Evans Chaffee Construction Group, Inc. (Evans Chaffee) has always been known for an extremely high quality of work. It is part of our mission statement “to provide high quality service and workmanship at every aspect of the project.” To Evans Chaffee, a quality project is not limited to the craftsmanship of the final product, but also includes the quality of the process at every stage of the project. Our approach to quality assurance encompasses the quality of our budget, our schedule, and our partnerships with the owner, subcontractor and our community. This approach also encompasses our dedication to the design intent and superior workmanship throughout the preconstruction, construction, closeout, and warranty project phases. Evans Chaffee has put in place the proper structure to ensure the highest quality by executing the process consistently and with great attention to detail at every phase of the project, EVERY TIME.

In this document:
Quality Assurance during Preconstruction
Quality Assurance during Construction
Quality Assurance during Closeout
Quality Assurance during Post Construction (Warranty Phase)

Quality Assurance during Preconstruction

Budget

• To have a successful preconstruction phase, it is important to have an accurate first budget. The key to an accurate first budget is communication of expectations by all team members. Our proposed team has extensive experience in the pre-construction phase of projects. They will lead the dialog among the team members, asking the right questions to clearly establish the scope of the project. This includes identifying phasing plans, finishes, systems, equipment and responsibilities of the owner, consultants, proprietary items and long lead items that might impact the project cost, schedule and quality.
• Preliminary detailed cost estimating and budget development will be performed at schematic design, design development and construction document phases. At each milestone design and budget will be evaluated against the master project budget for conformance with the established program price. Corrective action, if required, will be reviewed at each stage to keep the project on target.
• Evans Chaffee performs detailed independent checks of estimates with subcontractors pricing prior to competitive bidding to the subcontractor base. This is essential to ensuring accurate numbers in the variable mountain market.
• Value engineering must be done early in the process. When utilized at this stage, it is not cost cutting, but rather a process that balances the Owner’s goals of meeting quality, budget and schedule objectives.
• The Evans Chaffee Team will provide quality assurance, constructability and multi-disciplined peer reviews to improve document quality and ultimately achieve lower base bids and reduce change order exposure.
• Prior to the issuance of bid documents, the bidding requirements will be established and clearly communicated to all bidders. Evans Chaffee compiles a ‘bid book’ in addition to the plans and specifications that helps to clarify how we intend to build the project, as well as clarifying the role each subcontractor/supplier. This eliminates doubling up on or missing a scope.
• Evans Chaffee uses an extensive yet select list of qualified subcontractors and suppliers who in a position to respond to the needs of the project.
• Complete coverage with qualified bidders is possible due to Evans Chaffee’s exceptional relationships with a large field of subcontractors and suppliers.

Schedule

• A project schedule will be developed and/or validated to maximize construction efficiencies and optimize owner’s program requirements.
• Schedules will be validated at each milestone of the design.
• Subcontractors will be asked for input in the schedules early on to ensure an accurate, achievable schedule.

Partnerships

• A Partnering Session will be held to introduce each member of the Owner, Design and Construction Team, define objectives and agendas, and promote leadership.
• A jobsite quality plan will be developed, which integrates project goals with community requirements.

Design Intent

• Constructability reviews are performed in the design phase. Assemblies and systems are evaluated for ease of construction so they are not later discovered to be difficult or even impossible to build. The constructability reviews can help avoid cost increases and schedule delays during construction. The Evans Chaffee Team’s experience in construction will allow productive reviews and analysis of the proposed design to identify these items.
• Submittal requirements and timing are identified in a submittal log so that the design intent can be properly validated.
• Evans Chaffee will compare the merits of various design ideas at the preconstruction stage, including a cost analysis, life cycle analysis, schedule impact analysis and an overall quality comparison. This will give the Owner the information needed to decide which design best meets the needs of the project.

Workmanship

• Quality levels are determined and incorporated in the Project Mission Statement.
• Drawings and specifications are reviewed with subcontractors and designers to identify potential conflicts, which may affect constructability and quality.

Quality Assurance during Construction

Budget

• The Evans Chaffee team is focused on constantly scrutinizing for value adding ideas to best meet the owner’s objectives. Our change order history proves that we typically continue to save the owner money through the construction phase, thus reducing the overall contract amount (not including owner initiated change orders).
• Evans Chaffee works to find creative solutions to problems during construction in an effort to minimize cost, schedule or quality impacts.
• Evans Chaffee will provide a review of the proposed changes, with regards to cost, schedule, design, constructability and quality implications as part of our role in the change order management process during construction.
• Evans Chaffee meets all contractual schedules. This eliminates additional costs for owners due to schedule delays.

Schedule

• Evans Chaffee holds weekly Owner/Architect/Contractor (OAC) meetings to facilitate communication among team members. We keep accurate meeting minutes that identify priorities, list out action items, and track the responsibilities of each team member. These meetings are also used to review the progress of the job. This helps to ensure everyone understands the expectations that will keep the progress of the project on target.
• Evans Chaffee holds weekly subcontractor meetings to facilitate communication among subcontractors and suppliers. Meeting minutes are distributed with action items for accountability and communication purposes. Every subcontractor gets a voice in these meetings to discuss an issue they may be having. By facilitating the subcontractors talking to each other, many conflicts can be avoided that might impact cost, schedule or quality.
• The schedules are monitored daily and updated weekly. In this way, a potential problem is caught and rectified before it becomes a major issue.
• Evans Chaffee has a no tolerance policy on schedule. We will meet every contractual commitment, no matter what it takes.

Partnerships

• A goal of the Evans Chaffee team will be to execute the project to the highest quality while minimizing disruption to the normal operations of the community. As people visit our community on a daily basis, it will be critical to the community’s image during construction to keep normal activities as routine as possible. The most important consideration is always the safety of the residents, merchants, staff and the general public in any construction project. The Evans Chaffee team selected to plan and implement a project is experienced, trained and keenly aware of working in environments set forth by this challenge.
• A methodology will be developed with the Owner’s construction and facilities personnel to determine how, and to what extent, project information will be incorporated into the existing records. This allows an easy transition from project completion to operation of the facility.

Design Intent

• Both the project management team and the site superintendent will monitor and review all shop drawings and submittals to avoid conflicts and verify that the design intent is being maintained.

Workmanship

• The Evans Chaffee team’s on-site superintendent provides surveillance over the production activities of suppliers and subcontractors to mitigate conflicts and ensure compliance with quality standards, contract drawings and specifications. This on-site superintendent also has the authority and responsibility to accept or reject all phases of workmanship.
• Evans Chaffee provides a safe, clean job site that facilitates productivity and quality of the final product. A monthly job site safety visit is conducted by the Safety Coordinator for verification of compliance at every job site.
• Evans Chaffee’s general superintendent visits the job sites at least once a week to conduct quality control, help with troubleshooting, and verify consistent execution.
• A weekly project management team meeting is held with all project managers to discuss current project issues and brainstorm possible solutions.
• We hire and train highly qualified office and site management staff, so they know what quality looks like. Evans Chaffee’s office and site management team bring over 300 years of combined construction experience. We continually do training to improve this technical expertise.
• Evans Chaffee’s culture insists, “We do the right thing”. This extends to fixing problems that no one else may ever see, but because we are aware of it, it will be fixed.

Quality Assurance during Closeout

Budget

• The Evans Chaffee team meets with all subcontractors and suppliers to verify final contract amounts, get proper final lien waivers, and ensure prompt payment of retainage. This eliminates surprises or claims later on.

Schedule

• A full closeout procedure is developed to facilitate the Substantial Completion Date and ensure turn over to Owner. This includes items such as Operation and Maintenance manuals (O&Ms), training, as-builts, punchlist completion, etc.
• The close out procedure is monitored daily and updated weekly to ensure a timely closeout of the project.
• Evans Chaffee walks the job with each subcontractor prior to them permanently leaving the job site so we make sure they are 100% complete. It is much easier to get them to complete their work while they are there, than to have them come back.
• All contractual aspects of a project are complete prior to Evans Chaffee leaving the job site.

Partnerships

• The Evans Chaffee team performs subcontractor, designer and owner evaluations, which includes an evaluation of Evans Chaffee personnel, policies and procedures. This helps us to adjust our program and continue to improve our approach for future projects.

Design Intent

• Subcontractors will be required to provide as-built drawings in a format consistent with Owner’s standards, and a methodology will be determined for creating overall as-builts. This ensures ease of maintaining the facility after it is completed.

Workmanship

• Evans Chaffee takes punchlist very seriously. After the subcontractor’s punchlists have been completed, the Evans Chaffee team then prepares and completes its own punchlist, prior to the Owner/Owner’s Representative walkthrough. This makes it so that we have a minimal punchlist for the Owner.

Quality Assurance during Post Construction (Warranty Phase)

Budget

• Evans Chaffee and each subcontractor/supplier provide a one-year warranty to the Owner, which is copied to the Owner via the Operations and Maintenance manuals (O&M’s) compiled by Evans Chaffee. This warranty covers defective workmanship and materials outside the realm of normal wear and tear.

Schedule

• Warranty items are tracked and monitored once Evans Chaffee is notified of any issue. We immediately notify the appropriate subcontractor/supplier party (if applicable) with written notice, and relay to them a specified date (typically no more than 10 days) in which the issue must be resolved, depending on its severity. All items are tracked and updated weekly.

Partnerships

• Evans Chaffee trains Owner representatives in the Warranty Process, giving them prepared ‘Warranty Notices’ to fax to our office with all relevant information. This helps to facilitate the warranty process for the end user.

Design Intent

• Evans Chaffee keeps a copy of all project documents, Operations and Maintenance manuals (O&M’s) and as-built drawings to provide an historical record of the project.

Workmanship

• The Evans Chaffee superintendent responsible for the original construction project will supervise all warranty work. The superintendent will also be responsible for verifying correctness of warranty resolution by subcontractors. This ensures continuity and quality