Our previous guide covered checking every file in your first government quote. The next practical question is: how will your team show that the work meets the contract?
Federal contracting rules place quality-control responsibility on the contractor. Evidence and inspection requirements depend on the actual contract; do not assume one generic checklist satisfies every award. FAR 46.105.
1. Start with requirements, not a blank scorecard
Read the performance work statement, schedules and applicable inspection provisions. For each task, record the area, required frequency, stated standard and source section. Keep “required by the contract” separate from your own internal practices.
2. Give each check an owner
A useful working row is:
Task → required standard → responsible person → check time → result → correction.
For example, a restroom check can reference the contract’s exact cleanliness standard rather than an invented “government-approved” pass score. The example is a planning method, not a universal federal requirement.
3. Understand the government’s checks
Your internal quality-control checklist is not the government’s quality assurance surveillance plan, or QASP. FAR 46.401 describes government surveillance planning around the work to be checked and the surveillance method. Read the contract’s actual arrangements; your own sign-off does not substitute for government acceptance. FAR 46.401.
4. Record and close problems
Keep a dated log of missed items, corrective actions, the person responsible and recheck results. Use photographs only when permitted by the facility’s access, security and privacy rules. Follow the contract’s reporting and record-retention requirements.
5. Review a few useful measures
Suggested internal measures include scheduled tasks completed, checks failed and corrections still open. Define the denominator—for example, completed tasks out of tasks due—and use contract-defined deadlines where they exist. These are management suggestions, not mandatory federal targets.
Before work begins, clarify unresolved inspection and reporting questions through the contract’s designated channels. A small, source-linked checklist is more useful than a polished plan built on assumptions.
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