Quality Assurance vs Quality Control

Quality Assurance is process oriented and focuses on defect prevention; while quality control is product oriented and focuses on defect identification.

Differences between Quality Assurance and Quality Control

 Definitions of QA and QC

• • Quality Assurance (QA) refers to the process used to create the deliverables, and can be performed by a manager, client, or even a third-party reviewer. Examples of quality assurance include process checklists, project audits and methodology and standards development.
  • Quality Control (QC) refers to quality related activities associated with the creation of project deliverables. Quality control is used to verify that deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they are complete and correct. Examples of quality control activities include inspection, deliverable peer reviews and the testing process.
• Quality control is about adherence to requirements. Quality assurance is generic and does not concern the specific requirements of the product being developed.
• Quality assurance activities are determined before production work begins and these activities are performed while the product is being developed. In contrast, Quality control activities are performed after the product is developed.

 Comparison chart

	Quality Assurance	Quality Control
Focus on:	QA aims to prevent defects with a focus on the process used to make the product. It is a proactive quality process.	QC aims to identify defects in the finished product. Quality control, therefore, is a reactive process.
Goal:	The goal of QA is to improve development and test processes so that defects do not arise when the product is being developed.	The goal of QC is to identify defects after a product is developed and before it's released.