Heravi, G and Jafari, A (2014) Cost of quality evaluation in mass-housing projects in developing countries. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(5): 04014004, ISSN 0733-9364
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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction projects; cost and schedule; cost of quality; developing countries; mass-housing projects; quality-related activities |
| Index terms: | prevention, quality management, construction industry, cost saving, savings, appraisal, construction project, housing project, survey, developing country, interview |
| Subjects: | production management, financial risk, development economics, factor and component analysis, economics, industry analysis, quality assurance, housing and residential development, data collection methods, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Quality Management, International Construction, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Research Practice, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here