What are acceptance criteria and how are they applied to determine pass/fail?

• A. Contract-based standards (quantitative/qualitative) used to judge compliance; items meeting criteria are accepted, those failing require NCR/treatment.
• B. Acceptance is based on cost only.
• C. All items are accepted if approved by the site supervisor.
• D. Acceptance requires negative test results for all items.

Answer: (A)

Acceptance criteria are the contract-based standards used to determine whether a delivered item or completed work meets the required specifications. They can be quantitative, such as dimensional tolerances or strength values, or qualitative, like workmanship quality or surface finish. Inspectors compare actual results from inspections or tests to these criteria; if every criterion for the item is met, the item is accepted. If any criterion is not met, the item is nonconforming and must be documented in a nonconformance report and subjected to corrective action or retesting before acceptance. These criteria are not based on cost or just a supervisor’s approval; acceptance hinges on satisfying the defined contract requirements. For example, a concrete pour would be accepted only if the specified compressive strength is achieved at the cure period and the surface finish meets the required quality; otherwise, corrective actions are necessary.