There has been a general trend shifting certain responsibilities for quality assurance from the Inspection Company working for the Owner to the Contractor performing the work. Often our members retain a Quality Verification Engineer (QVE) mostly to provide third-party verification of the quality of work. An example is the precision monitoring of deflection of earth retention systems. This has led to a more professional approach to contruction techniques by the Contractor.
Frequently, contractors have been able to provide more economical solutions to specified construction and can save the Owner money by offering a different technique that provides the required end result. Some Owners have formal programs which allow this possibility with a program of sharing the savings, dubbed “Value Engineering”.
It is common practice in some types of work, particularly in earth retention work, to have the Contractor supply the design in a Design/Build form of contract. Experience with alternative designs and value engineering have resulted in Contractors developing these Design/Build capabilities. For complex work, outside consultants are frequently utilized by the Contractor to assist with the design of the proposed work.