Quick answer
Quality assurance builds the process that prevents defects; quality control inspects the product that finds them — QA is upstream, QC is downstream.
QA (assurance)
Process work: standards, reviews, audits, training — building quality in so defects don’t happen.
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QC (control)
Product work: testing, inspection, acceptance — catching defects that happened anyway.
Which is worth more
Prevention is cheaper than detection — but only QC gives the evidence the deliverable is right.
In the quality plan
QA activities belong to the plan (what we do); QC criteria to the deliverables (what we check).
Bottom line
Quality assurance builds the process that prevents defects; quality control inspects the product that finds them — QA is upstream, QC is downstream.
FAQ
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