Describe 5 factors that could affect the quality of building

Describe 5 factors that could affect the quality of building and construction projects.

Solution

1)Project Manager Competence:

Extracted success factors attributes mainly on coordinating the ability and rapport of the PM, the trust imposed in the project team by the delegating authority to project team members, the technical capability, positive attitude and leadership. A project manager is the key person at the site who, within a set of guidelines kept in place by the top management, allocates resources and makes policy decisions at site level. Sometimes mere involvement of a project manager in site activities can lift the morale of team members and they start working with full zeal and enthusiasm to achieve the desired quality level.A competent manager organizes resources through constant persuasion with his or her higher ups; takes active part in construction control meetings held at site level; acts as a catalyst in training the human resources in the skill demanded by the project; and he or she makes their people committed to the project through effective leadership and by acting in non-partisan ways. All these attributes can be thought of originating from a Project Manager’s competence, hence the name.

2)Top Management Support

Top management support is essential for achieving desired quality mainly on account of four issues. It is the top management’s prerogative to set all the policy issues (including quality policy) and control resources. In addition, top management arrange training of human resources involved in the project and they have a big role to play in identifying the project manager. Top management support practically becomes the most important of all factors. It can be seen that top management controls all the key factors and hence their support is highly desired for the quality compliance.

3)Monitoring and Feedback by Project Participants

Two main attributes emerging in this factor explain the predominant aspects of monitoring and feedback. Since the other attributes appear as a combination, this factor is named after Monitoring and Feedback. Proper monitoring and timely feedback help in controlling the workmanship and they enhance the quality of a project. If each part of the activity of a project is monitored effectively and instances of poor workmanship and improper usage of resources – be it material, labor or plant and machinery – are reported promptly, it aids in achieving the desired quality level. Committed participants would stick to the quality plan and they would follow the accepted technical practices to carry out the different project activities.

4)Interaction among Project Participants

Any project involves interaction among different project participants. The participants include the internal participants, such as the contractor’s team members, as well as the external team members, such as different subcontractors and vendors. Most of the activities require proper understanding of the needs of the others. There are instances when the quality of the project suffers for want of proper interaction between the participants. This fact is more vivid if one executes projects that involve multiple categories of work; say, for example, civil works; electrical works; mechanical works; HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning); and building automation etc. The coordinating ability and positive attitude of project participants are great assets in such conditions. A short and informal line of communication as well as regular construction control meetings among project teams further support the achievement of the desired quality level.

5)Owners’ Competence

The owners play an important role in achieving the desired quality level. Not only are they responsible for the preparation of a clear and unambiguous specification, but they must also monitor the actual work at the site. It is well recognized that having the clients’ inspectors work with the contractor to establish good quality control procedures before the work is done, is much more effective than walking around after. In addition, if any case of any discrepancies or deviation from the specification is observed it should be communicated immediately to the concerned person. If the owners desire a quality job, they should stick to the specification since any relaxation in quality performance, even for few times, can set a bad precedence. Thus competence of the owner plays a prominent role in defining the expected level of quality from the contractor organization; hence the factor truly justifies its importance.