6 ways to boost your construction quality
Reading Time: 5 minutesLearn how new field processes and tech can be a significant driver to producing high-quality projects and winning more work.
Closely connected, budget, schedule, and quality are considered the pillars to realize a winning construction project. Clients are truly satisfied if a building project generates a balance of the three factors. Nevertheless, “project quality” has a greater impact after completion and during handover. After the costs and forecasts are long gone, asset managers or owners would consider construction quality to operate and maintain the structure. Projects performing at high or optimum levels within cost-effective levels would be a true demonstration of exceptional planning, design, and construction. Reaching constant levels of high quality is critical to a company’s reputation and profitability. Keeping in mind that satisfied clients are a dominant source of recurring business and advocacy.
It costs 5 times as much to pull new clients as to manage existing ones.
At every stage of the construction project, communication tech, and data can provide a powerful contribution to the quality of the built asset. Design applications, cloud-based construction management software, information management platforms, 360 visualization, and mobile apps have an important role to achieve successful outcomes. Delivering high-impact and winning outcomes for projects and clients requires every stakeholder to contribute from concept to design and delivery to handover. Preemptive management of data and field reporting capabilities is key to creating high client value.
Based on a study by Deakin University on two towers in Australia – Mascot, and Opal, more than 85% of multi-owner buildings contain some defect.
Technological impact in the transformation of Quality Management.
Mobile devices have transformed construction project delivery over the past two decades. While initially slow to follow, the construction sector continues to embrace digital transformation with processes and tools including :
- Construction Management Platforms
- Building Information Modeling (BIM)
- Visualization and Reality Capture tools
- AR and VR
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- AI, ML, and Data Analytics
Based on research by JBK, 40% of employees refrain from using new construction tech in the field.
Construction Management technology creators and vendors are driving exponential transformation through cloud-based tech and mobile devices. In less than a decade, the field has transformed from a barren tech desert to a reinforced high-power communication and information site for general contractors, site engineers, project managers, sub-contractors, owners, and other teams. An all-in-one construction management dashboard enriched with advanced technology will deliver a profound effect to project prediction, analysis, and capture.
“Working with outdated construction management systems and hoping for new ways to build is futile. You need to be considering cloud-based construction management platforms like iFieldSmart Technologies to leverage an inclusive approach.” – (Matt, BIM project manager, BIM Engineering US., L.L.C.)
Mobile Construction Management improves quality delivery for Contractors.
Whilst completing and handing over a construction project, communication, and data produce an important contribution to the finished asset product. This is a point where the company-wide deployment of best-in-class construction management software creates a stark difference through quality enhancement from the get-go. Right from initial planning, design, material specifications, and components to project delivery and handover, every team member contributes to achieving the desired construction outcomes.
The creation and use of mobile devices have been metamorphic through high-resolution scanners, GPS devices, faster connectivity, etc., and the use of construction applications via mobile devices to improve quality delivery.
Based on a study by statistics, construction spending in the USA has topped $1.59 trillion in 2021.
5 top attributes to consider in construction data.
Beyond low-quality data, construction firms need to consider the impact of high-quality data. Learning to understand the characteristics of high-quality data avoids schedule overages and leads projects toward success. The five attributes that define good quality construction data include:
- Data Consistency with collected insights in a Common Data Environment (CDE)
- Clean data requires accurate and up-to-date information to rely on – fine-tune information collection within a Common Data Environment(CDE)
- Higher accessibility and transparency with data in real-time improves decision-making in the field – cloud-based and connected construction management is key to ensuring information is accurate, updated, and easily accessible across multiple devices
- Putting data to work with the right tools and with the right people can help solve real-world problems, improve data consistency, mitigate poor decision-making, and improve analytical accuracy
- Constant flow of information through diminished information silos and a common access point can improve efficiency – Integrated construction management technology with information and documentation supports multi-system communication and workflow automation across the project workstream
Identifying the top six elements of improved quality control.
In an ideal scenario, a construction project needs to be completed the very first time. However, present-day construction projects are complex, time-demanding, and fast-paced. To support teams manage resilience, collaborative construction management software needs to be deployed to track actual project requirements and existing changes. Using software platforms like iFieldSmart Technologies can drive consistency and provide a methodological way to quality control.
Six proven elements to a winning quality control profile.
Quality
- Construction projects require quality control for building components, materials, and services to comply with standards and requirements. A project-centric plan ensure deliverables are accurately created and installed through verification and inspection. Quality plans need to be transmitted across project teams including contractors, sub-contractors, designers, clients, and individual working teams. Getting it right the first time requires a clear set of goals for high-performance and efficient First Time Right (FTR) deliverables. QC plans need to be reviewed on a perpetual basis as the project moves forward to modify workflows and reduce errors.
Based on a study by USCC, 95% of US general contractors have reported a shortage of at least one product.
Inspection
- Consistent, in-depth, and clear inspection plans enriched by new building processes ensure specifications and standards. Tailored project plans for inspection and build a checklist of required inspections and the people responsible for the inspection. Managers and supervisors leading the inspection for third parties can ensure improved assurance and completion.
Based on data by Dodge Data and Analytics, 53% of large general contractors utilize the software for inspections and safety on half of their projects.
Checklists
- A checklist is crucial for project inspections to ensure every component or equipment is verified. The inspection needs to be customized based on the type of project and work. Doing more than just creating an inspection list requires guidance for the inspector to evaluate the acceptability and approval criterion. Sharing inspection checklists earlier with participants drives improved compliance. Once project individuals know their work would be assessed, they would ensure a successful output that meets project needs.
According to Autodesk, 28% of construction firms in the UK say they lack information on-site leading to low productivity.
Defect identification and resolution
- Inspections highlighting ambiguities or errors need preemptive rectification and re-inspection and a final sign-off. Using mobile devices, defects can be documented through photographs, drawings, 3D models, and annotations. Integrating the identification of the person reporting the fault adds a new dimension of credibility. Notifications through tools within the construction management software like task or schedule management can support managers assign tasks to the right participants to fix the defect. Inspectors can re-inspect and approve it as compliant and closed.
Based on a study by Autodesk and FMI, the volume of project data has doubled in the last 3 years.
Quality programs
- While for some projects traditional spreadsheets are still used, the change to adopt construction management software has led to teams documenting day-to-day process summaries and inspection processes to monitor project performance. Compiling defects and checklists into a single dashboard and shared with teams can support granular details for actionable insights and business intelligence. The existence of such quality programs helps field teams and third-party suppliers deliver consistent quality. The need to include additional information within the reports can improve project supervision and avoid field problems.
Based on research by JBK, 53.7% of construction companies in 2021 reported having a process for testing and implementing new tech.
Perpetual quality refinement
- A well-planned and precise quality control workflow is an invaluable asset that general contractors, subcontractors, inspectors, suppliers, and other teams need to deploy. Quality and inspection plans, processes, and checklists may require changes or expansion for designs, specifications, and activities to mitigate recurring issues for existing and future construction projects.
Based on a study by Autodesk and FMI, 14% of global construction rework has been caused by the presence of bad data leading to $88.69 billion in avoidable rework.
Closing the article…
Generating plans, managing inspection schedules, creating checklists, and handling inspection documentation is demanding and require robust cloud-based construction management systems. These platforms make construction processes simple, powerful, and efficient. Providing access to real-time data on issues and quality highlights desired outcomes. Cloud-based software like iFieldSmart Technologies supports participants with timely project delivery and well-within-planned costs. But, the furthest impact would be the quality of the built asset for owners, facilities managers, and occupants.
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