N1General provisions

Quality control (QC), as specified in this chapter, shall be provided by the fabricator and erector. Quality assurance (QA), as specified in this chapter, shall be provided by others when required by the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), applicable building code, purchaser, owner, or engineer of record (EOR), and when required, responsibilities shall be specified in the contract documents. Nondestructive testing (NDT) shall be performed by the agency or firm responsible for quality assurance, except as permitted in accordance with Section N6.

User Note: The QA/QC requirements in Chapter N are considered adequate and effective for most steel structures and are strongly encouraged without modification. When the applicable building code and AHJ requires the use of a QA plan, this chapter outlines the minimum requirements deemed effective to provide satisfactory results in steel building construction. There may be cases where supplemental inspections are advisable. Additionally, where the contractor’s QC program has demonstrated the capability to perform some tasks this plan has assigned to QA, modification of the plan could be considered.

User Note: The producers of materials manufactured in accordance with the stan- dard specifications referenced in Section A3 and steel deck manufacturers are not considered to be fabricators or erectors.