Quality control and quality assurance, the split of testing duties on most highway paving contracts. QC is the contractor's own sampling and testing of gradation, binder content, volumetrics and density to steer the plant and crew. QA is the agency's independent check, on its own samples or splits, to confirm the QC data is reliable before results are used for acceptance and pay.
QC voids were 3.9, QA came back 4.6, so the two lab managers are comparing splits before anybody touches the plant.
Also heard as
- quality control
- quality assurance
- QA/QC
Related terms
PWL
Percent within limits: a statistical measure of how much of a lot falls inside the specification limits.
JMF
Job mix formula: the approved recipe of gradation and binder content a plant must produce on a project.
Pay factor
A multiplier applied to the contract price for a lot of asphalt based on its test results.
Burn
Lab shorthand for an ignition oven test, or the binder content result that comes out of it.