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PREFACE:

Quality is a universal phenomenon that has been a matter of great concern throughout  recorded  history.  It  was  always  the  determination  of  builders and makers of products to ensure that their products meet the customer’s desire. With the advent of globalization and the competitive market, the emphasis on quality management has increased. Quality has become the most important single factor for the survival and success of today’s companies. Customer demands for better products and services at the lowest possible costs have put tremendous pressure on firms to improve the quality of products, services, and processes to compete in the market and improve business results. It became important that construction projects be more qualitative, competitive, and economical to meet owner’s expectations. Construction projects have the involvement of many participants including  the  owner,  designer,  contractor,  and  many  other  professionals  from construction-related  industries. 

 Each  of  these  participants  is  involved  in implementing quality in construction projects. These participants are both influenced  by  and  depend  on  each  other  in  addition  to  “other  players” involved  in  the  construction  process.  Therefore,  the  construction  projects have become more complex and technical, and extensive efforts are required to reduce rework and costs associated with time, materials, and engineering. This book has been developed to provide significant information on quality issues to professional practitioners involved in construction projects (mainly civil construction projects and commercial/A&E projects) and constructionrelated industries, stressing the importance of quality, various quality control principles, procedures, concepts, methods, and tools and their applications to various activities/components/subsystems at different phases in the life cycle of a construction project to improve construction processes to conveniently manage projects and make them more qualitative, competitive, and economical. The book contains useful materials and information for students interested in acquiring knowledge about quality in the fields of construction projects, quality engineering, construction management, and project management. 

The book will also provide specific information to academics about the practices followed in construction projects. The data discussed and derived in the book is from the author’s practical and professional experience in the construction field focusing on quality during the design and construction process. It also includes the reference writings of well-known quality “philosophers” whose work has dominated the quality movement. Their ideas and approaches to address specific quality  issues  have  become  part  of  accepted  wisdom  in  the  quality  field. 

 The book contains many tables and figures to support the author’s writings and  to  make  understanding  of  the  subject  easy.  Different  types  of  forms  and transmittals used to plan, monitor, and control the project at different stages are included for the benefit of readers. Quality  has  been  of  great  concern  throughout  the  recorded  history  of human beings. Examples of specification and inspection can be found in the Bible dating back to at least 500 BCE. The desire for products that do as well or better than the customer’s needs and requirements has always been a constant in human history, matched only by the determination of builders and makers to meet that desire. Quality control was primarily carried out by inspection of goods before sale. 

Growth of commerce and science and technology greatly expanded the extent and variety of nonnatural goods and services. With the advent of the Industrial  Revolution,  the  situation  changed  dramatically.  This  period  in history marked the beginning of quality control through inclusion of process in quality practices. The practices began to be employed consistently to meet higher standards. Quality concepts moved through different stages such as inspection, quality control, quality assurance, and total quality to reach  the  quality  concept  called  Total  Quality  Management  (TQM). 

 The value analysis concept started in the mid-1940s and also was applied in construction projects to improve the value of the project. Introduction of Six Sigma by Motorola in 1987 improved business results, and TRIZ methodology is used for generating innovative ideas for problem resolution, resulting in low-cost quality improvement solutions.

 Continuous improvement in quality tools, techniques, and philosophies of quality management is taking place  on  a  regular  basis.  Quality  concepts,  principles,  methods,  and  processes, along with quality systems, environmental systems, and health and safety provisions, are integrated to create a new quality concept known as the Integrated Quality Management System. As product quality requirements rose, producers acquired greater skills in technical quality disciplines geared to technology and the product. Further, there was pressure to reduce the price to the consumer, and because of these economics, work became more competitive. Quality took a major step forward with the move from inspection to the concept of conformity to standards.  Automation  led  to  greater  standardization.  

For  a  number  of  years, the  standards-based  quality  culture  and  the  new  concepts  of  continuous improvements, customer focus, and process control evolved. Thus, the quality  concept  started  shifting  from  inspection  to  standardization  and  standardization to quality management. 

The beginning of the 20th century marked inclusion of process in quality practices. Inspection and quality control teams assumed greater importance in  production.  Shewhart  introduced  the  concept  of  statistical  quality  control (SQC) to quality problems. Quality control in this form was the norm in manufacturing until the early 1960s. Different types of control charts are being used for problem solving and continuous improvement of quality. This was followed by the concept of quality assurance.