To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper providing empirical evidence of the quality factors in construction management in a developing country.
Table of contents
- Total quality management in construction
- Crossrail: quality control's exemplar
- Project Quality Management Program | UCOP
To understand how pervasive and effective quality management can be requires one to look at operational problems as being failures in process.
Total quality management in construction
For instance, an incident on site may be as much down to supply side quality failure as individual error. Quality management is about mitigating these mistakes. In addition to the internal benefits in eliminating the waste that is inherent in construction projects, a robust approach to quality management also adds a new dimension when going to tender for potential projects when the ability to demonstrate strong capability in quality management provides increased confidence to the client. This is where the CQI comes in. It is the only chartered body dedicated to quality professionals.
As part of its role in representing British quality management professionals in numerous industries, the CQI produced the Competency Framework, a detailed professional standard defining what it means to be a qualified and highly trained quality professional. The Competency Framework encourages organisations to see the quality professional as a business partner who can help projects succeed through excellence in planning and assurance and a focus on mitigating risk.
Within the Competency Framework, quality professionals are provided with a tight set of definitions and concepts to work with to help them both advance their knowledge, as well as potential employers understand how they can be most helpful to the business. This data reveals that construction firms are increasingly viewing quality as a strategic necessity rather than a luxury, and that when utilised properly, there are significant financial and reputational benefits to be gained from a focus on excellence in operational governance assurance and improvement.
Quality management is a difficult concept to grasp at times, but it is clear that when used properly, it can be the difference between a good project, and a great one. Projects such as Crossrail see below show how some of the most cutting-edge organisations use quality management to ensure that their projects remain under control and stay within budget. A large number of construction companies now use the ISO standard as a means of bringing quality to their firms.
Used by more than a million firms globally, ISO is an accepted standard for companies who are attempting to operate with greater efficiency and profitability. ISO can be a valuable tool for implementing the principles of quality to a construction company. It is undeniable that compliance with the ISO standard allows construction firms to engage in quality management, and improve their efficiency in the process.
Crossrail: quality control's exemplar
However, viewing an ISO certified system as a bolt-on is a mistake — the system is the way in which the organisation delivers on customer and stakeholder needs. Indeed, getting the most out of a business management system based on ISO requires competence. An organisation would not allow unqualified people to run its financial systems, and having a competent and qualified business system is focused on delivering customer needs efficiently and effectively. The nature of the business environment — with the speed of technology change, the changing demand and supply landscape, increasing customer demands, and reduced cycle times — means that change remains the only and ever-increasing constant.
A core part of the quality professional remit is change and improvement, as aligning the business improvement effort is vital if organisations and projects are to use their financial resources wisely, investing in the right changes that respond to performance and close the loop on risk in an agile manner. This requires the system of improvement itself to be properly managed in terms of ensuring standard approaches are employed for aspects ranging from proper root cause analysis of problems to the delivery of changes. To ensure that benefits are realised, the right improvement skills must exist within the organisation.
In this way the quality profession helps the organisation and project answer the following questions: Construction managers have recognised the potential of quality management to deal with some of the problems most commonly associated with construction projects. Whilst only time will tell, the legacy of Crossrail and other large projects using quality could very well be the start of a wider implementation of quality initiatives across the building industry.
Project Quality Management Program | UCOP
In many ways, Crossrail faces the same issues as any other construction project. Construction technical issues include checklists, inspections, interdisciplinary plan checks, other reviews, and possibly value engineering. People-related issues include encouraging commitment to the project, building teamwork, defining expectations, and "partnering" see Cooperation within the project team should have started early in the project process.
In the context of the construction phase portion of a Project Quality Management Program, "partnering" means:. This task is accomplished through decisions made by facilities management staff. Periodically during active construction and upon completion of the construction phase, members of the project team should evaluate the team's performance as a whole.
In evaluating a project for quality, the project team should:.
- UCOP Divisions & Departments.
- JSTOR: Access Check;
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- CPD articles.
Team evaluation will assess team performance in accomplishing project quality goals by considering the team's:. Evaluations can be made by completing evaluation forms predesigned with questions and data entry requests developed on an objective basis. University Administration Volume 2: Construction Contracting Volume 5: Back to top To accomplish this goal, facilities management personnel must perform the following functions for the project team to ensure the desired quality of the constructed project: Establish requirements see Quality management planning and implementing policies, procedures, and requirements.
Quality control ensuring that work is being performed and that work is being checked prior to its acceptance.
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- Applied Mixed Models in Medicine (Statistics in Practice).
- CPD: Quality management;
Quality assurance verifying that quality control tasks are being performed. Continuous quality improvement continually pursuing improvement in the quality of the construction process. Quality costs redoing a construction item even when this increases the item's cost. Defining expectations of the University, the design professional, and the Contractor's project manager or construction manager.