QUALITY CONTROL IN

COSTRUCTION SITES

Presentation
by
Eng A.Muhunthan
 What is Quality ?
Quality means excellence.

 It is thus a philosophy rather than a

mere attribute.

The difference between two objects

is judged by their qualities.

We set some standards which

determine the level of acceptability
 Quality control:-
 Quality control means rational use of resources.

 Quality control procedures implement:-Eg Concreting

 appropriate mixing,
 proper compaction,
 correct placement and
 adequate curing.

 Quality control prevents temptation of over

• design.
 Quality Control
 Quality control ensures:-
 strict monitoring of every stage of
concrete production and

 rectification of faults.

 Quality control reduces maintenance

costs.
Plan, Do, Check and Act cycle for assuring quality
Plan :-quality

Do :- Working
systematically

Check:-
checking with
non
conformance

Act :-Upon the

result
 Knowing the 20 No mistakes occur during construction

phase ( for planning purpose )

 The cement sand mix in the mortar and block masonry is made
quite early, prior to its use and in larger quantities than required.

 The construction materials like sand, blocks,

Aggregate etc are not washed and are full of
deleterious material and dust.

 Compaction of bottom strata in foundation work is not carried out.

 During concreting of footing, the concrete is poured at a height

greater than 1m.

 Generally, footings are resorted to where concrete is never

vibrated.
 Construction mistakes

 Reinforced concrete column, being an important

part of the structure are neither mechanically
vibrated nor machine mixed.
 They are cast in short lifts with increased number of
joints.
 Cover to reinforcement in column, beams and slabs
is insufficient.
 No cover to reinforcement in contact of the ground
 Misalignment of column at foundation level and
rectification at higher level, leading to eccentric
loading.
 Construction mistakes
 Reinforced coping at plinth level being
an important barrier to dampness is
never densely cast.
 The plinth filling is never carried out in
layers nor compacted.
 At the joints of Reinforced concrete and
Block masonry, either :-
 the RC surface is not roughened
 or filling of mortar at the joint is not
evident.
 Construction mistakes

• The joint of block masonry at larger height are

improperly racked
• Mixing ratio in plaster and block masonry is not
maintained
 In the case where beams are cast prior to slabs :
 In large slabs, the concrete in beams starts
setting before casting of RC slab.
 The concrete spilled on the sides of beams
while casting is never removed which gets set
subsequently
 Construction mistakes
 Reinforcement of RC column is kept
exposed above RC slab.
 Hacking to concrete surface is poorly done
prior to Plastering.
 Bearing to lintels on both the ends is not
sufficient.
 Construction mistakes
In load bearing structure ,secondary
beams are resting directly on the walls
giving point loading.

 Proper care for uplift pressure expansive

soil is not taken in by proving with
 ground beam
 Combined footing
 Causes of mistakes
• Causes for poor quality can be
summarized as ignorance, poor materials,
poor design, poor detailing, poor
workmanship, improper quantity of
cement, improper concrete mix, excess
water, inadequate compaction,
substandard forms, inadequate curing,
inadequate cover, poor construction
practices, poor supervision and above all
lack of technical knowledge.
 Reason for Quality
Control
Engineers need to use their technical expertise
and the quality process to improve product
quality and their firm’s productivity
Engineers need to use their interpersonal skills as
a change agent and contest for power in an
organization
Engineers need to understand that
management is a part of engineering - it is
not apart from engineering
 Cost of Quality
Contractors pay a significant price for poor quality
resulting from accidents, waste, rework, inefficiencies,
poor subcontractor performance and poor
communication - these costs are estimated to be
between 5% and 30% of the construction cost of a
facility

Cost of nonconformance - includes both direct and

indirect costs of not doing things right the first time
 Cost of Quality
1. Factors
a) Accidents
b) Omissions
c) Errors
d) Poor workmanship
e) Being late
2. Results
a) Rework
b) Recalls
c) Expediting
d) Removal of punch list items
e) Time extensions
f) Litigation costs and damages
g) Penalties and liquidated damages
h) Increased insurance costs
 Cost of Quality
. Cost of Conformance - includes preventive measures
1. Inspection of direct hire work
2. Inspection of subcontractor work
3. Inspection at vendor source of supply
4. Inspection of shipments
5. Review of shop drawings
6. All training costs, including safety
7. Facilitator costs
8. Salary of quality coordinator
9. Meetings of the steering committee and quality
improvement teams
10. Administration of the quality management
program
11. Reward system
 Relation between Quality and Cost

• With the increase

of quality of
design, cost
increase is
exponential but
value addition
initially increases,
but starts
saturating at of
some point. Hence
the optimum cost
is arrived when
slope of both the
curves is same .
 Economics of Quality of Conformance

• One can note

that with the
increase of
quality of
construction,
cost of quality
control gets
saturated.
Thus we can
arrive at
optimum
quality for
minimum cost
from total
cost of the
construction.
 Introduction to
Quality Control
• Quality control is the part of quality management that
ensures products and service comply with requirements. It
is a work method that facilitates the measurement of
the quality characteristics of a unit, compares them with
the established standards, and analyses the differences
between the results obtained and the desired results in
order to make decisions which will correct any differences.

• Technical specifications define the type of controls that

must be carried out to ensure the construction works are
carried out correctly. They include not only products
materials, but also the execution and completion of the
works.
• One way of controlling quality is based
on the inspection or verification of
finished products.
• When tests are destructive, the decision
to accept or reject a full batch must be
made on the basis of the quality of a
random sample. This type of statistical
control provides less information and
contains sampling risks
• A construction company should reduce the costs of
bad quality as much as possible, and ensure that the
result of its processes comply with the client’s
requirements. Both internal and external controls can
be carried out.
• For example, the control of concrete received by
the contractor can be carried out by an independent
entity; the execution of steelworks can be controlled by
theproject manager (on behalf of the client), or the
construction company can establish an internal control
for the execution of the building work.
• A construction company should reduce the costs of
bad quality as much as possible, and ensure that the
result of its processes comply with the client’s
requirements. Both internal and external controls can
be carried out.
• For example, the control of concrete received by
the contractor can be carried out by an independent
entity; the execution of steelworks can be controlled by
theproject manager (on behalf of the client), or the
construction company can establish an internal control
for the execution of the building work.
 Quality Assurance
• Quality assurance is a set of planned and
systematic actions to ensure that products
and services comply with specified
requirements. It not only involves checking the
final quality of products to avoid defects, as is
the case in quality control, but also checking
product quality in a planned way in all the
production stages. It is the development of
work and product design procedures to
prevent errors from occurring in the first place,
based on planning backed up by
quality manuals and tools.
 Quality Assurance
• When a consensus has been reached on the
requirements of a quality management system, it is
possible to define a series of generic standards
applicable to any type of organisation. The
international standards, generically called ISO 9000, are
the most widespread and generally accepted in
developed countries. The ISO 9000 standards consists of
four basic interdependent standards supported by
guides, technical reports and technical specifications:
• ISO 9000: Quality management.
• ISO 9001: Quality management systems - Requirements.
• ISO 9004: Managing for the sustained success of an organization --
A quality management approach.
• ISO 19011: Guidelines on internal and external audits of quality management
systems
 CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
DOCUMENTATION
• The construction company determines the
need to prepare execution documents, work
instructions, inspection regimes, process files,
action plans, etc. for the execution and
control of processes, depending on the
complexity of the activity, the qualifications of
the personnel and the experience of the
team. The plan establishes the resources
required and associated documents (lists,
purchasing documentation,
machinery, equipment, etc.).
 CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
DOCUMENTATION

• The control activities (verification of compliance

with specifications, validation of specific
processes, monitoring of activities, inspections and
tests), which the units, materials or services
undergo must also be established. These activities
can be defined through inspection, testing plans,
action plans and where applicable specific tests
(for example, load tests for structures).
o The Contractor shall institute a quality
assurance system to demonstrate to the
Engineer for information before each design
and execution stage is commenced. When
any document of a technical nature is issued
to the Engineer, evidence of the prior
approval by the Contractor himself shall be
apparent on the document itself.
o Compliance with the quality assurance
system shall not relieve the Contractor of any
of his duties, obligations for responsibilities
under the Contract
 List of documents for Head Office Technical

Divisions of Construction Firm

1. A Non-conformity Register Booklet with associated

Corrective/Preventive Action forms
2. A CA/PA log
3. A Customer Recommendation/Complaint Register
4. Calibration Plan (if applicable)
5. List of documents
6. List of Records
7. List of External documents
9. List of Service Providers (if applicable)
10. Outsourced Services Criteria and Record (if applicable)
11. Training Sheet
•
 Essential record keeping at site
• Daily site records
• Weather records
• Materials at site
• Contractor’s Personnel and Equipment
• Quality assurance documents
• Quality control documents
• Test results and certificates of Materials
• Check list for concreting
• Report of concreting
• Concrete test records
• safety statistics, including details of any hazardous incidents and
activities relating to environmental aspects and public relations
• Programme / Progress
• All correspondence from and to, to the contractor
 For each site, the following documents need to be

maintained;
• 1. A Non-conformity Register Booklet with associated
Corrective/Preventive Action forms
2. A CA/PA log
• 3. Site Organization Chart
4. A Customer Recommendation/Complaint Register
5. Calibration Plan
6. List of documents
7. List of Records
8. List of Material Suppliers
9. List of Service Providers
10. Delivery Info Data Sheet
11. Outsourced Services Criteria and Record
 Elements of QC& QA
Training

Focus on Employees Elements Communication

Process Improvement of
Mgt. Commitment
QA/QC
Supplier Involvement
Continuous Improvement

Customer
Client Satisfaction
Satisfaction Teamwork