Quality Plan For: TITLE OF PROJECT Soil

Biodiversi
Issue: version number
Date: date ty
NERC Thematic Programme

Quality Plan

Project Title

Soil Biodiversity Ref No:

1. Introduction
This document, together with other referenced documents, defines the responsibilities and
procedures to be adopted to ensure that the data and information produced as part of Project [Ref
No] are reliable, fit for purpose and consistent with documented objectives and deliverables. It
summarises the system of internal management that governs the decisions and instructions
concerning project quality assurance.

2. Project Contractual Information

Project: Project title

Project reference: Soil Biodiversity reference number
Soil Biodiversity Programme Manager: Richard Scott, CEH Merlewood
Principal Investigators(s): Name(s) and full details, i.e. address etc., of
PI(s) with contractual responsibility

3. Scope of Work and Quality Objectives

Scope of work: Provide an abstract, and include a reference

to the project proposal.
QA Requirement: As described in NERC Global Nitrogen
Enrichment (GANE) Quality Assurance
Guidance Manual which is based on the
requirements of the International Standard BS
EN ISO 9001:1994. This standard is regarded
as a desirable aim.

Page 1 of 5 SB/QP/V1.0/8-00
Quality Plan For: TITLE OF PROJECT Soil
Biodiversi
Issue: version number
Date: date ty
NERC Thematic Programme

4. Project Organisation

Project Manager(s): Name and position of senior management

having overall responsibility for the project
and management, and nominated deputy
Task Manager(s): Name and position of Task Managers and
nominated deputies
Steering Committee representative: Name of Steering Committee member
representing the project
Quality Assurance (person responsible): Name and position of person responsible for
QA and nominated deputy
Soil Biodiversity QA Contact: Mandy Lane, CEH Merlewood
Other Team Members: Names and titles of all other team members
(including technical and administrative staff)
including a description of duties
Subcontractors: Names and duties of any subcontractors
User Community: Name of user(s) and nature of support or
interest
Technical Reviews: Names of staff responsible for technical review
(checking and approval) of deliverables,
outputs etc.

An organogram showing the project management structure is given in Appendix XX.

5. Project Duration and Scheduling

Start Date:
Completion Date:
Scheduling of Activities: Gantt charts may be used to clarify complex
scheduling; any milestones or holdpoints
should be identified.

Page 2 of 5 SB/QP/V1.0/8-00
Quality Plan For: TITLE OF PROJECT Soil
Biodiversi
Issue: version number
Date: date ty
NERC Thematic Programme

6. Deliverables
Deliverables specified for the project include:

(i) Project reports (list with ‘due’ dates)

(ii) Nature of proposed written outputs (list with planned submission dates, if known)
(iii) Datasets and data products (list)
(iv) A Quality Plan (using this form)
(v) A Data Management Plan for the project, attached as Appendix YY (use pro-forma
attached).

All project deliverables (the Quality Plan itself, interim reports, progress reports, final reports,
publications, maps, data, etc.) should be listed here (and numbered appropriately). For item (v)
the ‘Soil Biodiversity Data Management Plan’ ((SB/DMP/V2/6-00) and ‘Data Management
Guidelines for Projects’ (SB/DMG/V1/8-00) should be consulted.

7. Review of Quality Plan

Specify how and how often this Quality Plan will be reviewed, e.g. every six months at
consortium meetings. Include a statement to say “All members of the project consortium have
been made aware of the information contained in the Soil Biodiversity Data Management Plan
(NERC 1999) and GANE Quality Assurance Guidance Manual (NERC,2000).”

8. Document and Record Control

Arrangements for the control, storage and distribution of project documents (including method
references, field and laboratory notebooks, and the Quality Plan and Data Management Plan)
should be specified. (Data storage and management procedures should be described in the Data
Management Plan). Distribution lists for reports and other deliverables may also be listed.

9. Documentation of Methods & Procedures

a) List references to methods or procedures used during the project. If methods are unpublished,
for example developed in-house, then provide a (machine-readable) copy with the Quality Plan.
If this is impractical, provide a basic resume of methodology with an indication of how the
documents will be archived for future reference. Any documents that relate to quality
assurance, for example Laboratory Quality Control methods, should also be listed. Refer also
to statistical methods and contacts with the Programme Statistical Advisor.
b) Describe procedures for handling, storing, packaging, preserving and archiving of samples
and derived materials.

Page 3 of 5 SB/QP/V1.0/8-00
Quality Plan For: TITLE OF PROJECT Soil
Biodiversi
Issue: version number
Date: date ty
NERC Thematic Programme

10. Additional Information

Unless included in associated technical procedures, any other information that has direct
relevance to the quality of the product or service being provided should be included in the
Quality Plan. This could include the following (if not already listed above):

(a) procedures for internal review and verification of outputs (e.g. procedures for approval of
papers before submission; procedures for validating data before release to third parties)
(b) mechanisms for logging and auditing field and laboratory activities, and for identifying and
tracing product development;
(c) quality assurance procedures used with analytical methods, including details of sources of
reference materials or standards;
(d) special criteria for identifying the status of inspection and test products;
(e) minimum qualifications, training or experience required of staff to undertake certain
activities, or any specialist staff training;
(f) specialist statistical techniques required.

Prepared by: Date:

Signature:

Checked by: Date:

Signature:

Approved by: Date:

Signature:

N.B. Quality Plans should be controlled documents, with a specific version number, date and
distribution.

Soil Biodiversity Quality Plan forms are available from the Soil Biodiversity website
http://www.nmw.ac.uk/soilbio, or through Soil Biodiversity Programme Office, Centre for Ecology and
Hydrology, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU. Tel: 015395 32264.

Acknowledgement: Soil Biodiversity Quality Plans are based on the form contained within the NERC Global
Nitrogen Enrichment (GANE) Programme Quality Assurance Guidance Manual, developed by Jennifer Cook,
Analytical and Regional Geochemistry Group, British Geological Survey

References:
NERC (1999) Soil Biodiversity Data Management Plan.
NERC (2000) Soil Biodiversity Data Management Guidelines for Projects.
Both the above are available from Soil Biodiversity Web site: http://www.nmw.ac.uk/soilbio, or through the Soil
Biodiversity Programme Office, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-
Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU. Tel: 015395 32264.

NERC (2000) Global Nitrogen Enrichment Programme, Quality Assurance Guidance Manual. Available from
Jennifer Cook, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG. Tel:0115 936 3330.

Page 4 of 5 SB/QP/V1.0/8-00
Quality Plan For: TITLE OF PROJECT Soil
Biodiversi
Issue: version number
Date: date ty
NERC Thematic Programme

Appendix YY:
Data Management Plan
Soil Biodiversity Project: xxx

Project Data Management Plans should address the items listed below; please refer to the Soil
Biodiversity Data Management Guidelines (SB/DMG/V1/8-00) and the overall Soil
Biodiversity Programme Data Management Plan (SB/DMP/V2/6-00), available from the
Programme Office or via the SB Website:

1. Data Managers

Project Data Manager: Provide name of person having overall

responsibility for project data management.
Sub-project data managers: If applicable, list the names of people
responsible for data management
within each collaborating group

2. Data Management System

Describe the system, formats and media for storage, maintenance and back-up of data and
meta-data, whether within a database, spreadsheet, as ASCII files, or specialist software.

3. Meta-data
List the categories of meta-data which accompany project datasets, or confirm that at least
those categories included in the Soil Biodiversity data transfer template (SB/DT/V1/12-99)
are present.

4. Referencing System
- Confirm the use of standard Soil Biodiversity sampling/survey referencing system, as given
in the Sampling Protocol, including the use of SUIDs for samples.
- Describe system for unique coding of subsequent sub-sampling or bulking of samples
which can be linked back to the original SUID.

5. Quality Assurance of Data

Provide information on the following:

(i) Data entry methods and checking procedures
(ii) Validation checks
(iii) How data failing validation checks are handled.

6. Data Exchange and Transfer

Confirm use of SB data transfer template, or describe use of other appropriate method of
transferring project data and meta-data (e.g. structured database export)

7. Data policy
Provide information on data policy and access procedures (e.g. licensing arrangements) for
within and between-project data interchange, and release to external bodies.

Page 5 of 5 SB/QP/V1.0/8-00