Costs of quality in construction: can these be reduced through implementation of ISO 9000 ?

This paper presents the results of two studies carried out to identify costs of quality and causes of poor quality in construction. There are three types of costs of quality: prevention costs, appraisal costs, and failure costs. The failure costs are usually regarded as avoidable and. if minimised through preventive measures, they could lead to substantial reduction in construction costs. The significant causes of non-conformances or poor quality that contribute to failure costs include: low quality of materials; lack of skilled labour; incompetent subcontractors; lack of commitment and capability of site staff; incorrect construction methods; and lack of site supervision. The paper describes how five sub-requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard can minimise the effects of these six causes in order to reduce costs of quality.