Improving Quality and Performance at the Jobsite

Barbara Jorgensen -- Expert Business Source, 2/2/2007 5:51:00 AM

Whether the end product is an automobile or a single-family home, strict attention to detail and simple process improvements can go a long way toward making sure the product is built right the first time. The challenge for contractors – and specifically, jobsite superintendents – is finding the time to tend to the “little things” that can result in big savings down the road.

“If you construct something correctly, the risk of something going wrong later down the road is lessened considerably,” says Stephen Paul, executive vice president of Mid-Atlantic Builders, a Rockville, Md., homebuilder.

In general, experts believe that construction companies can do a much better job of mitigating risk and maintaining quality on the job site. Often, the person in the best position to do is the project superintendent. But many business owners don’t take full advantage of project leaders as their eyes and ears for quality control.

“[Superintendents] are so busy putting out fires that they don’t have the time to focus on quality and process improvement,” says Steve McGee, president and CEO of Unify International, a construction industry consultancy in Santa Ana, Calif.

But the time invested in preventing defects is often a far better (and more cost-effective) option than having to repair problems after the fact. That’s why experts believe good risk prevention begins with better time management, before and during the project.

Having the project leaders work closely with architects to make sure they are in synch on design issues, for example, will free up time once the project begins. That extra time can be better spent inspecting the site regularly.

“Superintendents should walk the site every day, so they can make sure work is done before they bring in trade contractors,” says McGee. “If it’s not done, or not done right, they are faced with the challenge of slowing the project down for repairs or covering the defects up.”

Given some time to actually supervise, superintendents can look for ways of improving jobsite performance – and quality.

“Try to get them to think like a manufacturer,” says Stan Luhr, CEO of Quality Built,a risk management and quality control consultancy in San Diego. “How can we build something more efficiently? Can we develop an automated process?” Simple changes can have a big impact; for instance, are workers fetching one piece of plywood at a time from one end of the site to another, or are they moving the pallet closer to where it’s needed?

Technology can help with jobsite performance and risk management as well. Tools for collecting data and communicating with trades can save time and also provide an electronic paper trail in the event that something goes wrong.

Mid-Atlantic Builders, for example, uses a system developed by Quality Built to automatically flag overdue tasks so the company can take immediate action. “As a small company, we have to move fast and stay ahead of the curve,” says Paul.

There’s one modern tool that some believe has become more of a hindrance than a help on the job site: the cell phone.

“Superintendents’ biggest problem,” says Luhr, “is they spend 8 to 10 hours a day on their cell phone.”

Barbara Jorgensen is a freelance writer based in Mansfield, Mass.