Since its birthday over 250 years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has prided itself on delivering quality projects on time and on budget. For much of that history, time and budget were the primary measures of project success. Finding ways to measure quality throughout a project, from design to completion, has always been important, but it is also more challenging to assess. Until now.
In 2021, USACE implemented a stand-down to review quality issues and develop strategies for enhancing quality management on projects that exceeded the traditional quality assurance inspectors present on construction sites. Subject matter experts looked at specific areas in which USACE consistently found problems and worked to come up with a comprehensive approach to addressing those issues. That approach uses a series of questions intended to measure the overall health of a project and of the team working on it. Those questions are known as Engineering Quality Risk Indicators (EQRIs).
EQRIs don’t replace regulations and procedures; they indicate if they were followed or not.
“It's essentially a way for USACE to identify and track risks that could impact a project,” said Megan Hoover, the design quality manager with USACE’s Middle East District. There are two separate EQRI systems, one for the design phase and one for the construction phase. Hoover has been involved in the design of the EQRI rollout since March of this year. “It’s a structured process that asks Technical Leads and Project Delivery Team members questions that aid in highlighting areas where quality issues might arise. The responses become indicators which could then serve as warning signs to help project teams and their chiefs to address risks proactively."
The Middle East District provides engineering and construction support to U.S. military and allied nation partners throughout the Middle East. The district’s chief of engineering, Ted Upson, said that feedback from the project delivery teams was key to the success of EQRIs.
“The EQRI system helps us identify risks early in the project life cycle, enabling us to mitigate better or share those risks. The key is getting honest responses and feedback. If we can get honest and accurate information, we can identify trends and see where we are taking unnecessary risks. The process itself also serves as a checkpoint during our design phase that forces the PDT to look at what we are doing and ensure we are following our quality processes,” said Upson.
Hoover noted that the EQRI process looks at things holistically, instead of focusing solely on one area of concern.
“While EQRIs focus on quality risks related to design, they also support the Project Delivery Team (PDT) beyond just the architects and engineers. In the simplest terms, they assess whether everyone on the team has the tools and skillset needed to succeed.”
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