PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May/June 2021

12 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 3 Featured Article of a QA program for the entire project. This includes making sure that the project team has a clear understanding of the lat- est scope of work and contract conditions, and has the available staff and resources to perform quality work. The survey manag- ers or project surveyors take responsibility for the detailed standards, checking, and reviews required. Resource Management A major part of the assignment of tasks and responsibilities will be the manage- ment of the various team members and subcontractors involved with this proj- ect. Management of these elements and ensuring their compliance with the work plan, standards, schedule, budget, and high quality results will be the major task of the project manager. To insure quality and adherence to the project standards the project manager should schedule site visits within the scope of the project and should: 1. Provide a complete project briefing prior to commencement of any work. The briefing should include all staff and subcontractors assigned tasks on the project. 2. Provide all team members or subcontractors with a written work plan including a description of tasks, schedule, budget, and specifications for the work involved. 3. Have the subcontractors transmit weekly situation reports to the project manager via email. 4. Manage all milestone events on an individual basis, i.e., the team members or subcontractors should not begin a new set of tasks until the milestone for the previous set of tasks has been met and accepted for quality and adherence to the stated project standards. Tracking and Documentation Cost control is synonymous with qualified staff, technical excellence, quality assur - ance and, good project management. For any assignment you should consider the use of the following: • Qualified, licensed professional surveyors who are in responsible charge of the work, and technical experts whose qualifications are specific to the task. All work should be carried out under the direct supervision of a locally licensed land surveyor. • State-of-the-art survey equipment, survey software, desktop and notebook computers, communica- tions equipment, and the internet access for transmittal of data and reports. • Quality control provided at all phases of the work. • Hands on survey, mapping, imagining, GIS, modeling and photo- graphic supervision, and project management. • Time and cost reporting accounting systems. These costs should be traced on a weekly basis; on smaller projects you may want to track labor costs on a daily basis. You should have a standard time reporting method for all employees. • Coordination and communications are equally critical to quality and cost control. • Communications within the team should be conducted on a daily basis in person or via telephone, fax, and/or email. Data files should be transmitted on a daily basis to the project manager to be reviewed and archived. Client communica- tions should be focused through the project manager. Clients should be furnished with weekly status reports and information of any unique situ- ations requiring client input. Today most of this reporting can be trans- mitted via email. Qualified Staff Training is a critical element of a QA pro- gram. Trained professional, technical, and administrative staff provide a basis for all of your technical excellence, development, in- novation, and client service. At a minimum you should consider providing or partici- pating in technical or management training on at least an annual basis. This training should include, but not be limited to: • Basic project management • Advanced project management • Technical training classes • GPS • Remote sensing and imagining • Geodesy • Uses of new field to office software • Client services and communications • CADDs and computer modeling training • Basic office tools Typical Checklist For any survey task you should develop a QC checklist as a part of your QA program. The following is a sample checklist for a typical GPS control survey. These QC mea- sures may include, but not be limited to: • Preparation of a Project QC Plan prior to the commencement of any work. • Project personnel will be fully trained in all aspects of the GPS project. • All survey work is to be carried out under the supervision of a local licensed land surveyor trained and qualified in geodesy and in the use of the firm’s GPS equipment and software. • Plot all existing geodetic stations and proposed locations considered for the project as an overlay on a topographic map for use in recon- naissance and GPS mission planning. • All receivers will be dual frequency, full-wavelength, and have sufficient free memory to record project data. The necessary tracking data will be entered (i.e., tracking rate, minimum number of satellites, elevation mask, HI and 4-character ID). • All antennas will be of geodetic quality, have a suitable ground plane and have an antenna calibration continued T Take pencil rubbings of the station mark, copy to a PDF file, and store with the project data.