Quality Management at Construction Projects. Audits are essential to measure the compliance of an organisation with standards and requirements. An audit has to be systematic and documented to obtain evidence and to evaluate the obtained evidence objectively without any bias. Evidence is acquired to determine whether the policies, standards, and requirements are implemented or not. Evidence can be records, observations from a site visit, interviews with project staff, or any relevant and verifiable information. Audits are important tools to discover and correct any deviation while also improving the overall performance of an organisation. The audit can be categorised into process audits, product audits, and system audits. Audits are also categorised into first$-$party audits, second party audits, and third$-$party audits. A first$-$party audit is an internal audit, and it is delegated to the auditing body by the organization itself. The first$-$party audit is essential to ensure that the organization's operations are aligned with policies and standards without any deviation. Second and third party audits are external audits. A second$-$party audit is performed by the customer or an auditing organisation on behalf of the customer. This type of audit is necessary for the client to determine the compliance of an organisation with quality standards and set requirements. A third$-$party audit is conducted by an audit organisation without any conflict of interest. The purpose of engaging a third party is for certification, like ISO certification. The frequency and type of audit to be conducted should be determined in the quality plan. Usually, a semi$-$annual audit is conducted by the client. The frequency of performing audits can be reduced if the audit findings confirm the presence of misconduct and deviations from the standards. The audit will pass through four stages: $$ Audit planning and preparation $$ Audit execution $$ Audit reporting $$ Audit follow$-$up and closure Audit execution is the primary stage of the audit process, and it consumes the most effort and time. In this stage, the auditor will gather information about the system, process, and project. Gathering information can be performed through a site visit, interviews with people, checking out project logs and records, and careful inspection of project documents and records. Any deviation or violation found during the audit execution should be recorded and issued in the form of a SOR or NCR to the negligent party. The issued SOR and NCR should be studied carefully by the organisation to understand the root cause of the deviation. Corrections and preventive actions should be implemented to correct the deviation. The auditor should follow up to ascertain the implementation of the correction.

Evaluate the role of audits in ensuring quality in construction projects. The answer should explain different types and stages of audits and how audit findings are handled to improve project outcomes. $(20)$