Quality is an important part of the process and an important aspect especially in new construction projects. Quality can also be quite subjective and depends upon the "eyes of the beholder". Especially when the "road user" is concerned quality can be quite subjective. Most road authorities have some form of quality systems in place especially when Quality Assurance (QA) is concerned. Quality Control (QC) procedures are quite common and more clients are demanding ISO 9000 quality requirements or some equivalent form. Quality is also determined in the scope of the work and is sort of an input during the planning process.
When QC is relinquished to the contractor, then QC plans are essential, as it will determine the standard of practice used by the contractor for that entire project. In most countries the QC led by the contracting authority is working reasonably well, but in some countries it is a learning process which requires a great deal of experience and practical applications.
From the first author's perspective quality can be basically attributed to three categories within the process. Quality can be considered as:
• Quality of the technical, performance, and "Level of Service" standards
• Quality of the design & planning processes
• Quality of workmanship
The first two categories have significant research, experience, and long history of understanding and practices. However, the quality of workmanship lacks quantitative measurements, which are important factors that contribute to the overall quality of project results. QC systems are systems that assist in the quality procedures, but don't necessarily address the workmanship and practice of care. The workmanship is one area that needs further development and research.
In the USA, QC by contractors is difficult and most contractors in DBB contracts prefer the "Road Authority" to make the QC decisions, as it requires competence and knowledge of Quality Control systems. However, typically there is very strict inspection done by the "Road Authority" in the USA to monitor the quality during the construction process. In some cases the "Road Authority" uses professional consultants to assist QC and Quality Assurance (QA) when there is a lack of own QC personnel or when the "Road Authority" has the lack of experts or has been downsized substantially. In Finland, Sweden, and in many Anglo-Saxon countries, most of the inspections are done by professional consultants as there is insufficient staffing. Sometimes there can be "spot checks" to verify contractor's quality, but even these are being relinquished to the professional consultants. These are usually tendered via normal professional service contracts. Sometimes it can be the same professional consultant that participated in the design and planning process and is quite beneficial as the knowledge and continuity of project is retained.
Quality Control (QC) covers many practical issues and practices. The following shows a listing of practices and developments to assist quality performance that were collected during this study.
• ISO 9000 practices or equivalent quality plans
• Contractor rating system - with effectiveness (post project evaluation affects future rating)
• Professional services rating system - with effectiveness (post project evaluation affects future rating)
• Some form Contractor Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) - feedback of project performance
• Some clients have a sophisticated ICT project management database that tracks risks, quality issues, all requests, information queries, project status and critical path progression, environmental issues, and all related standards and specifications
• Quality based selection criteria for winning contractor (aligned with better quality)
• Project based web site
• Strict penalties for non-performance (no excuses)
• More involvement by client's "Project Manager" to actually determine the perceived quality
• Good open communications
• Lots of informational meetings prior to contract award
• Some form of partnering in the process (both project & strategic level)
• Dispute resolution process
• Good Information Management tools (billing, scheduling, and QC)
• Using interoperable systems or common data models, which can reduce the possibility of errors and omissions). This is under development in Nor-way & Finland
• Training programs & QC of the sub-contractors in the supply chain
• Having a "Lessons Learned" system or database
• Using the "Designer of Record" throughout the project (provides consistency & continuity)
There is also an easier solution to improve quality, but it is an expensive alternative. Simply raising the minimum technical and performance standards would provide higher quality levels. The other alternative is to increase inspection to verify that the quality demanded is actually being implemented. Both these simple solutions would cost more and probably be difficult to gain acceptance in the client organizations and amongst the funding authorities. Also, since the most road authority organizations are downsizing, gradually losing experience and expertise, and lack the resource, this simple alternative is probably not realistic.