Quality control in today’s construction environment continues to be a daily challenge in our industry. Several factors that are contributing to this are lack of skilled labor, lack of subcontractor supervision, and incomplete construction documents. Quality is essential in the success of a project; when managed properly, it results in timely completion of our projects, reduced punch lists, lack of rework, all of which leads to satisfied clients. Over the years, The Douglas Company has put in place several processes and standards to help minimize rework and provide our clients with a quality end product. These processes include:

• Conduct pre-construction meetings with subs to review the plans and installation instructions and sort out any discrepancies before work being put in place.
• Mockups which allow for a clear expectation of what the end product is to be amongst the project team (Owner, Architect, and Contractor).
• Quality inspections are filled out by our project teams to review the work as it is being put in place prior to subsequent tasks being started so that any deficiencies can be fixed.
• Utilizing our observations tool in Procore to keep a list of items not meeting our quality expectations to hold subcontractor’s accountable and prevent details from falling through the cracks
• Quality inspection audits are performed as a one-up review to ensure we are not missing anything.

All of these items take time to complete, but it is still more efficient as compared to the time associated with rework, not to mention the costs, which can range anywhere from 15-40%. By following the processes outlined above, it allows us to fulfill our core purpose, which is “to contribute to the success of our Clients and Associates.”

Andrew Rahrig, LEED AP

Vice President, Construction
The Douglas Company

 

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