A proactive plan-do-check-act approach to defect management based on a Swedish construction project

Robert Lundkvist, John Henrik Meiling and Marcus Sandberg

Construction Management and Economics, 2014, vol. 32, issue 11, 1051-1065

Abstract: In order to continuously improve quality and avoid reoccurrence of defects, defect management (DM) in construction needs to take a more proactive approach. The classification of construction information is important for the efficient exchange and integration of data between the many roles and phases of construction and facility management, but it also provides a framework for standardization, which in turn is paramount for improvement. In order to better understand how defects can be managed proactively we conducted a case study on inspection practices at a large construction project in Sweden, using observation and analysis of inspection reports. We identified opportunities and obstacles in the classification of defect data. The project's defect descriptions were often ambiguous and the records lacked important contextual information. We believe that this was because current practice is not designed with proactivity in mind, and there are only regulatory requirements on the data, making classification difficult. In addition, by viewing the project's practices through the lenses of continuous improvement and plan-do-check-act theory to identify missing or inadequate steps, we propose a framework for a proactive version of the current defect management process that could potentially help to prioritize improvement work and reduce the incidence of defects.

Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01446193.2014.966733 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:32:y:2014:i:11:p:1051-1065

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCME20

DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2014.966733

Access Statistics for this article

Construction Management and Economics is currently edited by Will Hughes

More articles in Construction Management and Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().