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Quality Assurance in Building Construction: A Questionnaire Survey of

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Article · April 2015

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www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

Volume-5, Issue-2, April-2015

International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
Page Number: 269-273

Quality Assurance in Building Construction: A Questionnaire Survey of

Occupants
Pravin P. Mane1, Jalindar R. Patil2
1,2
Department of Civil Engineering, RMDSSOE, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, INDIA

ABSTRACT means such as quality planning, quality control, quality

Quality assurance is one of the aspects of quality
management system (QMS). The Quality Management
System in construction industry refers to quality planning,
quality assurance, quality control. QMS have many
applications in the construction industry and could be
implemented either at the company level or at the project
level. The questionnaire survey has been carried out by
authors with occupants of residential building/flat. The aim
of survey is to find barriers in implementing QMS at
construction projects. The quality management in
construction projects means maintaining the quality of
construction works at the required standard so as to obtain
customer’s satisfaction that would bring long term
competitiveness and business survival for the companies (Tan
& Abdul-Rahman, 2005). The importance of the interviews
will help to justify the potential of integrating within the
context of construction management.
Keywords— assurance, management, occupants, quality.
I. INTRODUCTION
Quality assurance starts with the fulfilling needs
of customers. Quality control starts with identifying
customer needs and ends only when customer is fully
satisfied. In the present study customer considered is the
occupants of building/flat after possession. It is necessary
to fulfill their requirement in the construction of
building/flat. As per principle of ISO 9001 customer
satisfaction is important. The present study has been
carried out with the view of customer satisfaction in
construction industry by conducting questionnaires in the
pimpri region of Maharashtra state, India.
ISO 8402, the vocabulary of quality defined
quality management as “all activities of the overall
management function that determine the quality policy,
objectives and responsibilities, and implement them by
assurance and quality improvement, within the quality
system”. Meanwhile, the definition of quality system
according to ISO 8402 is “the organizational structure,
responsibilities, procedures and resources needed to
implement quality management”.
Combining the definitions of ‘quality system’ and
‘quality management’ thus concludes that QMS is the
interaction of people, processes and documentation to meet
both customer’s stated and implied needs. The result
would be a reduction in inefficiencies and waste, improved
work practices, increased morale and the opportunity for a
greater market share. All these benefits are achieved
through the implementation of QMS which ones should
perceive it as a wide-scale failure prevention programme
that will lead to costs savings. Most organizations today
view quality more as a process rather than a product. To be
more specific, it is a continuously improving process
where lessons learned are used to enhance future products
and services in order to retain existing customers; win back
lost customers and welcome new customers. Therefore,
companies today are developing and integrating quality
improvement processes in the companies management
system. The construction industry is being viewed with
poor quality and compared to other sectors like the
manufacturing and service sectors (Wan Yusoff, et al.,
2006; Kubal, 1994; Kanji and Wong, 1998; Wong and
Fung, 1999). Because of the poor workmanship of the end
product, a lot of criticisms have been directed to
construction industry. Furthermore, the processes, people,
materials are also under pressure for better quality in
construction.
In the construction industry, contractors have to
collect much external and internal information as
information input for quality management. The external
information required includes the customer’s requirements
on quality.

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construction has lagged behind other industries in

II. LITERATURE REVIEW implementing total quality management because of its
inability to accurately determine customer requirements
and successfully transform these requirements into the
Customer satisfaction is considered to affect completed facility (Ahmed and Kangari 1995).
customer retention and, therefore, profitability and
competitiveness (Anderson and Sullivan 1993). According
to Jones and Sasser (1995), complete customer satisfaction III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
is the key to securing customer loyalty and generating
superior long-term financial performance. It is also The methodology for the work consists of three
apparent that high customer satisfaction leads to the step model. The first step is quality planning, second step
strengthening of the relationship between a customer and a is quality control and third step is quality assurance. In
company, and this deep sense of collaboration has been the first step the questionnaires have been prepared by
found to be profitable (e.g. Storbacka et al. 1994). authors considering quality aspects of construction project.
In order to measure customer satisfaction in The yes/no type questionnaire have been prepared by
construction, the main subjects must be identified. A authors. The study describes the views of occupants of
customer may be defined as the owner of the project and building and / or flat. In second step the interviews of
the one that needs the constructed facility. In simple terms, occupants of building have been conducted by the author.
the customer is the buyer of the product or service. Kamara For the work occupants selection criterion is that “at the
(2000) describes the ‘customer’ as a body that incorporates time of interview the period after possession should not
the interests of the buyer of construction services, exceed two years”.
prospective users and other interest groups. The interviews have been conducted based on
Customer satisfaction can be used for evaluation above questionnaire with the occupants of building and / or
of quality and ultimately for assessment of the success of a flat. Here the respondents have to mark their response in
company’s quality improvement programme. According to terms of yes or no.
Torbica and Stroh (2001), a quality improvement effort In the analysis of data responses of all the
will lead to a higher product and service quality. questions have been studied and the findings have
Perceived quality precedes satisfaction, which is mentioned in the subsequently continued.
closely related to the customer’s behavioral responses
(Bitner et al, 1990; Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Ojasalo IV. DATA COLLECTION AND
(1999) associates service quality with the words ANALYSIS
“evaluation” and “opinion”, and satisfaction with the word
“feeling”. The number of persons interviewed is 60. From
There has been a quite obvious increase in the 60 occupants only 45 occupants responded for the
emphasis on a firm’s ability to produce high-quality interview. The persons interviewed categorically belong to
products and/or provide high-quality services. the middle income group.
Identification of high-quality products or services can be The table 1 shows the details of questions asked
achieved by measuring customer satisfaction with these to respondents and percentagewise analysis of data
products or services. The concept of customer satisfaction collected during the interviews with occupants of building
transforms all industries from production centralized to and / or flat. The views of authors have been described in
customer based. discussion section of paper.
A company must periodically measure customer
satisfaction in order to learn how satisfied its customers TABLE 1: PERCETAGEWISE ANALYSIS OF DATA
are. Torbica and Stroh (2001) argue that, in construction,
the extent of customer satisfaction is only known late in Sr.No. Description of % of % of
the project when most of the customer’s money has questions "Yes" "No"
already been spent. When companies know which Have you seen all the
attributes of a service or product affect customer drawings and
satisfaction, their challenge is to modify their current 1 57.5% 42.5%
specifications before
offering in a way that would lead to maximum customer construction?
satisfaction. Have you checked
Customer satisfaction is one of the key elements 2 quality of materials 52.5% 47.5%
in total quality management (TQM), an approach that during construction?
emphasizes overall satisfaction through the continuous Is quality of material
improvement of products. Construction companies are 3 used during 48.0% 52.0%
adopting TQM to improve their performance. However, construction is as per

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www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

specification? in the flat / building?

Have you checked
4 quality of materials 52.5%
used during possession?
Have you got
5 possession in time as 52.5%
given by builder?
Is the openings of your
6 47.5%
flat is as per drawings?
Are the room sizes as
7 47.0%
per drawing?
Are there any additional
8 changes requested by 60.0%
you for your flat?
Is your construction is
as per drawing and
9 57.5%
specification as shown
to you?
Is builder allowing such
10 type of changes after 49.0%
your request?
After your request for
changes, is builder done
11 52.5%
it as per quality
standards?
Is there any rework
12 needed after possession 47.0%
within 6 month?
Have you seen quality
13
control documents for
52.5%
materials used for
construction?
Have you visited site of
14 construction at regular 52.5%
interval?
Is there any change in
your flat construction
15 done by builder without 45.0%
drawings and
specifications?
Have you found any
defect in your flat
16 regarding quality of 55.0%
construction of any
system?
Have you faced any
17 47.0%
maintenance problem?
Have you faced any
18 47.5%
structural problem?
Have you faced any
19 plumbing defect in your 57.5%
structure?
Is there need of doing
20 52.5%
any renovation work?
21 Are there any leakages 52.5%
Are you facing water
47.5% 22 logging problem in flat 47.5% 52.5%
/ building?
Is electrification is as
23 46.5% 53.5%
47.5% per drawing?
Are you facing echoes
24 52.5% 47.5%
in your flat / building?
52.5%
Any other point you
want to share regards
53.0%
25 with quality of 0.0% 100.0%
construction of your flat
40.0% after possession.
V. DISCUSSIONS
42.5%
The table 2 shows the views of authors based on
the analysis of data. It also shows the barriers in
implementing QMS in construction site. As per responses
51.0% given by respondents, the measure data considered for the
work is “the questions whose percentage of no response is
more than 51%”. Customer satisfaction is important (Mane
P. P. & Patil J.R., 2015).
47.5%
The questions for which the percentage of no
response is more than 51% as per views of respondents
shows that the following are the factors required to give
53.0% more attention for fulfillment of QMS in construction site.
• Use of quality materials in construction should be
as per specification.
47.5% • Openings of flat/buildings should be as per
drawings.
• Room sizes as per drawings.
• The changes in the flat and / or building should be
47.5% as per request from customer.
• The changes in the building and / or flat should be
strictly after preparation of drawings and
specifications.
55.0% • Avoid any rework in the structure.
• There should be proper maintenance system.
• Follow structural drawings strictly and carefully.
• Do not change electrification of flat/building.
• Provide proper inside drainage of flat/building.
45.0%
The detailed analysis of above points states that
the drawing and specifications is an important quality
document on construction site. The percentage of yes
53.0%
responses shows that the involvement of people and / or
customers and / or occupants of building are important in
52.5%
maintaining QMS in construction projects. It also shows
that there is awareness of occupants of building towards
42.5% the QMS in construction.
47.5%
47.5%

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www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962
TABLE 2: COMMENTS OF AUTHORS
Sr. Description of questions % of
No "No
. "
Is quality of material used during
1 52
construction is as per specification?
Is the openings of your flat is as per
2 52.5
drawings?
3 Are the room sizes as per drawing? 53
Is builder allowing such type of changes after
4 51
your request?
Figure 1: Factors Influencing QMS as per Authors Analysis
The figure 1 indicates that factors influencing the
QMS. These factors are found out based on analysis of
data collected through interviews of the occupants of
building.
VI. CONCLUSION
For successful implementation of QMS in
building construction customer satisfaction is important.
The needs of customers have shows that they are giving
272 Copyright © 2011-15. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.
Is there any rework needed after possession
5 53
within 6 month?
Is there any change in your flat construction
6 done by builder without drawings and 55
specifications?
7 Have you faced any maintenance problem? 53
Have you faced any structural problem?
8 52.5
Are you facing water logging problem in flat
9
/ building? 52.5
10 Is electrification is as per drawing? 53.5
importance to quality in construction. The study also
proves that customer focus and involvement of people are
important aspects in the successful construction project.
Survey also suggests the factors influencing QMS and
initiates in finding barriers in implementing QMS at
construction projects.
For future study following points may be
considered
• The same survey may be carried out for more
number of customers.
www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

• The questionnaires may be collected from lower [14] Torbica Z.M. and Stroh R.C. (2001). “Customer
and higher income group. Satisfaction in Home Building.” Journal of Construction
• The questionnaires may be collected from Engineering and Management, Jan/Feb, pp. 82-86.
customers with civil engineering background.

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