Civil engineering
Civil QA/QC Engineer: Concrete, Steel and Earthworks
Run civil site quality: inspection plans, concrete tests, reinforcement, earthworks and the records that prove the work.
- Free
- Beginner
- 14.8 hours
- Self-paced
- Certificate optional
No card, no trial. The course is free for good. Certificate US$23.99, optional.
After this course you can
By the end you will be able to:
- Draft an inspection and test plan with hold and witness points
- Check a concrete delivery ticket and run slump and air tests
- Work out mean, standard deviation and characteristic strength
- Calculate percent compaction from sand cone data
- Write a non-conformance report with root cause and corrective action
Who it is for, and what you need first
Who it is for
Civil engineering students and graduates, site engineers and supervisors moving into quality roles, and new QA/QC engineers and inspectors at contractors, consultants and testing laboratories.
Level: Beginner. Beginner. For civil engineering students, graduates and site engineers moving into quality roles. You should read a simple drawing and use a spreadsheet; no site quality experience is needed.
What you need
Software: A spreadsheet: Excel, Excel for the web or LibreOffice Calc (free), and node or any calculator for the worked checks. No site software is needed..
Hardware: None. The lessons show real test equipment in the videos; you do not need to own any.. What to download, and how.
How this course works
Watch the lessons
Short video lessons, one module at a time, at your own pace.
Read the notes
Open the Reading tab for the written notes and diagrams of the module.
Check yourself
Answer the questions to see what stuck before you move on.
Final assessment
Pass the final once you have been through the modules.
Certificate, if you want oneOptional
Optional, with a page anyone can use to verify it.
What you learn
13 modules in order, at your own pace. 14.8 hours of video lessons, with written notes and a practice task in each module.
- 1The civil QA/QC engineer and the project quality plan36m
- 2Inspection and test plans and method statements1h 1m
- 3Submittals, requests for inspection and document control45m
- 4Concrete materials, mix design and fresh concrete tests1h 3m
- 5Cubes, cylinders, curing and strength acceptance38m
- 6Concrete on site: placing, weather, defects and repair18m
- 7Reinforcement inspection58m
- 8Formwork, falsework and structural steel erection21m
Show the other 5 modules
- 9Earthworks: soils, proctor and compaction control37m
- 10Field density and bearing tests51m
- 11Blockwork, plaster, waterproofing and finishes30m
- 12Non-conformance, root cause, calibration and handover40m
- 13Final Assessment8m
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
A spreadsheet is enough for the registers, the strength statistics and the percent compaction calculations. No test equipment or site software is needed.
Show what to download (2 tools)
A spreadsheet, one of these
Any one is enough.
- 01Free web version with limits
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft
- Runs on
- Excel for the web in any modern browser; desktop apps for Windows and macOS with a Microsoft 365 subscription
- Account
- A free Microsoft account
Excel for the web is free with a Microsoft account and 5 GB of cloud storage. The desktop app comes with a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, which offers a free trial. Python in Excel is not available on free licences, and fuller Copilot features need an eligible paid plan.
Steps
- 1.Open the Excel page on microsoft.com and select Sign up for free, or Sign in.
- 2.Create or sign in to your Microsoft account.
- 3.Select Open Excel to start Excel for the web.
- 4.Upload the course workbook to OneDrive and open it.
- 5.If a lesson needs a desktop-only feature, consider the Microsoft 365 free trial.
- Most formulas, tables and charts work in Excel for the web; some advanced tools, such as Power Pivot and many add-ins, need the desktop app.
- Check the Python in Excel availability page before a Python lesson.
Official download pagemicrosoft.comAlternatives
- LibreOffice Calc: Free desktop spreadsheet for Windows, macOS and Linux.
- Google Sheets: Free browser spreadsheet with a Google Account.
- 02Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
What you practise
Course project, about 8 hours
Quality file for a hospital slab pour and basement backfill
Draft the inspection and test plan for one suspended slab pour, check three concrete deliveries and fifteen strength results against a specification rule, work out percent compaction for three backfill tests, and raise the non-conformance reports that follow. You deliver the ITP, the checks, the calculations and the NCRs.
- 4documents in the pack
- 6steps to follow
- 6things to hand in
- 8 hof work, at your pace
- PlanInspection and test plan, level 4 slab pour, Dune Bay Hospital
- RegisterDelivery check and strength register, level 4 slab, Dune Bay Hospital
- Test reportField density tests, basement backfill, Dune Bay Hospital
- RegisterNon-conformance register, Dune Bay Hospital
The project is optional practice. The certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
After the course, your next step
Show what you can do, then keep going in the same field.
A certificate you can verify
Finish the modules and pass the final assessment (15 questions, pass mark 60%) and you can add a certificate with a public verification page. One-off, US$23.99 for you. It is not a vendor credential.
Want a free certificate? Do the matching Free internship: 4 weeks, nothing to buy, with a free certificate of completion.
Project work you can show
Weekly briefs and a work record, online. Pick the internship that fits you. Finish the 4 weeks and get a free Internship Completion Certificate, with a QR code anyone can scan to verify it. Training, not employment.
Find an internshipPart of a learning path
Courses in a planned order, so each one builds on the last.
More free courses
Roles that use this skill
- PLC programmer
- Controls engineer
- Automation technician
- Commissioning engineer
These are the kinds of roles where the skill is used. We make no promise of a job or an interview.
Plain notes
- Free: the whole course, the notes, the practice tasks, the final assessment and support from practising engineers.
- Paid, and optional: the course certificate, and the Premium internship (the Free internship costs nothing).
- No job promise: the course teaches a skill. It does not place you in a job.
- Lessons by: 2i Constructions, CQE Academy, Civil Engineer At Site., Civil Engineering Clicks, Construction Quality Management, Cttp Arkansas, Engr. DANISHWAR KHAN, Ezekiel Kalu, Gilson Company Inc., Hixtra Ltd, Intact Knowledge, Into The Box, Kevin Good, Mattest Ireland, NCTEL, NDDOT Materials Technical Certification Program, Professional Civil Engineers, QualityEngineers Guide, Quantum Build, Rigid Academy, Smart Civil Engineer, The Merchant Construct-preneurs and Tutors, UltraTech Cement. Independent creators; the lessons stream from their own channels. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, practice tasks and assessments.
2i Constructions · CQE Academy · Civil Engineer At Site. · Civil Engineering Clicks · Construction Quality Management · Cttp Arkansas · Engr. DANISHWAR KHAN · Ezekiel Kalu · Gilson Company Inc. · Hixtra Ltd · Intact Knowledge · Into The Box · Kevin Good · Mattest Ireland · NCTEL · NDDOT Materials Technical Certification Program · Professional Civil Engineers · QualityEngineers Guide · Quantum Build · Rigid Academy · Smart Civil Engineer · The Merchant Construct-preneurs and Tutors · UltraTech Cement. If you are one of these creators and want a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.
Why learn with EDWartens
What you get with this course, and what comes after it.
- Free from the first lesson to the final assessment.
- Video lessons with written notes and a project.
- An optional certificate that anyone can verify online.
- Free internships to keep practising afterwards.
Common questions
What is the Civil QA/QC Engineer course?
It is a free-to-learn course that follows one hospital project through civil site quality: the project quality plan, inspection and test plans, method statements and submittals, then concrete from mix to cube result, reinforcement, formwork, steel erection, earthworks and compaction, blockwork and waterproofing, non-conformance reports, calibration and handover.
Who is the course for?
Civil engineering students and graduates, site engineers and supervisors moving into quality roles, and new QA/QC engineers and inspectors at contractors, consultants and testing laboratories. You need to read a simple drawing and use a spreadsheet. No site quality experience is needed. QA/QC is a common entry role on building and infrastructure projects in the Gulf and elsewhere.
Which test methods and standards does the course use?
Methods are named by family: ASTM and AASHTO for the US family, EN and BS EN for the European family, with IS codes such as IS 456 and IS 516 as the regional alternative. Standards are paraphrased, editions change, and acceptance limits always come from your project specification, so check both before real work.
Can I use this on a real site without supervision?
No. The course teaches the workflow, the checks and the calculations. Real inspection and testing must follow your project specification, your employer's procedures and local regulations. Safety-critical work such as falsework, lifting and nuclear density gauges needs a competent, trained and authorised person.
Do I need any equipment or software?
No equipment. A spreadsheet such as Excel, Excel for the web or LibreOffice Calc is enough for the registers, the statistics and the percent compaction calculations. The videos show real test equipment from laboratories and sites.
Is this a testing technician certification?
No. The certificate is a verifiable certificate of completion from EDWartens. It is not an ACI, ICC, NICET or other technician certification, and not a professional licence. Those credentials are awarded by their own bodies after their own exams.
How long does the course take, and is it free?
About 8.4 hours of video and around 15 hours in total with the notes, worked problems and practice, at your own pace. Every module, the notes, the optional quality-file project and the final assessment are free to learn.
What certificate does the Civil QA/QC Engineer: Concrete, Steel and Earthworks course give?
A verifiable certificate of completion, issued when you finish the modules and pass the 15-question final at 60 percent. It has a unique certificate number, a QR code and a public verification page that shows the course, the modules covered and your final score.
Start free today
Civil QA/QC Engineer: Concrete, Steel and Earthworks, at your own pace. Add the certificate only if you want one.