Local Road Management Manual 189 b. Quality Assurance (QA). All those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide conifdence that the product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality. Quality assurance usually requires continuing evaluation of factors that affect the design or speciifcation for intended application as well as veriifcation of installation and inspection operations; c. Quality Control (QC). Quality Control is any operational procedures, techniques that ensure to fulifll the requirements for quality. This monitoring process is done to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance of the works; and d. QA vis-à-vis QC. To summarize, Quality Control concerns the different procedures or activities necessary to meet the speciifc requirements, while Quality Assurance consists of those oversight activities that conifrm and assure that Quality Control is in place and is effective. 4.2 Responsibilities for QA/QC It must be established that the quality of the work is the Contractor’s responsibility. The QA and QC activities performed by the Provincial Engineer’s Oiffce will in no way invalidate the Contractor’s responsibility for quality. The Contractor must have in place QC activities to ensure the quality requirements are met. The QA/QC program will usually be under the direction of the RE. The RE will be assisted by trained and experienced Materials Engineers duly accredited by DPWH and capable of documenting the operation and results of the QA/QC program. The RE will have with him in the team, qualiifed personnel to conduct sampling and testing, survey checking of the Contractor’s work, and conducting special QA/QC activities. 4.3 Contractor Quality Control Plan Some construction contract requires the Contractor to provide a Quality Control Plan. The Resident Engineer should require the early submittal of the QC Plan before any construction work commence.