How to Use a Weekly Inspection Checklist in Construction

In an industry that depends on quality, the environment and safety, frequent inspections are essential. Weekly inspection checklists are an effective tool in the construction industry, and should be used in;

• Monitoring progress of work
• Quality control
• Contract administration
• Site safety
• Identifying potential hazards
• Identifying deficiencies in equipment and materials
• Assessing and determining the degree of compliance

But what should an inspection checklist include and how can you use one to bolster the safety of your workplace?

Weekly Inspection Checklists for Quality, Environment and Safety

It’s no secret that a safe worksite equates to increased productivity and increased profitability. Industry standards like ISO 9001 provide a roadmap for efficiency, and tools like weekly inspection checklists are effective ways to operate in compliance with the standard. Weekly inspection checklists will help you to implement the plan-do-check-act principle to improve processes, reduce errors and ensure that you deliver projects on time.

Benefits of Weekly Inspection Checklists in Construction

1. Helps Build Consensus

A weekly inspection checklist notes input from various stakeholders involved in the construction project. This may relate to contract administration, purchasing, progress of works, quality control and site safety. This checklist is used to build consensus among all parties on various issues. When used throughout the build, it helps communicate critical information that improves the success of the project.

2. Acts as a Reference Point

As contractors and workers complete various phases of the project, they use weekly checklists as a reference to ensure that they adhere to any requirements previously noted. This is an effective way to increase project accuracy.

3. Ensure Compliance With Industry Standards

Checklists guarantee increased attentiveness to various aspects of the project, however, they should also verify compliance with quality, environmental, health and safety standards. The checklist should only be signed off when work complies with relevant specifications. Weekly checklists are a permanent record that critical policies and procedures have been adhered to and that all work conforms to specifications. For this reason, it’s a good idea to archive checklists for compliance and legal purposes.

4. Identify Areas of Improvement

A checklist is the voice of the site inspector and identifies gaps between their expectations and their findings during the inspection. Quality control personnel can use the same checklists filled by contractors and work crews. However, they will be using the checklists to record items for the second time. They can then verify if those issues have been fixed. Second-time checkpoints provide insight into how often a problem occurs and parties responsible. They help target problems and implement changes for improvement.

5. Monitor Performance

Investors, managers, and contractors can use checklist data to analyse the overall performance of a project. For example, they may determine the subcontractors that demonstrated consistent compliance with policies, and those that didn’t.

Weekly Inspection Checklist Template

When used properly, weekly inspection checklists help improve the productivity, quality, success and overall profitability of your project. To download your free weekly inspection checklist template, click the image below.