榴莲视屏

Why do you need construction quality?

Now this is a strange topic because, in over 40 years in construction, I鈥檝e never before stopped to think what 鈥淨uality in a Construction project鈥� means from the contractors鈥� point of view! After a few minutes cogitation it seems to me that 鈥渜uality鈥� can actually mean a few different things.

The first version involves money and is particularly relevant to with its notoriously low profit margins. In this context the last contract will have been of good 鈥渜uality鈥� if the contractor actually made a profit on it that allows them to remain in business!

Related to that must be the Clients鈥� reactions to the project completed for them.

Were they happy with what they got, when they got it and at the price they paid for it?

Will they come back to the same contractor again? Taken to the extreme, were they a 鈥渄elighted client鈥�, one who will automatically come back to the same contractor again? If the answer is yes, then that is 鈥渜uality鈥� from the contractors鈥� viewpoint. The company鈥檚 future looks pretty good!

Well, that鈥檚 the corporate concepts and viewpoints on 鈥渜uality鈥�, but what about those of us who work in construction?

Most of us are actually contractors, contracted to either main or sub-contractors.

How do we view 鈥渜uality鈥�?

Well, I think we are far more subjective about the idea! We don鈥檛 like being messed about by those Architects and Town Planners;聽we like to build things that we think look pretty good and that we think are functional!

We like to walk away feeling at least satisfied with what we have done 鈥� the way it looks, the way it will work and the standards of the materials and workmanship we put into it. From our point of view, that represents 鈥渜uality鈥�.

This all relates to gettiing it right first time in Construction.

But we go further, far further than that! Every once in a while we are involved in a project of which we are truly proud!聽Ones we want to re-visit; ones to which we鈥檒l make a diversion on a journey just so we can have another look at it in passing. Taken to the extreme, we will even call in and explain to Security that we built it for them! If they give us an open-everything Cleaner鈥檚 key and tell us to go where we like, we know they are happy with what they have!

From the point of view of us 鈥渂l**dy builders鈥�, that is QUALITY in construction!

Do you agree?