Curtin University: Quality in Construction Report (BLDG 3011, 2018)

This report analyzes quality management within the context of a construction project, addressing key aspects such as document control procedures, control of records, and process diagrams. It explores risk and opportunity management according to ISO standards (specifically clause 6), emphasizing the importance of top management support for successful implementation. The report references international quality standards and examines the impact of management support on resource utilization, communication, and the overall quality of construction projects. It also highlights the contributions of quality gurus like Philip Crosby and Edwards Deming, discussing their methodologies for achieving quality excellence, including defect prevention and continuous improvement. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of a well-implemented quality management system in overcoming challenges like untimely delivery and ensuring project success.

Quality in construction

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1
A) Document control procedure clause 7...............................................................................1
B) Control of record clause 7.................................................................................................1
C) Process diagram................................................................................................................4
D) Risk and opportunities according to clause 6...................................................................4
E) Importance of management support..................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8

List of tables
Table 1: Control record..............................................................................................................2

Executive summary
The consideration of quality standards can be beneficial for organizations to
overcome the issues like rework, improvement in cost and delay in the completion of
construction project. The report will provide information about international standards of
quality management in construction such as clause 4, 6 and 7. The document control
procedure as per the clause 7, the QiC management needs to focus on the requirements of
resources to establish the quality measures as per the role and responsibilities of the
individual in the construction process. According to clause 6, QiC management needs to
develop the plan and keep the record of the risks in the project like process breakdown,
defects and lack of resources as well as the delay in the supply of the raw material that
influences the quality outcome for the particular project. There are some challenges in the
planning and implementation of quality managment system such as lack of support from the
top management of the QiC. Moreover, the lack of support from top management also affects
the engagement of resources and optimum utilization of raw material and other tools. Based
on the work of Philip Crosby, it has been identified that QiC must also focus upon the quality
leadership to overcome the problems and establish effective quality management system
within its business framework.

Introduction
Construction quality management is an important element of management and project
delivery. The consideration of quality standards can be beneficial for organizations to
overcome the issues like rework, improvement in cost and delay in the completion of
construction project. The report will focus on quality standards of QiC building construction
organization and provide the information related to lacking in quality management. The
report will provide information about international standards of quality management in
construction such as clause 7 and 6. Moreover, the report will analyze the support of top
management in the development and implementation of quality management system.
A) Document control procedure clause 7
The international standard of the quality management system for construction
involves clause 7. According to this clause, the communication of information and
documentation is essential for understanding the process and supply of the resources. The
consideration of both internal and external communication and documentation is essential for
evaluating the support that required for managing the operations. For QiC management, it is
important to apply this clause to conducting the audits, creating awareness and increasing the
communication with the team members1. The document control procedure as per the clause 7,
the QiC management needs to focus on the requirements of resources to establish the quality
measures as per the role and responsibilities of the individual in the construction process.
Moreover, the clause suggests maintaining the document for training and applicable actions
that can be taken by the organization for maintaining the quality of the construction
operations. The documentation of performance and specific discipline will improve the
quality and effectiveness of the QiC construction.
B) Control of record clause 7
According to clause 7 of ISO 9000 quality management system for construction, the
QiC management needs to keep the control over the following documents for improving the
control.
Table 1: Control record
1 Sanz-Calcedo, et al, "Analysis on integrated management,” 140-145.
1

Clause Topic Type of
documentation
information
Requirements
7.1.5.1 Monitoring and
measuring resources
Record According to this
clause, the organization
needs to retain the
required documents for
information that
provide the evidence
for fitness of the
project and purpose of
monitoring
7.1.5.2 a Measuring and
traceability
Record Measuring of quality
will be beneficial for
QiC for verifying the
equipments and
satisfying the quality of
them according to
international
standards.2 The
documentation of
quality need to be
retained for future
decision making
7.2 d Competence Record The documentation of
information is
necessary for
organization to provide
the evidence of quality
standards used for
construction
7.5.1 b Documented Document The quality
2 Nanda, Vivek. Quality management system handbook, 40.
2

information management system
for organization must
keep the information
about infrastructure,
environmental general
and people quality
management initiatives
for increasing the
effectiveness of the
internal and external
quality management
approach3.
3 Ross, Joel E. Total quality management, 21
3

C) Process diagram
The QiC management could use the above process diagram for developing the quality
management system that will be beneficial for encouraging the quality of construction
projects. The process will improve understanding related to customer needs and help to
manage the resources and material according to requirements. Moreover, the process diagram
will also help to understand the scope and objectives of the project according to international
standard clause 4.
D) Risk and opportunities according to clause 6
The international clause 6 of quality management in construction involves the process
of addressing the risk and opportunities in the project. According to this clause, QiC
management needs to develop the plan and keep the record of the risks in the project like
process breakdown, defects and lack of resources as well as the delay in the supply of the raw
material that influences the quality outcome for the particular project. Apart from that, the
clause provides the emphasis on the opportunities of the construction project that include the
improvement in the production, establishment of high quality working environment and
minimization of waste4. The proper consideration of clause 6 opportunities will be beneficial
4 Taskov, Nako, and Elizabeta Mitreva. "The motivation and the efficient
communication,” 227-234.
4
Quality management and improvement system
Customers
Requirements
Customer’s
satisfaction
Management
responsibilities
Analysis and
improvement
Product realization
Resource
management

for the QiC management to manage the risks and implementation of risk reduction measures.
As per the flowchart, the proper analysis and establishment of scope will help to improve the
knowledge about the potential risks and opportunities in the project as well as the
development of the plan.
The objectives of clause 6 for identifying opportunities and risks involve the
establishment of quality process, performance review of human resources, proper follow-up
of the suppliers and standards of raw material to maintain the reliability and validity in the
project. Furthermore, the clause suggests for the planning of the changes that might affect the
outcome5. The review of documents and quality management process to meet the outcome
will be beneficial for QiC to improve the quality initiatives and measurements.
E) Importance of management support
According to the given case scenario of the QiC, the management is facing issues
related to supervision and delivery of the raw material which affects the quality of the
construction project in a negative manner. The project manager of the company is looking to
develop and implement the quality management system according to international standards.
There are some challenges in the planning and implementation of this system such as lack of
support from the top management of the QiC. The workers are lacking in knowledge about
the use of international standards and utilization of the resources. The training and
development initiatives are required from the top management of the QiC6. The involvement
and support of top management are essential for decision making and determination of the
process for analyzing and implementing the quality management system. However, the top
management of QiC is taking part in the planning and implementation of a quality
management system according to international standards but lacking in consideration of
clauses. The major issues that affect the organizational performance and quality involve the
gap in communication with the supplier, technical deficiencies and human errors7.
5 Zimon, Dominik. "IMPACT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM,” 4.
6 Nielsen, Steven, Curtis Chambers, and Jeffrey Farr. "Management system, and
associated methods, “ 6.
7 Androniceanu, Armenia. "The three-dimensional approach of total quality
management,” 61.
5

If the top management not involved in development and implementation of the quality
management system according to international level will affect the documentation process,
improvement in the existing functions and supervision of the operations related to ongoing
projects of construction. Moreover, the lack of support from top management also affects the
engagement of resources and optimum utilization of raw material and other tools. For
example, the QiC was lacking in the delivery of steel components as the top management was
not concerned about the specification of quality measures and supervision of the site of the
construction8. These are some major consequences as top management of organization does
not take part in the quality management decision making and training to the staff members.
Of all the quality gurus, the studies of Dr. Edwards Deming and Philip Crosby were
found to be most readable and appropriate to be used for overcoming the issues of QiC
effectively. It has been found that the gurus had provided with specific quality management
ideas and strategies to be implemented in the business and establish higher levels of quality
standards. The organization could make use of the 14 point being stated by Dr. Edwards
Deming for total quality management and meet the desired goals. The work of quality guru
would provide the management of QiC with the idea to establish the continual enhancement
by redefining the purposes of the company. It is very important that the company survive,
competes and replenish its resources consistently in order to acquire growth and
augmentation within its operations.
According to Deming, QiC must stop the dependencies over inspections to attain
quality products. The management must ensure to enhance the process for production,
planning and other services on a consistent basis so that to maintain the quality standards
within the business. It even requires initiating on the job training to the employees to
eradicate the problem of inadequate knowledge about product quality which resulted in the
delivery of unsatisfactory standards in products despite having inspections and testing at the
workplace9. The management of QiC must also establish an enthusiastic program of
education and self-improvement for the employees this would make them work with more
efficiently and ensure to meet the set standards of quality within the products.
Based on the work of Philip Crosby, it has been identified that QiC must also focus
upon the quality leadership to overcome the problems and establish effective quality
8 Neyestani, Behnam. "Principles and Contributions of Total Quality Management,” 28
9 Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis. 40.
6

management system within its business framework. Unlike Deming who mainly focused to
reduce the defects, Crosby states to focus upon the prevention of the defects. The
management of QiC must adopt a practice where each and every individual or organization
takes a responsibility for acquiring effective quality at the workplace. The quality guru had
initiated with the Zero defect program which mainly focuses upon doing it right the first time
with the maximum acceptable output10. As per the contributions made by Crosby in quality
management, QiC could implement the ideas such as prevention of the defects instead of
inspection after the production would also help in achieving quality standards within the
business. It is important for the managers of QiC to exhibit that the higher performance
standards could lead the operations towards perfection and to Zero defects.
The quality guru believes that the goals of organizations must be Zero defects which
would highly contribute to enhancing the quality standards eventually. By bringing these
concepts into considerations, the management of QiC would be able to establish effective
quality measure and would eradicate the problems faced within the framework11. With the
execution of an effective quality management system, QiC would be able to overcome the
issues of untimely delivery, unsatisfactory products, lack of knowledge among employees
and many more. The organization would be able to cope up with the issues and meet the set
quality goals effectively.
Conclusion
From the above study, it has been considered that the quality management system is
having a significant impact on the approach of the organization in the construction industry.
The report has provided information about the international standards clause that used for
managing the quality of the construction project. The report has developed and presented the
process diagram that can be useful for QiC for managing the quality system. The
consideration of these clauses will be beneficial for the organization to overcome the issues
related to the supervision, delay in the supply and training and development of the staff
members.
10 Malik, Mohd Zaid, Rajiv Banerjee, and Syed Aqeel Ahmad. "A REVIEW PAPER ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT,” 18
11 Howarth, Tim, and David Greenwood. Construction quality management, 34.
7

8