Quality improvement protocol for specification and delivery of construction materials required by the Department of Public Works and infrastructure projects

Abstract

Materials delivered on public works project sites deviate from technical specifications, with detrimental implications for the quality of the construction process and product (in the form of buildings, roads, sewer lines, and other civil engineering works). The situation implies that Work-AsDone on a construction site is different from Work-As-Imagined. If other variables remain constant in the construction process, Work-As-Done should be Work-As-Imagined, when technical specifications for materials delivered on site are the same as what the designers specified. When delivered materials differ from specifications, quality issues, such as defects and re-work, ensue at greater cost to the clients. These problems suggest a lack of Built-In Quality in the design and construction process in relation to the management of materials. Built-In Quality is not only lacking, but the inadequate application of concepts and techniques of quality improvement also appears to perpetuate the problems. Thus, the study sought to answer the question of what quality improvement protocol would ensure that materials are delivered on construction sites as specified by engineers. Based on pragmatism as a research philosophy aimed at solving real-world problems, a case-based design with multiple data collection techniques and points was expedited in the study. The primary data collected through purposive sampling from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure technical personnel, and document analysis provided the platform for the compilation of a quality improvement protocol contextualised for the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in the Free State, which constituted the case study. The statistical and textual data outlined how the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in the Free State could address quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement concerning the delivery of materials for public works projects. The contribution of the dissertation is the proposed quality improvement protocol that will guide the specification and delivery of construction materials for projects of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in the Free Province.