Checking is independent verification that work is correct and complete before it is issued. Quality management/assurance (QA/QC) is the broader, proactive system of procedures, checking, peer review, document control, and verification, that an organization uses to ensure consistent, competent output. Regulators increasingly require firms to maintain a documented quality-management system. An effective check is performed by someone competent and sufficiently independent of the original work, and it must be substantive, not a glance. Checking does not transfer responsibility for the design to the checker; the original practitioner in responsible charge remains accountable, while the checker is responsible for the adequacy of the check.
Due diligence is the standard of care a reasonable, prudent practitioner exercises: identifying hazards, applying appropriate codes and analysis, checking the work, and documenting the basis for decisions. It is the practitioner's primary defence against liability, courts ask whether the licensee acted as a competent professional would in the circumstances. Risk management is the systematic process of identifying, assessing, mitigating, and monitoring risks to public safety, the environment, schedule, and cost; the professional reduces risk to a level that is acceptable and reasonable, not necessarily zero, and clearly communicates residual risk.
- Self-checking is permitted but weaker than independent checking; high-risk work warrants independent review.
- A checking signature certifies the review was done competently, not that the checker authored the design.
- The standard is reasonable competence, not perfection or hindsight; an error is not automatically negligence.
- Communicate residual risk honestly; concealing it can be both negligent and unethical.
Memory hook: Independent + competent + substantive = a real check. Due diligence is judged on what you knew and did at the time, not with hindsight.