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Advertising supplement provided by The Council of American Structural Engineers, in conjunction with The American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc.

Development of a quality management plan

But at the same time, increased fees are not a guarantee that proper coordination and completeness of construction documents will occur resulting in the desired level of quality. The key to achieving the desired level of quality throughout the life of the project is the implementation of a firm, specific quality management plan modified to suit the particular project. Such a plan will address, in part, the quality and completeness of the construction drawings.

Since the mid-1990s a continuing refrain has risen from owners, general contractors and specialty contractors regarding the poor quality of design documents. But as often occurs in any personal interaction, complaints often create a level of defensiveness on the part of designers. Comments like …

“I can’t provide dimensions that aren’t yet fixed.” “I don’t have fees to provide everything you want.” “You want something different on every project!”

“Just learn to read the plans—the answers are all already there.” … become a normal part of project dialogue.

In developing the quality management plan, the designer (architect, structural engineer, HVAC designer…) should be cognizant of the content and dimensional requirements of other design professionals who use the documents to generate their portion of the construction plans and of the contractor who will bid and execute the project from the construction documents.

Each participating member of the design team must develop such a plan for their organization and their specific portion of the project deliverables.

At a minimum, the quality goal for construction documents should not only be compliance with the applicable code to assure public safety, meeting the owner’s goal of a functional project or completing the project on time and within budget; the quality goal should also be construction documents that are accurate, complete and with sufficient detail, quantity and location to allow a qualified contractor to properly plan, perform material takeoff, develop fabrication and erection pricing. This will enable the contractor to prepare reliable initial pricing and an accurate proposal. Then, after the award, the contractor will be able to build the structure in a manner consistent with their understanding at the time of bidding.

Managing these routines or quality systems is an investment in time and effort that will have a positive financial return. Using concepts developed by professionals in quality management systems is an effective way to gain a new perspective in establishing or reviewing these systems.