How can the construction industry improve quality standards?

Every reputable business within the construction industry will understand how important it is to ensure that any projects they are involved with are high quality – not only to uphold their own reputation, but also to ensure public health and safety using only quality materials.

Quality is critical

Meeting a high standard of quality is a key issue for the construction industry – in fact, it’s estimated that poor quality is costing the industry more than the combined profits of all the companies within it. Research by housing charity Shelter found that over half (51%) of new build homeowners in the UK have experienced major problems with their properties, such as construction issues, unfinished fittings and faults with utilities.

At the very least, poor construction quality affects the usability and/or aesthetics of a building – but in some cases, it can seriously impact the health and safety of those that live and work in poorly built constructions. We saw the devastating effects of poor design quality when Grenfell Tower caught fire in 2017, which lead to the deaths of 72 people.
This tragedy, along with the closure of 17 Edinburgh schools due to structural concerns in February 2017, prompted the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) to launch a Construction Quality Commission (CQC) in 2017. The CQC proposed an industry-wide Code of Quality Practice, which it launched a consultation around earlier this year. But while we wait for the outcomes of the consultation, what can construction companies be doing now to ensure their projects are consistently high quality?

When it comes to managing quality across your site, staying up-to-date with current industry best practice can make it easier to identify areas for improvement within your organisation.
Make education and training of your staff a key priority, to ensure that everyone understands what is required of them to deliver a high quality project which then needs to be well maintained by services. For suppliers this can be particularly beneficial, as if you can demonstrate that your workers have undertaken quality training and qualifications could give you an advantage when it comes to bidding for projects.

You may have a dedicated quality manager or Clerk of Works on board, but ensuring work is done to a high quality isn’t solely their responsibility. They should oversee quality management across the project and ensure that your quality processes are implemented, but ultimately, every one of your workers is responsible for producing high quality work.

Set high quality standards from the start, provide the necessary training before beginning work, and encourage each person to take pride in their tasks.

“ Make sure your staff understand that while they can always turn to their Clerk of Works for best practice advice, they are accountable for implementing this advice. ”

Choose subcontractors and suppliers carefully

TIf you’re a buyer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the subcontractors and suppliers you choose will be able to deliver your project to the high standards of quality you expect. ISO 9001 is the international quality standard covering a range of quality management standards, including customer focus, process approach and continual improvement.

Quality standards should be documented at the start of the project and be in place throughout the project lifecycle. Quality processes and standards need to be appropriate to the project and may be quite straightforward on simple projects, or highly detailed on projects involving any safety element, new technology or data protection element. Whether quality standards are simple or complex, everyone involved in the project needs to know what they are and understand the importance of complying with them in order to deliver results that are fit for purpose. After all a project delivered on time and budget isn’t a success if the final deliverable doesn’t meet stakeholders requirements.

As one of your most valuable resources it is important to motivate and empower your team to help them perform their best. Give them clear goals, roles and expectations and the authority to make decisions and help solve problems, whilst also providing them with the most appropriate support, tools and training. Remember to recognise and reward their achievements and contributions. A collaborative and positive team culture is essential for a project to be a genuine success.

One of the best tools we all have at our disposal for improving quality and efficiency is to learn from past experiences and use those lessons to help improve processes and skills for the next project. Regular reviews will help identify weaknesses and strengths, and feedback from team members also plays a valuable role in helping assess projects. That doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes make the same mistakes again (unfortunately we’re not perfect!), but we are constantly adapting and continuously improving our processes.