What is the difference between QA and QC?

Question

Zippia Team · Accepted Answer

The difference between QA and QC has to do with each role's scope of quality oversight. Typically, the responsibilities of a quality assurance (QA) analyst cover virtually all quality systems in one fashion or another, while quality control (QC) is a subset of the QA activities.

Quality control (QC) is there to verify the quality of the output, whereas quality assurance (QA) works on the process of managing for quality.

QA and QC are two aspects of quality management. While some quality assurance and quality control activities are interrelated, the two are defined differently. QA can be defined as "part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled."

In contrast, QC can be defined as "part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements. For example, the quality assurance function in a service organization may not include quality control of the service but may include quality control of any products involved.