCDC 2-2020, with Ridgeline Architects Inc. (fictional) as Consultant. Two quality-critical milestones come early: M4, foundations and slab complete, on Friday May 14, 2027, and M5, tilt-up panels erected, on Friday June 25, 2027. The 12,000 m² slab is both the warehouse floor and, on a tilt-up job, the casting bed for the wall panels. A problem there affects the panels, the racking and operations for decades. See the Northgate fact sheet.

For this lesson, assume the owner retains an independent inspection and testing agency for soils and concrete, and Halvorsen pays for the tests the specifications assign to it, as GC 2.3.6 provides. That split is an illustrative assumption; your specifications must say it.

At the kickoff on January 19, 2027 (M1), the owner's representative asked for three things before the first payment application: Halvorsen's project quality plan, an ITP register listing every ITP by WBS element, and the first two ITPs (sitework and foundations) in full. Figure 4 shows the register Halvorsen returned, counting hold points per WBS element.

View the data

WBS	Element	Hold points
2	Sitework and services	5
3	Foundations and slab-on-grade	8
4	Structure: tilt-up panels, steel, joists, deck	9
5	Roofing and envelope	6
6	Office mezzanine and interiors	4
7	Mechanical, electrical and fire protection	14
8	Dock doors and equipment	3
9	Commissioning and turnover	7
	Total	56

The owner's representative asked three questions. Is anything missing? The slab ITP had no hold point for the dock leveller pit embeds, which are cast into the slab edge at all 14 docks. That was added as row 3.05. Is every hold point released by someone competent to do it? Panel lifts were to be released by Halvorsen's superintendent; the owner asked that the structural engineer release them on cylinder results, as row 4.03 now shows. Does the schedule show the time? Each hold point needs a notice period. If Division 01 sets 48 hours (an illustrative figure), the Oracle Primavera P6 schedule needs that lag between rebar complete and pour, or the slab sequence that drives M4 is unrealistic.

From April 2027, the owner's representative added a quality section to the monthly report: hold points released, open NCRs by age, and test failures. Lesson 12 shows where it sits.

Owner's move

• Specify it before tender. Put the quality plan, ITP register and NCR process in Division 01, with deadlines. After award, it is a change.
• Read the hold points, not the cover page. Check that every element that will be buried, cast in or covered has a hold point and a named releasing party.
• Put hold points in the schedule. Notice periods and inspections take time. Ask the scheduler to show them on the critical slab and panel sequences.
• Track NCRs to closure. An NCR log with dates opened and closed tells you more about quality than any narrative.
• Keep the layers apart. Verify the system; do not direct the trades. Directing them moves control, and risk, to the owner.

Common mistakes

1. Treating general review as inspection. The Consultant samples; it does not watch every pour. Owners who assume otherwise discover gaps at turnover.
2. A quality plan with no ITPs. A plan that restates the company manual but lists no project checks gives the owner nothing to verify.
3. Hold points with no notice period. Either work waits for an inspector who was never called, or it proceeds and gets covered.
4. Test reports nobody reads. Failed cylinder breaks or compaction tests sit in an inbox until the problem is under racking.

Quick quiz

1. Under CCDC 2-2020 GC 2.3.5, the Consultant orders a section of slab cored and the concrete meets the specification. Who pays for the coring and restoration?

   1. The contractor
   2. The owner
   3. The testing agency
   4. Split equally

2. Which statement best describes the Consultant's general review in Ontario?

   1. Full-time inspection of all work
   2. The contractor's quality control
   3. Periodic, sampled review for general conformity with the permit documents
   4. Approval of the contractor's means and methods

3. On an ITP, what does a hold point mean?

   1. The verifier may attend if available
   2. Work stops until the named party releases it in writing
   3. The record is reviewed later
   4. The work is held for the warranty period

4. Halvorsen pours a slab section before the designated rebar inspection. What can the Consultant require under GC 2.3.4?

   1. Nothing, once it is poured
   2. A credit equal to the inspection fee
   3. Uncovering and restoration at Halvorsen's cost
   4. A change order to the owner

5. Where should the requirement for a project quality plan and ITPs be written?

   1. In the meeting minutes after award
   2. In Division 01 of the specifications, before tender
   3. In the building permit
   4. In the owner's monthly report

Show answers and explanations

1. B. When examined work conforms, the owner pays for the examination and restoration; when it does not, the contractor pays.
2. C. PEO describes general review as periodic site review, on a sampling basis, for general conformity. It is not the contractor's quality control.
3. B. A hold point stops work until release. A witness point lets work proceed if the verifier does not attend after notice.
4. C. Covering designated work before its inspection lets the Consultant require it to be uncovered and restored at the contractor's expense.
5. B. The contractor prices what the tender documents require. Adding a quality plan after award is a change.

Key terms

Quality control (QC)

The contractor's own inspection, testing and correction of the Work.

Quality assurance (QA)

The planned system that gives confidence QC is working: the quality plan, audits and records.

General review

Periodic, sampled site review by an architect or engineer under the Building Code, for general conformity with the permit documents.

Project quality plan

The contractor's plan for meeting the quality requirements of one project; ISO 10005 gives guidance.

Inspection and test plan (ITP)

A table of checks for one work package, with criteria, responsibilities, control points and records.

Hold point

A control point where work cannot continue until a named party releases it in writing.

Witness point

A control point where a named party is notified and may attend; work may continue if they do not.

Non-conformance report (NCR)

A numbered record of work that does not meet requirements, tracked until it is corrected and verified.

References

1. Canadian Construction Documents Committee, CCDC 2-2020 Stipulated Price Contract, GC 2.3, 2.4 and 3.1 (paraphrased).
2. Ontario Association of Architects and Ontario General Contractors Association, Recommended Supplementary Conditions for CCDC 2-2020 (revised March 15, 2024).
3. Professional Engineers Ontario, Professional Engineers Providing General Review of Construction (November 2021).
4. Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands, 2024 Code changes: Division C, Part 1 (Article 1.2.2.1 general review).
5. ISO, ISO 10005:2018 Quality management: guidelines for quality plans (catalogue abstract).
6. Designing Buildings, How to write an inspection and test plan.

Verified on November 6, 2026.

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