Quality management in construction industry

To address quality problems and their associated costs, the construction industry must pursue and implement innovative quality-management organizations and techniques. This paper presents the findings of a research project conducted to identify attributes of effective quality-management systems in the construction industry. The objectives were met through an extensive literature review and in-depth interviews with 142 engineering, construction, quality, and procurement personnel from 19 owner and contractor firms involved in heavy industrial, manufacturing, and commercial construction. The emergence of total quality management (TQM) applications in the construction industry was a significant finding of the interviews. The results indicate that substantial improvements in meeting quality requirements can be achieved by the use of TQM in the construction industry. Implementation techniques and attributes of effective quality-management systems were identified and categorized.