Inspection and test plan template. For welded fabrication, with a complete EXC2 example.

What an inspection and test plan is

An inspection and test plan (ITP) lists every inspection and test on a job, in the order they happen. For each one it says what is checked, which document the check follows, the acceptance criteria, the record it produces, how often it's done, and what each party does: the manufacturer, the client, and any third party such as an inspection body.

Agreed before production starts, it's the contract for quality. The client knows when they'll be called, the shop knows where it has to stop, and at the end the records the plan lists are the quality dossier.

Hold, witness, review, monitor

Each party gets one code per step. The template uses the common set:

• P, perform. Carries out the activity and keeps the record. Usually the manufacturer.
• H, hold point. Work stops until the named party has inspected or reviewed the step and released it.
• W, witness point. The party is notified and may attend. If they don't come within the agreed notice, work goes on and the record says so.
• R, review. The party reviews the records, reports and certificates, without attending.
• M, monitor. The party may spot-check the activity at any time, without notice.

A hold point costs time: the job waits. Put one where an inspection becomes impossible afterwards, such as before painting covers the welds or before an assembly closes off a joint. Agree the notice period for H and W points with the client and write it in the header.

The EXC2 example in the file

The template comes filled in for a welded steel structure in execution class EXC2 to EN 1090-2, the class most buildings fall into. Fifteen steps, from contract review to the dossier. What the example reflects:

• Welding quality. For EXC2, EN 1090-2 calls for the standard quality requirements of EN ISO 3834-3, a welding coordinator to EN ISO 14731, welders qualified to EN ISO 9606-1, and WPSs qualified by one of the routes EN 1090-2 allows for the class.
• Material. Steel received with EN 10204 type 3.1 inspection certificates checked against the order, and the heat number transferred to every part before cutting, so each part stays traceable.
• Visual testing. All welds, to EN ISO 17637, with acceptance at EN ISO 5817 quality level C, the level EN 1090-2 sets for EXC2.
• Supplementary NDT. MT and UT to the extent EN 1090-2 sets for EXC2 by weld type and utilisation, after the hold time it specifies, with the acceptance levels of EN ISO 23278 (MT) and EN ISO 11666 (UT) that correspond to level C.
• Release before painting. A hold point for the manufacturer and the client, because welds under paint can't be inspected again.

Adapt it to the job. An EXC3 structure asks for quality level B and larger NDT extents. Pressure equipment and pipelines follow their own codes, but the shape of the plan is the same.

How to fill each column

• Step and phase. Number the steps in the order of the work.
• Activity. What is checked, not just the name of the operation: "Fit-up: preparation, root gap, alignment, tack welds", not "Fit-up".
• Reference document. The procedure, drawing or standard the activity follows.
• Acceptance criteria. The level, not only the standard: "EN ISO 5817 level C", not "EN ISO 5817". See acceptance criteria.
• Record. The report or record the step leaves behind. No record, no proof that it happened.
• Frequency / extent. Each part, each joint, 10% of welds, each lot, once per job.
• Manufacturer, client, third party. One code each, picked from the list.
• Record no. and released by / date. Filled in during the job. For a hold point, who released it and when is the whole point.

Common mistakes

• Activities with no acceptance criteria. That's a schedule, not an inspection plan.
• Hold points everywhere. If every step is H, the client either can't keep up or starts releasing by email without looking.
• Notice periods nobody agreed. A witness point only holds up if the notice was given as agreed: keep the email.
• NDT extent written as "as per standard". Write the figure and the weld types it applies to.
• The plan revised after a design change, while the client approved the old revision.
• Records listed in the plan that nobody has been asked to produce.

Where a spreadsheet stops

A spreadsheet ITP is a good agreement, but it isn't a control. A hold point in a cell doesn't stop anything: the shop can paint before the release is signed, the client's inspector can be called late, and the records the plan lists are collected by hand at the end. With several jobs running, nobody can see which hold points are waiting on whom.

In Worgify the plan carries the acceptance criteria and each party's intervention. A hold point that hasn't been released blocks the next step, witness notices are sent and logged, and each record is attached to the step that produced it.

Terms used on this page: ITP, hold point, witness point, EN 10204 inspection document, NCR.