Championing quality in construction
Why choose us?
Your projects will benefit from the collective abilities of both our quality head office and on-site teams.
Our site team are experienced and qualified quality control professionals dedicated to building trusted relationships.
We are dedicated to encouraging the contracting team to build “right first time”, saving you time and money.
- With over thirty years of experience in the construction industry, you can trust that your projects will be delivered with the highest set of skills and commitment.
- Hickton Quality Control was born out of the desire from the founder and past president of the ICWCI to improve the quality of construction in the UK.
- Our dedicated Head Office team bring a wealth of experience from different professions, to support, assess and manage the quality of all our site team.
- Our systems adhere to the highest industry standards possible.
- We have been ISO9001 Quality Management System accredited since 1993 so that we can offer you an exceptional service every time. An annual external audit is undertaken to check continual conformity alongside our internal auditors who do the same.
- Our management and site staff are also audited under the ISO9001 NQA Quality Accreditation and are performance reviewed to ensure a consistent level of quality.
- We hold Construction line Gold accreditation.
- We hold £10m Public Liability, Employee Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance which is one of the highest levels of cover in our industry.
- We employ people who embrace and deliver our core values of Quality, Client Focus, Honesty, Integrity, Competency, Teamwork, Development, Accountability and Exceptional Service.
- Our site team work hard to facilitate excellent lines of communication and ensure that information provided is clear, concise, relevant, and in a format to suit your on-site document control.
Who uses us?
Our quality control professionals report on the quality of workmanship and materials during the practical process of construction so that your projects are built using good construction techniques and to specification. The electronic report includes photographic evidence and observations of significant points, quality control and witnessing, site progress and activities, health and safety and defects. Through this process we encourage the team to “get it right first time” and avoid time wasting and expensive remedial work.
The value that we add to the build process can reduce the number of defects and the need for avoidable future repair and unplanned maintenance costs in your projects.
We can compliment your in-house inspection team by providing you with specialist advice ‘as and when’ you require it and offer a flexible service where you determine the visitation levels. We can input into your specifications to assist in checking for errors and offer valuable advice from site experienced professionals who can assist your project manager, contractor and principal designer with buildability and practical aspects of your health and safety plan.
With access to over 100 Quality Control Inspectors and our Head Office expertise, we can provide national support to your tenders with a unique selling point through your commitment of an independent inspector to assess control quality onsite.
Our experienced site staff can provide training and guidance if required offering you guidance on quality construction techniques demonstrating best practice and sharing ideas with you with the aim to add to your existing skills as part of your learning and professional development.
To view some of the construction schemes we have worked on please take a look at our projects page.
When are we needed?
Whether your project is at the pre-construction stage or has just been commissioned, we can assist you throughout all stages of your build.
Here is what our involvement might look like during the RIBA stages…
- Liaising with the client representatives, project team and participation in pre-start meetings, progress project meetings and design team meetings.
- Project familiarisation including contract drawings, schedules, proposed programme, bills of quantities, specifications, H&S, relevant British Standards and Approved Codes of Practice.
- Advise (Comment on practical use of proposed) materials, construction details, samples.
- Record documents to be used on site.
- Liaising with third party organisations.
- Proactively monitor and oversee the works on site to ensure the contractor is discharging their obligations in accordance with the contract documents, Contractors’ Method Statements and Construction Phase H&S Plan.
- Keep a diary of events, drawing register and file of instructions with observations.
- Check drawings for errors, discrepancies, and notify client.
- Witness tests.
- Inspect materials/components delivered for compliance.
- Monitor the application of specified techniques.
- Maintain records of variations and hidden work.
- Inform of (Highlight to the team areas of) nonconforming work and urgent issues. (Request what corrective action is proposed and comment).
- Attend site progress meetings by agreement.
- Issues arising during site inspections recorded on a “site issues tracker” maintained in conjunction with the contractor. This tracker will be issued weekly and include details of remedial action taken using a traffic light highlighting system.
- Monitor the procedures and actions identified in the commissioning and handover plans.
- Ensure H&S measures are in accordance with the method statements to the commissioning plan.
- Assist and monitor delivery of testing and certification.
- Liaise with H&S representative to establish test certificates for service installations are being obtained and incorporated into the H&S file.
- Co-ordinate with the contractor to ensure snagging sign off prior to issue of completion, defect and final certificates by others and provide assistance during the handover procedures.
- Upon receipt of the contractor’s final snagging list carry out snagging prior to handover in conjunction with the contractor. Facilitate issue of a copy of the list to the client representative / project manager.
- Monitor and report on the contractor’s progress in preparing all documentation required for practical completion.
- Monitor the contractor’s progress in making good snagging items in accordance with the snagging programme appended to the Certificate of Practical Completion. Inspect the works to verify the contractor’s completion of remedial works associated with the snagging list.
- In liaison with the client representative / project manager assist in verifying that the “as-built” drawings, CDM H&S File, and the operations and maintenance manuals have been produced by the contractor in accordance with its duties.
- Ensure planned maintenance detail sheets are compiled for the operation and maintenance manual.
- Attend the end of making good defects meeting, confirm to the client representative / project manager that all outstanding defects/snagging have been satisfactorily completed.
- Participate in post-completion review of the project to enable future improvements to design, procurement, and administration.
Where do we work?
We can inspect the quality of your construction projects regardless of the industry sector or its location. We have Quality Site Inspectors located all around the UK to ensure we can offer you an inspector local to your project.
Below are just some of the projects that we have undertaken all across the UK, some of which can be found on our projects page.
