PATH - A Public Private Partnership for Advancing Housing Technology
Implementing a Quality Assurance System:
A Trade Contractor Case Study
November 2001, 51 pages [IMAGE: Implementing a Quality Assurance System: A Trade Contractpr Case Study]
FULL TEXT: [IMAGE: *] (*.pdf, 15 MB)
NOTE: Adobe Reader is required to download, view, and/or print PDF files. If your computer does not have this software, you must first download Adobe Reader and follow the installation instructions before accessing PDF files from PATH's Web site.
Do you know how to get quality work out of your contractors? We do.
Key Findings:
Skilled labor is hard to find and retain. Errors and defects are frequent and costly. Undetected or uncorrected errors create big trouble when finishing a house. Most builder quality assurance strategies to prevent these problems don't work.
[IMAGE: NAHB Research Center's Contractor Program Seal.] But manufacturer strategies do. From 1999 to 2001, PATH and the NAHB Research Center tested such strategies with three major framing contractors. The result is a new quality assurance system that helped these companies cut quality defects by more than 50 percent; improve productivity enough to offset labor rate increases of more than 7 percent; and raise builder satisfaction ratings significantly.
Is it difficult? Not really. It all comes down to documenting the procedures you're already performing, and monitoring the work to be sure it meets your standards.
As Jim Hoffner of K. Hovnanian says, "Quality is not luck, it is the end result of a specific plan."
Recommendations:
It's as simple as 1, 2, 3. . . 4, 5, 6. [IMAGE: Contractors take it upon themselves to analyze hotspot quality issues to uncover root causes.]
Content updated on 1/5/2007
Builders
Remodelers
Manufacturers
Design Professionals
Affordable Housing Providers
Realtors, Appraisers
Insurance Industry
Financial Services
Researchers
HOMEOWNERS
Home |
Search PATHnet |
Contact Us |
Privacy Policy