GEM Engserv Pvt. Ltd is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization, certified by TUV India in accreditation with National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB).
GEM Engserv Pvt. Ltd is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization, certified by TUV India in accreditation with National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB).
The construction industry in India has seen sustained growth over the past couple years in line with the country’s GDP projections by most ratings and financial benchmarking agencies. A news report published recently references the World Bank’s forecast pegged at 7% for FY25, up from 6.6% during the previous evaluation cycle. The major contributory factors for this are heightened government expenditure on infrastructure projects as well as continued robust performance of industrial and services sector.
This growth comes at the cost of some adverse circumstances such as material shortage leading to price fluctuations, dearth of skilled manpower and a “do now, think later” approach that is now commonplace across the industry. Owners sense that the time to grow is now and are pushing forward with projects even though they do not have the right people, appropriate systems and the necessary ecosystem of partners to execute their vision on the ground. This is a classic case which leads to compromise on quality of construction. We often see typical signs of this fact when we are engaged for our Quality Management services.
However, the understanding of Quality Management as a discipline is still nascent. This fact is reflected from the nature of enquiries itself. The service offering demanded by the owner itself is not completely understood and we spend a lot of time with them explaining the various options available within the portfolio of Quality Management and suggesting the option that would work best for them. Each project is unique and demands an intervention specific to the context in which it is being executed. This article is an attempt to lay down some of these options and the applicability of each.
The objective of a Quality Audit is to identify gaps in the construction and quality management processes. Another objective is the identify opportunities for improvement and implement the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle for continual improvement.
Is it a common misunderstanding that Quality Audits are intended to identify all product defects by inspecting a certain proportion of elements (on a sample basis). This approach reduces the effectiveness of the audit since it deals only with the symptoms (visible defects) rather than uncover the underlying root cause for it. The identification of defects as part of audits is only to point to a deeper issue with the process design or implementation on the project site.
Quality Audits, irrespective of the project size, should not need more than a couple of days by an experienced auditor. Naturally, this implies that the auditor relies on their vast experience, like a skilled diagnostician, to uncover potential issues in the product as well as processes.
Quality audits can be very effective in identifying (diagnosing) potential risks within the Quality Management System (QMS) and its implementation. However, it presumes the existence of QMS within the organization. This is often not the case. Our auditors usually uncover that the first problem is the lack of a system of managing construction and quality control procedures. In such cases, our Advisory services are useful to help the owner set up a suitable Quality Management System tailored to maturity level of their organization.
The process begins with developing and documenting the processes required to govern all construction activities. However, once developed, it is essential to get a buy-in of key stakeholders regarding these processes. Here, we set up a collaborative and interactive workshop, explaining the benefits of implementing this new system of governance.
Once the advisory engagement is completed and the system is operational, we can ensure compliance through the Audit service as explained in the section above. Readers would now be able to relate how these actions are interlinked. This service typically takes a few months to complete and can be compared to the expertise offered by a doctor or physician who assesses the demands of an individual and carefully curates the best regimen to be followed by them to reach optimal health.
One of the fundamentals aspects of implementation of the Quality Management System is a robust procedure of inspections of materials and works. The management system governs the conditions, timing, frequency, type of tests and acceptance criteria of inspections that must be conducted, witnessed and documented to ensure comprehensive quality assurance for the construction project. The inspection protocol also deals with the actions to be taken in case the inspector observes a deviation, an issue or a defect in the final product.
Inspections protocol cannot be looked at in isolation. They depend on several factors such as the contracting strategy, type of contractors engaged and the maturity of the internal systems.
The inspection professionals must be adept at following protocol and should also be functionally proficient in their own domains. In contrast to the previous cases, this compares to a nurse who follows a strict protocol of checks and takes action in case she observes an issue.
Owners also request for “audits” of the completed project i.e. they want us to verify the functionality, usability and compliance to design for the finished product. This is typically called snagging and is performed just before handover of the facility to customers. Often, all this type of audit requires is a keen observation to capture surface level defects and focuses on cosmetic rectifications.
It is assumed that by this stage, latent issues would have surfaced and already been addressed by the project team during construction. This also holds accountable the partners regarding their performance on the project before the closure of their contract.
By comparison, this role is closest associated with the discharge professional who verifies a very specific checklist to ensure everything is in order before giving the green signal to the subject and “delivering” them. There is a requirement of ISO:9001 that organization shall ensure that non-conforming product shall not be delivered to the customer. Snagging typically addresses this mandate.
Therefore, the owner must carefully evaluate the type and stage of their project, type of partners that are involved and the nature of the problem (maturity of their system) to define the type of intervention that they seek from Quality Management professionals.
| Nature | Ideal Frequency | Prerequisite |
Audits | Diagnostic | Quarterly | QMS |
Advisory | Planning | One-time (start) | None |
Inspections | Operational | Continuous | QMS |
Snagging | Hygiene | One-time (end) | Completion |
GEM Engserv Private Ltd. , A-103, The Great Eastern Chamber, Plot No-28, Sector-11, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai 400614