Quality in Construction

Chapter 3: Quality Management System

Date : 2080/05/11
 Chapter 3

Quality Standards and Certifications (5 hrs)

1. Overview of quality standards in construction

2. ISO 9000 series standards and their application
3. ISO 9001:2015 and its relevance to construction
4. Other relevant quality certifications (e.g., ISO 14001, ISO 45001)
5. Compliance with quality standards and certification processes
 Overview of Quality Standards in Construction

 The construction industry is multifaceted, comprising

contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, designers,
suppliers and other professionals

 It may be private, government and military sectors

Depending on the nature of the organization, several standards are

relevant to study
•ISO 9001 - The international standard for quality management — one of the
most commonly used ISO systems in the world

•ISO 14001 - the international standard for environmental management

systems

•ISO 50001 - the international standard for energy management systems,

and ESOS, a mandatory energy assessment scheme for large U.K.-based
organizations

•ISO 45001 - the international standard for health and safety management,
which supersedes the older OHSAS 18001 system

•​SSIP - Safety Schemes in Procurement is the mutual recognition scheme

for occupational health and safety standards particularly within construction

•ISO 44001 - the international standard for collaborative working

ESOS : Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme

ISO Certification Series:

• The International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) is a global organization that aims to establish
standardization for a variety of goods and businesses.
• Its main goal is to facilitate trade, but it also places a lot
of emphasis on process optimization, safety, and
quality
• ISO certification verifies that the organization,
particularly in trade circumstances, conforms with
international business norms.
 ISO Certification Series:
Numerous businesses of various kinds, including
 IT Design and Development Companies,
 Educational Companies,
 Construction Companies,
 Pharmaceuticals Companies,
 Trading Companies,
 Manufacturing Companies,
 Accounting/Financial and Consulting Companies
 Logistics Companies, Banking Companies,
 Oil & Gas Companies,
 Medical Laboratory Companies,
 Aerospace Companies,
In addition to providing improvements and aiding in quality assurance,
ISO 9001:2015 certification is sometimes seen as a guarantee of
product and service consistency across borders, languages, and
cultural divides.
 History of ISO:
 In 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing
Associations (ISA), which primarily focused on Mechanical Engineering.

 in 1942 during World War II , ISA was suspended.

 After the war, the ISA was approached by the recently-formed United
Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) with a proposal to form
a new global standards body

 In October 1946, ISA and UNSCC delegates from 25 countries met in London
and agreed to join forces to create the International Organization for
Standardization

 The ISO officially began operations on 23 February 1947.

 There are 167 members representing ISO in their country, with each country
having only one member.
Types of ISO standards:

As of February 2023, the ISO has developed over

24,676 standards, covering from manufactured
products and technology to food safety, agriculture, and
healthcare.
 ISO 9001: Series
ISO 9001: This set of standards deals with the quality
management system employed in a company’s operations

 It focuses on customer experience and satisfaction as well

as the quality of the company’s processes and continuous
improvement

 Additionally, ISO 9001 sets standards for an organization’s

executive management.
ISO 14001
These standards outline a framework that companies can use to be
environmentally friendly.

• Many manufacturing operations have a significant impact on their

surroundings.

• ISO 14001 caters to their environmental management system, allowing

the organizations to assess their process and limit the consequent
environmental impact.

ISO 45001

This family of standards covers employee health and safety from

workplace hazards.
This ISO standard is of particular importance in a manufacturing
environment because of the machine-rich work environment in which
human personnel operates.
 ISO/IEC 27001: International Electrotechnical Commission

• These standards are concerned with information management and

security systems.

• They cover information relating to employees, finances and intellectual

property, among others.

• These standards are of even more importance in modern

manufacturing due to widespread adoption of the data-intensive
Industry

ISO 22301
• Businesses refer to these standards when crafting a business
continuity management system. In other words, this is a risk
assessment and management standard that allows companies to
prepare for business-hostile scenarios adequately.
ISO 14001 certification process
• The environmental management system must be certified to
ISO 14001 in order to ensure compliance with environmental
laws and standards.

• It lays out a roadmap that a business or organization can use

to establish a successful environmental management system.

• The most significant standard is the 14001 standard. For small

to big organizations, ISO 14001 provides the standards for an
environmental management system

• It outlines the specifications for an environmental management

system. Through more effective resource utilization and waste
reduction, it aids organizations in improving their environmental
performance while gaining a competitive edge.
What is ISO 45001?

• ISO 45001 sets requirements for occupational health and

management systems and is

• Designed to help organizations worldwide protect the health

and safety of people at work.

• The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is

the world’s Chartered body for safety and health
professionals.

• IOSH has played a major part in its development and has

drawn from members’ expertise from around the world
during consultations on the standard.
 Compliance with quality standards

Quality standards are essential for delivering successful construction

projects that meet the expectations of clients, stakeholders, and end-
users.

However, ensuring quality standards throughout a project can be

challenging, especially when dealing with complex, dynamic, and
uncertain factors.

Following are the steps which help to achieve compliance with quality
standards
 Compliance with quality standards:

1.Define Quality Objectives and Criteria

 The first step to ensure quality standards is to define what quality

means (Objectives) for the project & and how to measure it (Criteria)

 Objectives and criteria should be aligned with the project scope,

specifications, requirements, and expectations of the clients

 Relevant codes, standards, regulations, and best practices that apply

to the project are to be considered

 This will clearly establish a clear and consistent baseline for quality
performance and evaluation.
 Compliance with quality standards:

2. Keep it Simple

 Keep business processes as simple as possible.

 Critically evaluate your processes.
 Remove unnecessary meetings, consolidate approval steps,
minimize the number of approvers
 focus on what the process is trying to achieve.
 Compliance with quality standards:

3. Implement quality assurance and quality control processes

The third step in ensuring quality standards is to implement quality assurance

and quality control processes that will ensure that the project deliverables meet
the quality objectives and criteria

QA refers to the proactive activities that prevent or reduce defects and errors
(such as planning, design, procurement, construction, and testing)

Quality control refers to the reactive activities that identify and correct defects
and errors in the project outputs, such as materials, equipment, products, and
services
 Compliance with quality standards:

4. Document Everything

Quality assurance and control processes should be documented

It should be communicated, and followed by all project team

members and contractors
 Compliance with quality standards:

5. Conduct regular quality audits and inspections

 This step verifies and validates the quality of the project processes
and outputs

Quality audits (independent assessments) that evaluate the

effectiveness and compliance of the quality assurance and control
processes

Quality inspections are detailed and specific examinations that

check the conformity and quality of the project outputs against the
quality objectives and criteria

Quality audits and inspections should be planned, scheduled, and

performed by qualified and impartial personnel, using appropriate
tools and methods
 Compliance with quality standards:

6. Record and report quality issues and actions

The sixth step in ensuring quality standards is to record and report
any quality issues and actions that arise during the project.

Quality issues are any deviations, non-conformities, or defects that

affect the quality of the project

Quality actions are any corrective or preventive measures that are

taken to resolve or prevent quality issues

Quality issues and actions should be recorded in a quality register or

logbook along with their causes, impacts, responsibilities, and status

Quality issues and actions should be reported to the relevant project

team members, contractors, clients, and stakeholders, using clear
and concise formats.
 Compliance with quality standards:
7. Review and improve quality performance

In this step review and improvement of the quality performance of

the project are ensured

Quality performance is the degree to which the project processes

and outputs meet the quality objectives and criteria

Quality performance should be reviewed periodically and at key

stages, using quantitative and qualitative data and feedback from
quality audits, inspections, issues, and actions

Quality performance should also be improved continuously, by

identifying and implementing lessons learned, best practices, and
opportunities for enhancement
 Compliance with quality standards:
8. Engage and communicate with quality stakeholders

The final step in ensuring quality standards is to engage and

communicate with the quality stakeholders of the project

Quality stakeholders are individuals or groups that have an interest

or influence on the quality of the project, such as clients, end-users,
regulators, suppliers, contractors, and project team members.
 Compliance with quality standards:
8. Engage and communicate with quality stakeholders

Engaging and communicating with quality stakeholders will help to

understand their needs, expectations, and perspectives, as well as
build trust, collaboration, and satisfaction

The stakeholders should be involved in the quality planning,

implementation, and monitoring processes, as well as sharing
quality results, feedback, and improvement actions
 Benefits of maintaining ISO standards

1. Customer trust and brand loyalty

 ISO compliance or certification shows the stakeholders including
end users /customers can expect products that meet the global
standard

 When customers consistently expect and receive quality products,

the brand’s reputation grows to rival and even exceed the
competition
 Benefits of maintaining ISO standards

2. Improved productivity through better worker conditions

ISO 45001 standards provide manufacturers with a framework to

mitigate work-related hazards. It also provides for workers’ mental
health.

As such, supervisors will comply with these standards to ensure that
all aspects of the employees’ well-being are catered for.

So with a healthy workforce, a business’ productivity increases

significantly.
 Benefits of maintaining ISO standards
3. Ensured business continuity
Local or global events affecting specific industries can negatively affect a
business’s operations, and consequently, its revenue

 The COVID-19 pandemic upended several industries, halting their progress

 However, the ISO has standards that show companies how to proceed with
operations in case of catastrophic events

In other words, manufacturers that comply with ISO 22301 have a rescue when
it comes to making sense of unfavorable business conditions.

ISO22301 standards for crafting a business continuity management

system
Benefits of maintaining ISO standards
4. Improved cyber security

Manufacturing businesses in the Industry are often IT-focused

In other words, they depend on their information technology to
remain operational.

However, this increased device connectivity provides several

points of potential data breaches. As such, companies require a
standard way of safeguarding invaluable information like
employee particulars and financial data.

 ISO/IEC 27001 provides for optimal digital risk management

and security. The framework detailed in this standard is central
to a manufacturer’s information security management system
Thank You