Evaluating the Success Factors for Reducing the Cost of Poor Quality: Insights from Top-Tier Construction Companies in the United Arab Emirates

As a seasoned associate with 18 years of experience in the Middle East, I've personally seen how the inability to prevent waste and other defects during construction contributes to the cost of poor quality. This cost often remains hidden, consuming up to 30% of revenues in the construction industry, as Palikhe, Kim, and Kim (2019) argue.

Quality is a crucial competitive strategic tool in every industry, including construction (Al-Qassab et al., 2019). The success of any organization hinges on the quality of its products or services. Therefore, understanding what constitutes quality and identifying the critical success factors within their respective organizations is paramount.

In the cycle of continuous improvement, quality measurement is essential. As Chan et al. (2004) highlight, quality measurement acts as a catalyst for industry improvements. Without measurements, identifying opportunities for improvement becomes a challenge.

Defects on construction sites are a common phenomenon worldwide, as Lu and Yuan (2010) point out. These errors can be costly for both owners and contractors. Palikhe, Kim, and Kim (2019) note that between 6 and 15% of construction costs are due to rework, often avoidable rework, resulting from defective components detected during maintenance.

These errors are diverse, indicating that they stem from various sources within the construction process. Statistically, between 20 and 40% of all site defects originate from errors during the construction phase, while over 54% of the defects are associated with human factors, such as lack of required skill or insufficient supervision (Love, Teo, and Morrison, 2018). Johnson and Babu (2018) add that about 12% of construction defects can be linked to material and system failures.

These defects underscore the importance of construction work supervision. To make this supervision effective, we must improve inspection approaches, especially in identifying defects on construction sites.

Quality, as Baloi and Price (2003) and Al-Qassab et al. (2019) argue, is neither immeasurable nor intangible. It is a strategic imperative in both the manufacturing and service industry. While some sectors struggle with measuring and quantifying quality, Chen and Chen (2007) insist that quality can be quantified and used to improve the bottom line.

Baloi and Price (2003) argue that it is crucial for organizations to track quality. The difficulties in tracking quality in most construction companies result in significant financial losses. However, as Johnson and Babu (2018) reiterate, the cost of poor quality (COPQ) is not insurmountable. Chen and Chen (2007) suggest that an organization's COPQ can be significantly reduced by identifying areas suspected of potential waste, additional costs, or failures.

COPQ has been a leading factor reducing the profitability of construction projects worldwide. Lu and Yuan (2010) categorize COPQ into four primary categories: appraisal costs, external failure costs, internal failure costs, and prevention costs. Metri (2005) adds other costs, such as customer-dissatisfaction costs, reputation loss, loss of sales or revenues, and lower service level to customers.

I have personally conducted research to investigate the critical success factors that can reduce poor quality and its cost, seeking the perspectives of construction professionals in the UAE. COPQ is a perennial problem, not just in the construction industry, but in other industries as well.

The research aims to identify the success factors that can reduce the occurrence of poor quality in construction projects for top-tier UAE construction firms. The objectives include identifying factors associated with high-quality construction, determining various cost-effective approaches to achieve quality, assessing the strengths and limitations of each identified method, and presenting recommendations for enhancing the overall quality of construction projects.

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The study covers the concept of the cost of poor quality in the construction industry, focusing on the UAE. It reviews literature on various approaches to achieve better quality in construction and thereby reducing the cost of poor quality.

In the UAE, especially Dubai, the construction industry is a leading sector. The industry has attracted numerous investors, businesses, and individuals due to the diversity and opportunities created by the investment.

The construction sector in the UAE is investing in high-quality, long-term, sustainable techniques in the construction process to attract investors, gain value for money, and continue to attract tourists.

With the UAE construction sector being the backbone of the country's future economic well-being, the market has become highly competitive. There are many construction companies in the country, both local and international.

Good construction quality management is one of the ways that construction companies can minimize the number of mistakes and unnecessary reworks. This is beneficial not just for the general quality of the project, but also for the reputation of the contractor since such projects are delivered on time and within budget.

In conclusion, the cost of poor quality has been one of the leading factors reducing the profitability of construction projects. I hope that my findings will benefit like-minded enthusiasts and organizations. I invite you to let me know if your organization is measuring the cost of quality. Your feedback and insights will be invaluable in furthering this important discussion.

References?

Palikhe, S., Kim, S. and Kim, J. (2019) Critical Success Factors and Dynamic Modeling of Construction Labour Productivity. International Journal of Civil Engineering, 17 (3), pp.427-442 DOI: 10.1007/s40999-018-0282-3

Al-Qassab, H., Paucar-Caceres, A., Wright, G. and Pagano, R. (2019) Sustainability and Green Project Management Skills: An Exploratory Study in the Construction Industry in Dubai. World Sustainability Series, pp.223-239 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-03562-4_12.

Chan, A., Chan, D., Chiang, Y., Tang, B., Chan, E. and Ho, K. (2004) Exploring Critical Success Factors for Partnering in Construction Projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 130 (2), pp.188-198 DOI: 10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2004)130:2(188)

Lu, W. and Yuan, H. (2010) Exploring critical success factors for waste management in construction projects of China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55 (2), pp.201-208 DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.09.010.

Love, P., Teo, P. and Morrison, J. (2018) Revisiting Quality Failure Costs in Construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144 (2), p.05017020 DOI: 10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0001427.

Johnson, R. and Babu, R. (2018) Time and cost overruns in the UAE construction industry: a critical analysis. International Journal of Construction Management, pp.1-10 DOI: 10.1080/15623599.2018.1484864.

Baloi, D. and Price, A. (2003) Modelling global risk factors affecting construction cost performance. International Journal of Project Management, 21 (4), pp.261-269 DOI: 10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00017-0.

Al-Qassab, H., Paucar-Caceres, A., Wright, G. and Pagano, R. (2019) Sustainability and Green Project Management Skills: An Exploratory Study in the Construction Industry in Dubai. World Sustainability Series, pp.223-239 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-03562-4_12.

Chen, W. and Chen, T. (2007) Critical success factors for construction partnering in Taiwan. International Journal of Project Management, 25 (5), pp.475-484 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.12.003.

Baloi, D. and Price, A. (2003) Modelling global risk factors affecting construction cost performance. International Journal of Project Management, 21 (4), pp.261-269 DOI: 10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00017-0.

Johnson, R. and Babu, R. (2018) Time and cost overruns in the UAE construction industry: a critical analysis. International Journal of Construction Management, pp.1-10 DOI: 10.1080/15623599.2018.1484864.

Chen, W. and Chen, T. (2007) Critical success factors for construction partnering in Taiwan. International Journal of Project Management, 25 (5), pp.475-484 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.12.003.

Lu, W. and Yuan, H. (2010) Exploring critical success factors for waste management in construction projects of China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55 (2), pp.201-208 DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.09.010.

Metri, B. (2005) TQM critical success factors for construction firms. Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 10 (2), pp.61-72 Available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/19132.