Engineering site queries

A member of the EPCM contractor s site team, the owner s representative or a construction contractor, in fact any concerned party, may initiate a query concerning the on-site interpretation or application of an engineering document. The query could typically concern  

QUERY (Eventually with proposed solution) Reference document  

REPLY (To be decided by site engineer, alone or after consultation with engineering department or others. Copies of relevant correspondence to be attached] 

The solution presented in Section B has been actioned, so this site engineering query is now closed out. 

Some overlap may be perceived between, on the one hand, an engineering query described above and a nonconformity discussed in Chapter 8. The dividing line between the two concepts is that should an anomaly be identified before the works have started, it can be processed as an engineering query, and if detected once the works in question have been started or even completed, then it can be treated as a nonconformity. Borderline cases must be determined on a common sense basis. 

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The site engineer tracks the status of all engineering site queries through to close-out by means of the SEQLSR. 

By setting up a clear procedure for dealing with site queries which facilitates their record, transmission, and prioritization, and by ensuring that adequate engineering staff are available to deal with them. This may be a major problem if the engineering budget is low and has been expended by the time that the bulk of site queries arise. 

In practice, a combination of these methods is normally needed. Too often there is a tendency to under-resource the site queries resolution function, especially on fast-track projects where many design assumptions are made, and a high number of discrepancies have to be resolved on site (a fairly predictable outcome). There may also be an attitude by the plant owner or project manager that this concentration of resources should not be necessary if the engineering work is performed properly in the first place, even though half the problems are usually generated by manufacturing or construction error. Whatever the cause, false economies should be avoided. 

Several books about LIMS are available. Even if they are relatively old, there are many useful information in them. Querying for LIMS on internet search engines will give many hits, from vendors, consultants, users, specific LIMS sites, and conferences or meetings. 

To facilitate the searches of multiple Internet sources, metasearching is useful. Metasearch tools launch a single query across a set of Web-based health sites. One query returns a merged and often ranked list of hits, allowing the user to search several databases at once. Table 3-3 describes the specifics of new metasearch engines available to search for Internet-based health information. 

Developing a DSA requires that an inventory of potential hazards within the facility be developed. One method of identifying potential hazards is to use a checklist. Normally, a team comprised of engineering, operations, and safety would do a wall down of the facility. Many sites have an inventory system that identifies chemicals and their quantities. This inventory system should be queried to determine what chemicals are in the facility. Radioactive material inventory and sealed source inventory systems should also be used to determine their inventories. A typical hazard identification checklist is provided in Table 20.3. Dispositions are either identified as a Standard Industrial Hazard, screened out due to limited quantities of hazardous material, or are carried forth as an initiator of an event or the hazard from an event. The criteria identified in Table 20.4 are used to determine which hazards require further review. 

Figure 6.2 Site engineering query log and status report.

The originator uses Part A of the form proposed in Figure 6.1, site engineering query record (SEQR), to define the query and where applicable propose a solution, adding to the form any attachments he or she may consider necessary to illustrate the query he or she presents the form and attachments to the EPCM contractor site engineer. 

The latter shall number the form and register the query into the site engineering query log and status report (SEQLSR), a model of which is shown in Figure 6.2. 

The site engineer is either able to answer the query himself or herself or has to refer it to the EPCM contractor s head office engineering department. 

The query is closed out by the counter-signature of the site engineer in Part C. 

What are the templates to be used for exchanges between head office and site as part of formal procedures (e.g. for processing engineering queries or nonconformities) ... 

Breakdown of site-generated engineering queries what does it tell us ... 

For those chapters proposing typical procedures with model forms concerning responsibilities on site, supplier site visits, quality plans and records, engineering queries, incoming inspection and maintenance, nonconformities, audits, management reviews and construction completion and turnover, the forms concerned can be downloaded from the Wiley-Blackwell website www.blackwellpublishing.com/noble. They can serve as a basis for the reader to create his/her own forms adapted to the needs of a specific project. 

Search engines, with their half-baked algorithms, are closer to slot machines than to library catalogues. You throw your query to the wind, and who knows what will come back to you Perhaps one in a thousand sites might actually help you. But it s easy to be sidetracked or frustrated as you try to go through those Web pages one by one. 

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