Quality Control in Construction

Quality control in construction
Importance Of Quality
• In all construction projects, proper inspection and quality control
become very important so that the construction is carried out in
accordance with the plans and specification. this will result in good
quality construction at a reasonable cost.
• In many construction projects a good and safe design can be spoiled
by careless execution. Therefore, inspection and quality control are as
important as investigation and design.
• Once the project is completed, it is very difficult and costly to later on
modify and carry out changes to rectify and defects.
• During the inspection of works, materials and other products, it is
always necessary to compare them with the predetermined standards.
These standards lay down the limits of permissible variation.
• Hence, the purpose of inspection is to find
through observation and testing, whether the
quality of the works and materials are within
the acceptable limits of variability or not.
• In any construction project, quality control is
an important function of the management so
that, it is ensured that the project work is
carried out in accordance with the
specification and this quality control is carried
out through proper inspection at various stages
Elements of quality
• The three basic elements of quality are
– Quality characteristics
– Quality of design
– Quality of conformance
• Quality characteristics
– Refer to the properties that define the nature of a product for
quality control purpose. These include dimension, strength,
colour, temperature, etc. taking a common material such as
concrete – compressive strength, slump, size of aggregate, water-
cement ratio, surface finish and sometimes colour are the
important characteristics to be checked frequently for structural
purposes.
• Quality design
– No design can produce absolutely perfect results.
Hence, the desired standards for the characteristics
that define a product such as dimension or strength
and also the tolerances for acceptable variations
from the standard are specified. E.g a specification
for concrete, in addition to specifying the required
compressive strength, should also state the range
of variation of this strength viz. that no more than
20% of the sample cubes tested can have a value
less than the one specified. If very high standards
of quality and stiff tolerance limits are set, then
this will increase the cost of the project.
• Quality of conformance
– Whatever design quality has been specified, then the degree to
which it is achieved in the actual construction work is the
quality of conformance. As in the case of design quality, the
degree to which the quality is to be enforced In the field has to
be considered along with the cost necessary for quality control
procedures.
The quality of conformance is affected by the following
– the field construction methods skill of the workers, the
efficiencies of the tools and equipment used and the quality of
the materials used.
– The supervision that is enforced and the managerial controls
applied to direct the working crew to conform to the plans and
specification.
– The inspection and quality control procedures that are applied.
All the elements of quality which influence the quality of
the final constructed structure are shown in fig
Requirements Engineering Technical

Criteria for
of the owner and design specificatio
design (2)
(1) process (3) n (4)
Qualit
y of
the
constr
Site construction ucted
struct
Methods (5) ures
Design of
Supervision and control
conformance to
(6)
specification (8)
Inspection (7)
Organization for quality control
• The responsibility for judging quality should
be separated from those who are entrusted
with the execution of the work. The following
figure shows the responsibility for quality
control is taken by the resident engineer and
his inspectors. The specification stipulated in
the design are enforced by the resident
engineer and his inspection team during the
construction. The resident engineer also
interacts with the project engineer and his
Owner/builder
Manager engg and

Resident engineer
design
Project
engineer
inspector
Construction
superintendent
Construction personnel
figure: Quality control organization

• Quality assurance techniques
– The mainly quality control methods are:
• Inspection –earthwork(soil), masonry (brick
joints), concreting works(form work, rcc, pre-
stressing cables, structural steel work, water
supply and sanitary works, electrical works)
• Testing - examination of material, product –
using destructive and non- destructive testing
• Sampling – this is the process of determining
the quality of a large group by examining a
part of the group that will be statistically
representative of the whole group.
documentation
• The quality of the construction works should be
documented properly through check lists, registers, and log
books. The records should be continuously updated. For
example, registers for the following individual items can
be maintained
– Cement consumption
– Reinforcement bar bending schedules
– Concrete compassion test
– Tests on concrete materials- FA, CA, cement, water, admixtures
– In pre-stressed concrete, cable stressing and elongation
– Mix design
Quality control circles
• In addition to the services of the quality control
team, in some of the projects, quality control circles
are formed. This is a small group to perform quality
control activities voluntarily within the same
organization. Employees from all hierarchical levels
meet to discuss their problems, isolate them and find
solutions. It is a bottom-up approach of problem
solving. This group carries on continuously the
quality control activities with all members
participating.
Total quality management
• TQM is a management approach for an organization,
centered on quality based on participation of all
its members and aiming at long term success
through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all
members of the organization and to society.
• Aim
– achieve customer satisfaction
– cost effectiveness
– and defect free work through a relentless pursuit of the
“war on waste.”
Main barriers of implementing TQM are
 Nature of construction industry
 Many parties involved
 Non standardization
 Bidding process
 Excessive change orders
 Fluctuations in construction industry
 Inadequate knowledge and information about TQM
 Ineffective communication
 Different quality culture among project stakeholder
 Different quality of material by various suppliers
 Human rejection due to extra works to implement quality
system
Benefits Of Applying TQM
• TQM develops a culture of continuous

improvement by effectively using all the
organizational resources.
• The main advantages of applying TQM
 Production of a higher quality product
 Reduction in the overall construction time
and costs
 Increased efficiency and effectiveness of all
personnel
 Improved communication system.
Value engineering
• This is a branch of study whose object is to effect economy in the
cost of constructing a project without sacrificing its utility,
durability and safety.
• The first stage of valuation is done during or immediately after
the completion of the plans, and their specifications before issuing
them to the contractor.The main job of valuation engineer at this
stage is to find methods whereby the cost may be minimised
without affecting other parameters.
• In the second stage of this contract, the contractor is given full
freedom to examine the contract design and specifications. He
may, with the help the valuation engineer, find out methods which
might bring down total cost of construction.
• If the contractor is able to give proper
justification for the proposed modifications,
then the difference In the original cost of
construction and the reduced cost is shared in
a fixed proportion by the owner and the
contractor after allowing for the payment made
by the contractor to the valuation engineer.
• In the third stage valuation is done with a
view to plug loopholes during the execution of
work.

Quality Control in Construction

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Quality control in construction

Requirements Engineering Technical

Manager engg and

figure: Quality control organization

• TQM develops a culture of continuous

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