Cost of Quality Evaluation in Mass-Housing Projects in Developing Countries
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 140, Issue 5
Abstract
In the construction industry, one of the most important concerns of organizations is how to achieve a balance between the desired level of quality and the expenses associated with it. The evaluating of the cost of quality (COQ) can help achieve this balance. This study surveys quality-related activities and costs in mass-housing projects in Iran by conducting 77 structured interviews on 60 mass-housing projects. The survey uses the prevention-appraisal-failure (P-A-F) model, which is the most widely used model for determining and classifying COQ, as the main framework. This research first specifies the most common quality-related activities and components of quality costs. It also develops a model for evaluating the total COQ of the studied projects by fitting third-order polynomial trend lines to the compiled data. Then, the research evaluates potential cost savings as a possible result of quality-management approach to the optimum level of COQ on the basis of the developed model. This study contributes to the project’s quality management by introducing a new model for evaluating the COQ and its optimum level in mass-housing projects. The model evaluates the potential savings in quality costs as a result of achieving the optimum level of COQ.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Abdelsalam, H. M. E., and Gad, M. M. (2009). “Cost of quality in Dubai: An analytical case study of residential construction projects.” Int. J. Proj. Manage., 27(5), 501–511.
Abdul-Rahman, H. (1993). “Capturing the cost of quality failures in civil engineering.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 10(3), 20–32.
Abdul-Rahman, H., Thompson, P. A., and Whyte, I. L. (1996). “Capturing the cost of non-conformance on construction sites: An application of the quality cost matrix.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 13(1), 48–60.
Aoieong, R. T., Tang, S. L., and Ahmed, S. M. (2002). “A process approach in measuring quality costs of construction projects: Model development.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 20(2), 179–192.
Barber, P., Graves, A., Hall, M., Sheath, D., and Tomkins, C. (2000). “Quality failure costs in civil engineering projects.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 17(4–5), 479–492.
Burati, J. L., Farrington, J. J., and Ledbetter, W. B. (1992). “Causes of quality deviations in design and construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 34–49.
Construction Industry Institute. (1989). Costs of quality deviations in design and construction, Quality Management Task Force Publication, Austin, TX.
Crosby, P. B. (1979). Quality is free, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Davis, K., Ledbetter, W. B., and Burati, J. L. (1989). “Measuring design and construction quality costs.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 385–400.
Deming, W. (1986). Out of crisis: Quality, productivity and competitive position, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Field, A. P. (2013). Discovering statistics using SPSS, 4th Ed., Sage, London.
George, D., and Mallery, P. (2006). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference, Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Hall, M., and Tomkins, C. (2001). “A cost of quality analysis of a building project: Towards a complete methodology for design and build.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 19(7), 727–740.
Hwang, B., Thomas, S. R., Haas, C. T., and Caldas, C. H. (2009). “Measuring the impact of rework on construction cost performance.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 187–198.
Iranian Mass-Housing Association. (2011). “Legal members.” 〈http://www.irmpha.com/members/members.html〉 (Dec. 5, 2011).
Jafari, A., and Love, P. E. D. (2013). “Quality costs in construction: The case of the QOM monorail project in Iran.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 1244–1249.
Jafari, A., and Rodchua, S. (2013). “Survey research on quality costs and problems in the construction environment.” Total Qual. Manage. Bus. Excel., 1(13), 1.
Johnson, M. A. (1995). “The development of measures of the cost of quality for an engineering unit.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 12(2), 86–100.
Josephson, P. E., and Hammarlund, Y. (1999). “The causes and costs of defects in construction a study of seven building projects.” Autom. Constr., 8(6), 681–687.
Juran, J., and Gryna, F. (1993). Quality planning and analysis, 3rd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Kazaz, A., and Birgonul, M. T. (2005a). “Determination of quality level in mass housing projects in Turkey.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 195–202.
Kazaz, A., and Birgonul, M. T. (2005b). “The evidence of poor quality in high rise and medium rise housing units: A case study of mass housing projects in Turkey.” Build. Environ., 40(11), 1548–1556.
Kazaz, A., Birgonul, M. T., and Ulubeyli, S. (2005). “Cost-based analysis of quality in developing countries: A case study of building projects.” Build. Environ., 40(10), 1356–1365.
Love, P. E. D. (2002). “Influence of project type and procurement method on rework costs in building construction projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 18–29.
Love, P. E. D., Edward, D. J., Watson, H., and Davis, P. (2010). “Rework in civil infrastructure projects: Determination of cost predictors.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 275–282.
Love, P. E. D., and Irani, Z. (2003). “A project management quality cost information system for the construction industry.” Inform. Manage., 40(7), 649–661.
Love, P. E. D., and Li, H. (2000). “Quantifying the causes and costs of rework in construction.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 18(4), 479–490.
Low, S. P., and Yeo, H. K. C. (1998). “A construction quality costs quantifying system for the building industry.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 15(3), 329–349.
Mills, A., Love, P. E. D., and Williams, P. (2009). “Defect costs in residential construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 12–16.
Nunally, J. (1978). Psychometric theory, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Oyewobi, L. O., Oke, A. A., Ganiyu, B. O., Shittu, A. A., Isa, R. B., and Nwokobia, L. (2011). “The effect of project types on the occurrence of rework in expanding economy.” J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol., 2(6), 119–124.
Plunkett, J. J., and Dale, B. G. (1998). “Quality-related costing: Findings from an industry-based research study.” Eng. Manage. Int., 4(4), 247–257.
Porter, L. J., and Rayner, P. (1992). “Quality costing for total quality management.” Int. J. Prod. Econ., 27(1), 69–81.
Sambasivan, M., and Soon, Y. W. (2007). “Cause and effects of delays in Malaysian construction industry.” Int. J. Proj. Manage., 25(5), 517–526.
Schiffauerova, A., and Thomson, V. (2006). “A review of research on cost of quality models and best practices.” Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage., 23(6), 647–669.
Shank, J. K., and Govindarajan, V. (1994). “Measuring the ‘cost of quality’: A strategic cost management perspective.” J. Cost Manage., 8(2), 5–17.
SPSS Version 17.0 [Computer software]. SPSS statistics for windows, Chicago, SPSS Inc.
Yasin, M. M., Czuchry, A. J., Dorsch, J. J., and Small, M. (1999). “In search of an optimal cost of quality: An integrated framework of operational efficiency and strategic effectiveness.” J. Eng. Technol. Manage., 16(2), 171–189.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 6, 2013
Accepted: Dec 31, 2013
Published online: Feb 3, 2014
Published in print: May 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Jul 3, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.