9 November 2026

What goes in an ITP, and what makes one useless

An inspection and test plan nobody opens during the work is a tender attachment. The five columns that turn a plan into a sequence, and the three ways ITPs stop working on site.

The ITP is in the folder, the slab is poured, and at practical completion somebody asks for the pressure test result on the in-slab conduit. There are photographs, none of them shows a gauge, and the plan says only that testing is carried out.

An ITP has one job: to fix what must be demonstrated DURING the work, because afterwards it cannot be demonstrated at all. Everything else in it is covering text.

The five columns

• The check: what is actually verified, in the language of the trade rather than the standard. Not quality of the connection, but bolt tension in kN.
• The criterion: the value or state at which the check passes, with its tolerance. Without a number the check is an opinion.
• The record: what exists once the check has happened. A test sheet, a photograph with the instrument readable, a delivery docket, a mill certificate.
• The responsibility: who checks and who signs off. Two roles, not one.
• The timing: which following activity must not start until the check is done. That column is what turns a plan into a sequence.

The three ways they fail

Almost always generality first. A check that suits any element suits none, and the leading hand with the tablet does not know what to photograph.

Second, volume. Thirty checks on one lot, twenty of them already covered by other records, and none of them gets taken seriously.

Third, no link to the programme. A check scheduled after the element is closed can only confirm that nobody looked.

Who approves it

On most jobs the superintendent or the principal, before the affected work starts. That approval is worth more than it looks: it fixes which records can be demanded later. An approved ITP worked through without gaps is the shortest answer to whether the work was carried out properly.

Why it matters in a state with retention trusts

Retention money that is held in trust is still money you have to ask for, and the ask is answered with records. On a job where retention runs to tens of thousands of dollars, the difference between a completed ITP and a folder of undated photographs is usually the difference between a release on time and a release after a dispute.

What the product does with it

In VariationFlow an ITP is not a document but a list of checks closed out on site. Each inspection carries a photograph, a timestamp and a result, a check with no record stays open, and at the end the plan goes into the handover pack instead of remaining a file on a server.

Decision support, not legal advice. Which tests your contract and the applicable standards require comes from those, not from this page.