# Soil programmes — planning QC for a surface grid

> Group a surface grid into a programme, then plan its CRM, blank and duplicate bags before the crew goes out.

Source: https://geodb.io/guide/topic/soil_programme_qc/ · Category: Understanding your data
Drill QC and surface QC are planned differently, and this is the surface half.

## A programme is the container

A **sample programme** groups surface samples by their sequence-number prefix
— `SS-001`, `SS-002` … all belong to the `SS` programme. It's the unit you
plan QC against, assign to a crew, and print pull lists from.

You rarely create one by hand. **Push a grid from QGIS and the programme
appears by itself**, named from the prefix. If you push `SS-001`…`SS-156`,
you get one `SS` programme holding 156 planned samples. Import through Petra
does the same thing.

Three similar words worth keeping straight:

- **sample programme** — the *field* batch, grouped by prefix. This page.
- **submittal** — the *lab shipment* a sample was sent in.
- **package** — the physical *box* at the lab.

## Planning the QC

Open a programme and choose **Plan QC**. You tell it which bag numbers to draw
from (your sample series), and it applies the project's
[QC protocol](https://geodb.io/guide/topic/qc_protocols/) — or a different one if this
programme runs to its own rules.

What comes back is a **preview, not a commitment**: the CRM and blank bags it
would insert, with their numbers, plus any warnings. Commit it and those rows
are created as planned QC, ready for the pull list.

**Standards and blanks get numbers. Field duplicates don't.** A duplicate is
taken in the field, from material you're already collecting, so it can't be
pre-numbered off the shelf — the planner *forecasts* how many you'll need and
at what cadence, and you carry spare bags. That asymmetry surprises people
the first time; it's deliberate.

## After the crew goes out

Collected samples come back, get submitted to the lab, and the certificate
lands like any other. From there the ordinary
[QC verdict pages](https://geodb.io/guide/topic/qc_system/) judge the results — planning and
judging are separate halves, and the verdict pages remain the answer of
record.