Management of defective works in infrastructure projects

Abstract

Constructing a new building or any other civil engineering project from scratch is a challenge for the construction industry as novelty designs may be produced by designers but they are often constructed by low skilled labor on site. The unique and sometimes complex nature of the construction sector arises because a large number of different professional groups have different interests and requirements, which often conflict with one another. In principle, each construction company aims to construct a project without any defects from the very first activity on site right up to final completion. This aim is almost impossible to achieve throughout the entire construction duration because of many factors, including: low skilled labor, difficult site conditions, and incomplete designs, varying quality cultures in each company, poor communication and poor management. Therefore, construction defects are things which we can assume to have occurred on the site. Defects occurring during the construction process are sometimes costly and preventable mistakes. Research has shown that correcting defective components that are identified late in the construction process or during the maintenance period accounts for approximately 15% of the total construction costs. This paper presents a case study of the defects that occurred during a motorway construction project as a consequence of poor workmanship by an untrained workforce and it aims to raise awareness of the need for on-the-job training for quality managers in order to minimize defective works and reduce the project costs spent on correcting them. It also identifies the various factors that cause construction defects and suggests measures that can be taken to reduce them.