GRACE · Module 11 · Quick Reference

Module Home › Quick Reference

What you need to know

A project moves to the next phase only after it meets quality standards, and the right people know about and accept any open risks.

Technical staff make the technical decisions. The project manager is the accountable owner for quality, regardless of who performs the specific steps in the process.

You choose the QC Reviewer and set the review dates. Your Storyteller books those dates and sends the package. The Storyteller does not choose or assign the reviewer.

Your 4 steps, every phase. Each step has a clear start point and a record that shows it is complete.

What to do

Seven actions. Most of them happen at the start of the phase.

What to do

Put every QA Review and Quality Review on the phase plan with a date and a named reviewer. No TBD.
Choose the QC Reviewer for each phase and set the review dates. Your Storyteller books the reviewer at least 3 weeks before the signing and sealing deadline and puts the dates on both calendars.
Block the review and the red line pickup window together, before the issue date. The form asks for it.
Decide whether consultant work needs its own review. Write the decision on the phase plan.
Edit the QA Prompts with the design team at the start of each phase. That sets the scope of the review and how long it takes.
Read the QC Form before your Storyteller sends it. Phase due dates filled, the reviewer you chose named, review rows current.
Write any item that cannot close inside the phase into the Design Team Report, so the QC Reviewer and the Architect of Record see it with the set.

What to watch out for

Seven warning signs. You can find each one on the schedule or on the QC Form.

What to watch out for

A reviewer who gets the set the day before the deadline. The reviewer cannot do a full review.
A QC Form with a reviewer name and a review date and an empty back check row.
A phase due dates row that is still blank after Pre Design.
A discipline that says it checked its work and has no prompt sheet or saved red lines to show.
A phase that starts because the calendar moved, before the last phase was reviewed.
A Construction Documents reviewer from inside the project team or inside the office.
A team member who says an item will be fixed next phase, when nobody has recorded it in the Design Team Report.

What to avoid

Seven habits that seem helpful but cause problems.

What to avoid

Judging how serious a finding is. The QC Reviewer or the discipline lead does that.
Deciding whether a detail meets code, whether a clash is acceptable, or whether the set is ready for the seal.
Taking a verbal yes as confirmation. Look at the record yourself.
Letting a set reach the Architect of Record with an incomplete form.
Sending a set to a reviewer the day before it is due. The reviewer cannot do a full review.
Leaving an open item in meeting notes only.
Booking the reviewer after the phase plan is built.

The roles

Five roles do the work. The Project Manager is accountable for the whole process.

Role	What they do	Source
Design team	Checks its own drawings against the QA Prompts, and performs its own quality control review at the end of each phase.	PM timeline
Storyteller	An emerging designer who shadows you. Keeps the record, books the QC Reviewer on the dates you set, sends the QC Form with the checklists, and composes the A3.	PM timeline, Storytellers Timeline
QC Reviewer	Reviews the QC Form and performs the quality control review against the BIM Quality Control Checklist. At the end of CD, from outside the project team and outside the office. You choose the reviewer.	PM timeline, Storytellers Timeline, course rule
Architect of Record	Reviews the QC Form, checks the drawings, and signs and seals them.	Implementation deck, slide 9
Storyteller Ambassador	Onboards your Storyteller. Grace invites the office Ambassador to the project.	PM timeline, Implementation deck, slide 10

Tasks by phase

Grace’s sequence, from project start to closeout.

Phase	Who	Action
Start of project	PM	Choose an emerging designer from the team as the Storyteller. The office Storyteller Ambassador onboards them.
Pre Design	PM and Storyteller	On Milo, request the project number and project folder. Then request the ACC Forma and Centerline projects and add every team member and consultant. Identify the project schedule with QA/QC dates for each phase.
SD, DD, CD	PM and Storyteller	Edit the BIM and Excel QA Prompts with the design team, and set the progress reports. The PM chooses the QC Reviewer and sets the review dates. The Storyteller books the reviewer at least 3 weeks before the signing and sealing deadline.
End of each phase	Design team, Storyteller, QC Reviewer	The design team performs its own quality control review before the next phase starts. The Storyteller PDFs each sheet with the BIM QC Checklists, saves them to the project folder, and sends the QC Form and checklists to the QC Reviewer and the AOR. The QC Reviewer reviews the form and performs the quality control review.
Prior to permitting	Architect of Record	Review the QC Form, check the drawings, sign and seal.
Construction Administration	PM and Storyteller	Keep Centerline current, construction tab included.
Closeout	Storyteller, PM	The Storyteller completes the A3. The PM reviews it.

The tools and where they live

Grace built every tool this process runs on.

Tool	What it is	Where
Milo	Project request, QC forms, QA/QC staff list, BlueBeam QC tools.	Milo
QA Prompts	The checklist the design team uses to check its own drawings.	BIM template, and the Excel file on the process page
BIM Quality Control Checklist	What the QC Reviewer checks the set against.	Milo. PDFs with each sheet go to the project folder.
Quality Control Form	The QA/QC record that travels with the set.	Milo. Editable PDF
ACC Forma	The project, with every team member and consultant.	ACC Forma
Centerline	Lifecycle information, progress reports, QA/QC metrics, construction tab, closeout form.	Centerline
A3	The project story.	A3 Template

The QC Form, row by row

Row labels are the form’s own. A blank row means that step is not confirmed.

Row on the form	What it proves	What a blank means
Phase Due Dates	The reviews are on the schedule.	The Schedule step never happened. Fix this first.
Design Review / Design Standards Review	The design standards review for the phase happened.	The review has not happened, or nobody recorded it. Find out which.
Building Code / Zoning Review	The code and zoning review happened.	The same question. Not done, or not recorded.
QA Reviews / Red-lines Back Checked	The design team checked its own work, and the red lines were picked up and back checked.	Nobody can say the corrections reached the drawings. The phase is not ready.
QC Peer Review (also called the Quality Review)	The QC Reviewer performed the independent review.	The independent review has not happened, or the reviewer was never booked.
Design Team Report, Areas Under Development	Every item that cannot close inside the phase is in front of the QC Reviewer and the AOR.	If you know of open items, the form is missing them. Record them before the set goes out.

The 4 steps

Four steps in every phase. The Project Manager is accountable for all 4.

Step	Starts when	What you confirm	The record
1 · Schedule	You build the phase plan.	Every review has a date and a reviewer you chose. The CD reviewer is booked 3 weeks out. The pickup window is planned.	Phase plan. Phase Due Dates row and reviewer box on the form.
2 · Prepare	A review date is on the calendar and the package has not gone out.	Every discipline checked its work against the prompts. The form is complete before it goes.	Prompt sheets, saved red lines, sheet PDFs with checklists in the project folder.
3 · Drive	The comments come back.	Red lines picked up and back checked. Open items in the Design Team Report.	Back check row. Areas Under Development.
4 · Verify	A set is about to go out.	The team finished its review, open items are on the form, the back check row matches what is picked up.	The three records, before the AOR signs and seals.

Schedule the review. Prepare the reviewer. Drive the resolution. Verify the correction.

Before the seal

If the QC Form is not complete when the set reaches the Architect of Record, a step in the process was missed. Find the missed step and complete it before the set is signed and sealed.