Management of factors affecting the quality of building projects in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The quality aspect in building construction has become a very much important role in building construction. This study was conducted to analyze the factors affecting the quality of building projects in Sri Lanka and to suggest best practices to be followed to enhance the level of satisfaction with the factors related to the quality of buildings. A thorough literature survey was conducted to determine how previous studies were focused on the relevant topic by various researchers. 35 factors were found from the literature survey that was identified as relevant in achieving the quality of building projects in Sri Lanka. A structured questionnaire was distributed among the industry professionals and information was gathered on the level of importance and the level of satisfaction of the present practices concerning the identified factors relevant to the quality of building construction projects. Descriptive statistical tests were conducted to analyze the information obtained by the survey. Weighted mean analysis followed by the mean value analysis was conducted to eliminate unimportant data. Then the set of factors was narrowed down to 33 for both importance and satisfaction criteria. Cronbach’s alpha test was carried out to validate and test the reliability of the data. Quadrant analysis was conducted to identify the most important factors that need urgent improvements. 15 factors were identified with a high level of importance, having a low level of satisfaction. Factor analysis as an inferential statistical test was conducted to narrow down the identified factors to the most relevant dimensions. Accordingly, the skills, knowledge and experience of the project team were identified as one dimension which represents the human dimension. Factors such as continuous improvement of the project team, training/ awareness of the project team, sharing knowledge among the project team, teamwork among the project team, proper communication among the project team and Labor skills and experience of workers govern the first dimension. The second dimension was the cost and quality management system of the project, which reflects the system dimension That governs the factors such as the cash flow of the project, variations/ accuracy of estimating, implementation of QA/QC systems (such as ISO Certification, TQM, QMS) QA/ QC systems for the contractor organizations, project constraints (low budget, limited time & inflexibility), scarcity of resources and project planning/ quality planning. Experts were interviewed to obtain best practices to be followed To enhance the level of satisfaction of the quality aspects related to the respective factors in the building construction projects. Ten experts having a minimum of 10 years of industry experience were interviewed. 45 best practices relevant to the factors under the dimension of “skills, knowledge and experience of the project team” and 30 best practices relevant to the factors under the dimension of “cost and quality management system of the project” were identified. Identified factors need to be attained with high priority given achieving quality objectives of the building construction projects. Proposed best practices can be adopted by the design and construction professionals and the respective entities to enhance the quality aspects of building projects in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Quality, Building Construction, Factors, Improvement