I work as a third party inspector and it is sometimes a bit of a roller coaster ride. One day I'm dealing with blatant disregard for items covered by the code of construction then the next day I'm trying to explain to the fabricator that I didn't write the unreachable tolerances into the specs, I'm only supposed to inspect and report.

Later I speak with the organization who wrote the specs and they explain that I don't need to follow them exactly and that the specs were written with the idea that if you aim high, you hit your target. Of course nobody will write any of this down.

I work at two or three different fabricators so I get to spread the love in more than one place. It doesn't matter who pays your wages. Making someone realize they have performed at a less than acceptable level does not always make for a loving workplace.

As an inspector working for the company performing the work, I have experienced good situations and not so good situations, That is highly dependent upon the organizations commitment to quality and the organizational structure of the quality system.

It takes a great deal of patience and knowledge to deal with people who are being "told on" by you. If inspections and reporting are performed in a fair, consistant and professional manner and in accordance with the requirements you have agreed to work to, things will become easier.

I get fed up with it sometimes and go back to welding, and man you talk about someone thats a pain to an inspector who is not in accordance with the requirements or fair or consistent.

It's a little difficult doing a job that basically is to show the shortcomings of others, I think sometimes it would be good if we had someone doing that to us.

Sorry for rambling and I hope that things smooth out for you and if you enjoy this type of work, stick with it and you'll be good at it. If you don't enjoy it, get out now.

Best wishes

Gerald Austin
http://weldinginspectionsvcs.com

In supplement to what Pipewelder_1999 was saying, being a QC Inspector, is really being between the proverbial “rock and the hard spot”! This comes with the territory though as a QC’s job revolves around searching out and telling somebody, including the whole company, an individual’s work (their art actually) is substandard and thus unsatisfactory. It requires repair or worse yet, s--t-canned! Ouch! This is enhanced when your management gives little support to your key job responsibilities. If your supervisor wants to remain politically correct (and they do, sorry to say), he finds it advantageous to placate all of the company’s management (including you), which still means you are hanging on the bottom end of a very nasty stick!

Yes, been there, done that. The welders know you’re not “one of the boys” and the “quality cop”, their supervisors see you as a real pain in the you know what to their shipping schedule. All the while your supervisor, who is insulated from the floor sits in his office shaking their head and wondering why all the fuss.

As an example of the worse I’ve ever experienced, I had a contracted inspector doing QC work with my company’s welders on a capital construction project and had all sorts of problems. I was getting calls about everyday about this guy and how he was doing his QC job. I had, as a standard (personal) practice, audited (QA of the QC) his performance on this and several other projects so I had a pretty good handle on what was going on and what wasn’t. From out of the blue, I was summoned to a meeting that included the projects two craft foreman, their respective superintendents, the project engineer, the Construction Rep., and my supervisor. The project people contended the project was in chaos, something had to be done, and that was to jerk the QC off the job. The problem- He didn’t swear, or spit when he talked, he didn’t say nasty things about welders’ sisters, or pass gas. What he did do was presented improper and totally unacceptable posture when approaching the welders! In fact, what was causing the perceived chaos was defined as “strutting”. The QC’s back was too stiff and it offended the welders!

The outcome- Everybody finally agreed that the QC was indeed doing his job satisfactorily but whole room full of company management, including mine that agreed with the welders that the QC needed to walk and care himself differently! After the meeting my boss told me to talk with the QC and explain what he needed to do. Being the “crusty old geezer” I advised him that he would take care of that and not me. He quickly changed his mind and told me to take the QC off the project and not replace him. Chaos averted!

Performing QA duties (representing an Owner) is far and away less stressful and more rewarding in cases where the fabricator has a QC inspector because as you know, the QC is reporting to and has to satisfy the QA. The QA as being another “rock” or “hard spot” the QC has to contend with in addition to his company’s'! Where a QC may not have sufficient support from his company, the QA usually has plenty from his company being the Owner. This doesn’t mean that an Owner may not change his mind and allow a nonconformance to fly over the objections of the QA, but the Owner’s purchasing department usually has enough stroke to make any company come to attention!
Don’t get me wrong, even the QA, if performing his duties correctly/fully, will have interface with the welders. In my experience, establishing a “working report” with the welders is critical whether doing QC or QA and it’ll usually be done by “first perception”. I’ve observed inspectors numerous times either trying to accomplish this by playing the “good old boy”(welders see through this quickly), by strong-arming”(fear me, fear the Owner), and a few by garnering respect. Only garnering respect works!

I’ll offer some sage advise to all inspectors in closing this long stint at the pulpit that has a lot to do with honesty, respect, and perceptions-

“Never, ever walk away from a welder without pointing out something he did correctly. Inspect just as hard for something he did right as you do for something he did wrong!”

If you can remember to do this honestly, you’re on your way to softening the rock, the hard spot, or both.

Oh Boy! What a subject! It's Monday morning, and so far things are going great! The weekend shift has cut material they were not supposed to and the production engineer on this job has told everyone it doesn't matter! He doesn't care that we have not had 100% QA inspection because we had built up a reputation with the client and have earned hard won trust. No, instead he sees an opportunity to increase the profit margin which might make him look good at performance evaluation time. So being the bad guy that I am, I am writing a NCR and am trying to do damage control.
Another job is supposed to have a SP-10 blast prior to prime coating and what it actually is wont pass for a SP-7 brush-off blast. On top of that it has been raining, rust is blooming (that only happens in spring time, right?) and I find the paint crew is mixing and striping, getting ready for painting. The excuse- "You don't understand. This has to ship tomorrow morning." NCR #2.

The biggest challenge at times like these is to keep personal feelings out of it (yeah, right!), even when you have to suffer character assasinations. The only thing that helps is to count to 10 and stand your ground. Step back and look at yourself before you spout off (I'm writing this for my own therapy at the moment). The other thing that helps is that I have been doing this for a while and do have the support of higher-ups. (I also work hard at not bringing my problems home if I can help it. My most significant higher-up doesn't need to hear it)
So...having vented a bit, I have to honestly say it is easier to handle now than it was 15 years ago, although some days, it doesn't seem like it. I just have to remember that people are people and do my best to inspect according to the specs and not what I might like to see.

Not sure what you mean by your second question, but i have done both QA (3rd party inspections for several independent companies) and QC. QA has it's own challenges but if QC is having a hard time with their own company, then QA certainly gets no respect. But the opposite is also true.
Another advantage of working QA was that I had the backing of the customer and if I didn't have to resolve problems, just report on findings and conditions. The worst QA job was where the fabricator was clearly cutting corners behind my back and didn't care. That changed when I wouldnaccept anything (the client backed me) and they couldn't get paid until everything was resolved.
However(except for this morning),I prefer QC because I can work with the company and make a bigger difference on the quality outcome than I could as QA. I work at the same location with the same people and know when I'll be home (usually). Also, the QA companies I worked for would promise seminars and training, but were never able to keep their promises due to varying nature of the jobs.

Anyway, I feel a bit better now and am ready to tackle the NCRs, and I hope this helps for you. Just remember to double check your specs, be as impartial as you can, and keep good notes. It eventually will get better.
CHGuilford

One way I sooth the bruised egos is to, like Seldom said, point out what was done correctly and offer praise for that, and when rejects are pointed out, offer an explanation of why they happened and how to avoid them in the future.

my experience to date, by no means "infinite wisdom",

Why do you think you are the "Bad Guy". In my opinion, the bad guy is the craftsmen who doesn't take enough pride in his work to make an acceptable part to start with. Or even worse, management that won't give the craftsmen the training, tools, pay, or sufficient leadership that he/she needs to do a good job and have pride in their work (I am in no way defending unions, enough said).
Anyway, I find in most situations (QA or QC, union or non-union), it is important to remember who pays your paycheck. I have not been on a job yet that the welder I was inspecting was the one paying me. So, don't be intimidated by them (alot of them just like to hear themselves talk). Be professional at all times, start to finish. Do not use foul langauge (Saying "What the hell is that!!!!", never goes over well, he! he! even though that's what your thinking). I find in most situations it is better to be prompt, and to the point while still being politically correct. Being wishy-washy pisses people off. Oh yeah, and make sure you are right, before you say anything. If your not sure, simply say " I'm not sure, but I'll find out". Do not use your opinion on anything, that will only get you in trouble. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS enforce the acceptance criteria (no matter how ridiculous you may think it is). Even the ridiculous can be very important in some situations. That's the engineers decision, not yours. Things are "acceptable" or "not acceptable". I don't recall ever seeing the words good weld or bad weld in any code book. And Yes, people do stereotype by age. I have a great deal of schooling and experience in QA/QC & NDE. And I am in a leadership positions because of it. However, I have many older gentlemen with less experience who work under me. Most people we deal with automatically assume the older person is in charge. I use this to my advantage sometimes. I will ask people dumb question, which makes the them assume I am inexperienced (you get some pretty wild explanaton that way). It makes me laugh, when later people realize they've been trying to BS the guy in charge.

Anyway, just remember, It's only a job! An important one, but still only a job. When you look back and think about a past situation, it is much easier to realize thats exactly what it is "a job". Live and learn, and try keep a positive attitude.