Ask your projects data anything. Get answers in seconds. Plexa MCP Connector is live. See it in action
FREE TOOL
ITP builder: inspection and test plans
Generate an inspection and test plan for any construction work type. Hold points, witness points, acceptance criteria and the Australian Standards behind them.
What is an ITP in construction?
An inspection and test plan is the document that says what will be checked on a work package, when it will be checked, who checks it, what standard it must meet, and what evidence gets kept. It is the bridge between a specification and a record that the specification was actually met.
ITPs are written per work package rather than per project. Structural steel, in-situ concrete, waterproofing, façade and each services trade all get their own, because the inspection points and the standards differ completely.
The practical test of a good ITP is simple: could someone who was not there reconstruct, from the signed plan alone, that the work was built to spec? If not, the plan is decoration.
Hold points, witness points and surveillance
A hold point stops work. The activity cannot proceed past that point until the nominated party has inspected and released it in writing. Pouring concrete over reinforcement that has not been released is the classic example of a hold point ignored.
A witness point gives the nominated party the opportunity to attend, but work may continue if they do not. The party must be given notice; if they choose not to come, that is their decision and the programme is not held up.
Surveillance is ongoing monitoring rather than a discrete gate, and review means checking documentation rather than physical work. Getting these four categories right is most of what separates a working ITP from a checklist.
Confusing a hold point with a witness point is the single most common and most expensive ITP error, in both directions: unreleased work covered up, or a programme stalled waiting for an inspection nobody was required to attend.
What a complete ITP contains
Each row should carry the activity, the inspection type, the acceptance criteria, the reference standard or specification clause, the responsible party, the record produced, and space for signature and date.
Acceptance criteria is where most templates fail. “Inspect reinforcement” is not a criterion. “Bar size, spacing, cover and lap lengths to AS 3600 and drawing S-201” is. If the criterion is not measurable, the sign-off means nothing.
Reference standards do the heavy lifting: AS 3600 for concrete, AS 4100 for steelwork, AS 3740 and AS 4654 for waterproofing, AS/NZS 3000 for electrical. Citing the clause makes the plan auditable rather than merely tidy.
Who signs off, and why it matters later
Sign-off usually involves the subcontractor performing the work, the head contractor’s site or project engineer, and (at hold points) the superintendent, engineer or certifier. Some points also require a third-party testing authority.
The signed ITP is the evidence trail. At practical completion, during the defects liability period, and in any subsequent dispute about workmanship, the ITP is what is produced. A plan signed retrospectively in a rush before handover is transparently that, and is worth very little.
This is why ITPs belong on the live project record rather than in a folder. Plexa’s Project & Doc Management module runs inspection points, hold point releases and sign-offs against the drawings and the programme they relate to.
The AI Construction Operating System
One platform, one data model, every project. Built in Australia, for the world.
YOUR DATA, PROTECTED
Hosted on AWS Sydney with Australian data residency.
GET THE MOBILE APP
Platform
Solutions
© 2026 Plexa Pro Pty Ltd. ABN 63 668 433 136