What can go wrong in a Construction Project - NCRs in Construction Industry

My first post in elsmar!



What can go wrong in a Construction Project?
Anything!


But let?s try to make a list of what can go wrong (from a ?quality point of view? only):

1. something was not built as per the approved Design or it?s not within the tolerances
2. the approved methodology (Method Statement) was not followed during the construction
3. the approved Inspection and Test Plan (ITP) was not followed
4. any other approved documentation was not followed (Quality Procedures, instruction from the Client etc)
5. a different material than the approved one was used on site
6. a test on a material or anywhere else failed
7. a Design failure
8. there is no available documentation to cover an activity (Method Statements, Design Drawings, ITPs, Risk Assessments etc) or the existing documents do not describe the activity sufficiently

and the list can go on and on according to the specific contractual requirements, applicable standards or legislation.

What can go wrong in your opinion in a construction site...?

Welcome to the Cove! I myself am pretty new! This is a...quality...place .

I would preliminarily add another one could be inadaquetely trained staff.

Well... I think this is probably the root cause of almost every NCR on a construction site...

Welcome to you both.

I do not believe there is a construction-only discussion area, as specific topics go to areas such as ISO/IEC 17025, ISO9001, and so forth. The steps mentioned in the initial post certainly apply within a company, depending on its size and involvement. For additional answers, a top level of the process may be beneficial. I realize the initial post is from UK, but suspect the process is similar to the US.

As you likely know, construction depends first and consistently on designing, testing, and building to applicable codes. As an example, in the US the architect must know the codes which include many different factors, including what are known here as safety factors.

The plans have to be reviewed and approved by someone such as the local Code Official, or in some places by a specialized out-sourced review organization. Of course, the risk plays a role. A doghouse does not require all the steps, but a new house or commercial building does.

Once approved, the construction can go forward. Concrete strength, anchoring, specific wood, trusses, and other factors and specifications are sent to the selected companies. Testing is also conducted, but exactly how much and what kind is primarily driven by codes.

As an example, concrete foundations have samples taken in cylindrical mode, and a lab tests the cylinders. The 28 day strength is used for approval to move past foundation. For a commercial building, inspection bodies or special inspection bodies may be required to oversee the construction. The oversight may be periodic or continuous.

At specific points or times, the Code Official must approve. Then a final approval is required before the jurisdiction allows occupancy.

Each company has to deliver as required. A failure of the 28 day strength for the foundation, as an example, requires the pour to be removed and re-poured. So a NCR can be extremely expensive. Why can a pour fail? Incorrect mix placed in the cement truck (lorry), not enough water, too much water, incorrect aggregates, too many revolutions of the drum on the truck, inexperience or incorrect technique by the field inspector taking the cylinders, improper curing by the lab, compression machine improperly calibrated resulting in bad numbers at the lab, writing down the information incorrectly.

One can see how just one part can be affected by multiple organizations, and how it can then affect the rest of the project. Hence, the planning and oversight can be quite important. The worst potential, however, is that an oversight or failure only shows up much later when people are in the building.

Hope this helps.

Good points, Hershal.

Well...this is the theory.
In reality things may differ a lot during the construction of a project.
What Hershal described is basically one of the hundreds (or even thousands) of checks that need to be done during construction.

In a perfect world where every procedure is followed, every standard is applied and every specification is clearly understood and agreed, there shouldn't be any nonconformities in the construction industry (and not only).

However, nonconformities in construction are inevitable. The reasons are many though.
This is something that even the Designer admits by applying safety factors in his calculations.

Things are very different and far more uncontrollable in the construction industry than in any other industry in my opinion.

It is the nature of the industry in my opinion and the short term planning of its nature that doesn't help very much on applying properly the right quality tools.