Quality Management in Construction Projects

Abdul Razzak Rumane

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351580076
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Gestión industrial

The first edition published in 2010. The response was encouraging and many people appreciated a book that was dedicated to quality management in construction projects. Since it published, ISO 9000: 2008 has been revised and ISO 9000: 2015 has published. The new edition will focus on risk-based thinking which must be considered from the beginning and throughout the project life cycle. There are quality-related topics such as Customer Relationship, Supplier Management, Risk Management, Quality Audits, Tools for Construction Projects, and Quality Management that were not covered in the first edition. Furthermore, some figures and tables needed to be updated to make the book more comprehensive.

1
Overview of Quality

1.1Quality History

Quality issues have been of great concern throughout the recorded history of humans. During the New Stone Age, several civilizations emerged, and some 4000–5000 years ago, considerable skills in construction were acquired. The pyramids in Egypt were built approximately 2589–2566 BCE. Hammurabi, the king of Babylonia (1792–1750 BCE), codified the law, according to which, during the Mesopotamian era, builders were responsible for maintaining the quality of buildings and were given the death penalty if any of their construction collapsed and their occupants were killed. The extension of Greek settlements around the Mediterranean after 200 BCE left records showing that temples and theaters were built using marble. India had strict standards for working with gold in the fourth century BCE.

According to A History of Managing for Quality (J. M. Juran, editor-in-chief), China’s recorded quality history can be traced back to earlier than 200 BCE. China had instituted quality control in its handicrafts during the Zhou dynasty between 1100 and 250 BCE. During this period, the handicraft industry was mainly engaged in producing ceremonial artifacts. Table 1.1 presents a sample of surviving writings that are related to quality management in China during ancient days. This industry survived the long succession of dynasties that followed up to 1911 CE.

TABLE 1.1
A Sample of Ancient Chinese Writings on Quality Management

Scandinavian shipbuilders were using quality improvement techniques over the entire first two millennia BCE and the first millennium CE. Examples of specification and inspection can be found in the Bible dating from at least 500 BCE, and at about the same time, the Greeks were using tight quality control methods in the building of their temples. The Romans standardized nearly everything they touched from 300 BCE to 300 CE. According to Sebestyen (1998), “Marcus Vitruvius Pollo, the first century BCE military and civil engineer, published his 10 books (i.e., a book with 10 chapters) in Rome. This was the world’s first major publication on architecture and construction, and it dealt with building materials, the style and design of building types, the construction process, building physics, astronomy and building machines” (p. 2).

During the Middle Ages, guilds took the responsibility for quality control upon themselves. Guilds and governments carried out quality control; consumers, of course, carried out informal quality inspection throughout history.

The guilds’ involvement in quality was extensive. All craftsmen living in a particular area were required to join the corresponding guild and were responsible for controlling the quality of their own products. If any of the items was found defective, then the craftsman discarded the faulty items. The guilds also initiated punishments for members who turned out shoddy products. They maintained inspections and audits to ensure that artisans followed quality specifications. The guild hierarchy consisted of three categories of workers: apprentice, journeyman, and master. The guilds had established specifications for input materials, manufacturing processes, and finished products, as well as methods of inspection and testing. They were active in managing quality during the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution marginalized their influence.

The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the mid-nineteenth century. It gave birth to factories, and the goals of the factories were to increase productivity and reduce costs. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, items were produced by individual craftsman for individual customers, and it was possible for workers to control the quality of their products. Working conditions then were more conducive to professional pride. Under the factory system, the tasks needed to produce a product were divided among several or many factory workers. Under this system, large groups of workmen performed similar types of work, and each group worked under the supervision of a foreman who also took on the responsibility of controlling the quality of the work performed. Quality in the factory system was ensured by means of skilled workers, and the quality audit was done by inspectors.

The broad economic result of the factory system was mass production at low costs. The Industrial Revolution changed ...