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MANAGING QUALITY ON CONSTRUCTION SITES IN SOUTH AFRICA: AN EASTERN CAPE CASE STUDY

In South Africa, construction projects still experience non$-$conformance to quality requirements as well as cost

and schedule overruns to the detriment of clients. For project success to be attained, conformance to these

parameters is the minimum expectation in the face of other considerations related to client satisfaction. Thus,

through the use of existing literature, and a field study conducted among site management employees working

for general contractors $($GCs$)$ in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, the management of quality on

construction sites was examined. The study that was descriptive in nature shows that lack of skilled general workers

and artisans contribute to poor quality control and management processes$$ while defects and rework form the main

reason for project quality deviations on the sampled sites. The quality deviations in turn influence the level of cost

and time overrun experienced on construction projects. The study corroborates the literature reviewed in that there

is an interrelationship between cost, quality, and time in South African construction. For example, when the quality of

work is below the required threshold, it leads to cost and time overruns due to rework that requires extra effort

and expense. The value of this explorative study is that both site management and workers should be hands$-$on

in terms of managing quality on project sites as failure to do so could have a domino effect relative to other project

considerations.

The quest for optimum reputation by a general contractor $($GC$)$ in the construction industry demands project

performance considerations that would improve the satisfaction of clients. General contractors $($GCs$)$ gain

reputation through fulfilling the needs of clients and the gain of reputation is the major requirement for a GC to

be more competitive in the sector $($Ashworth$,2004).$ The interdependence between the business and project

aspects of construction management has been argued to be crucial in the quest for improved profitability in the sector

$($Smallwood$,2006).$ The interdependence can be gleaned from various construction management related

researched findings from South Africa. Ncwadi and Dangalazana $(2006)$ report that South African construction is faced

with productivity and quality problems. The authors contend that productivity and quality in South Africa has dropped,

while health and safety $($H&S$)$ have only marginal improved. As a result, the industry is continuously experiencing

confrontations with regard to dissatisfaction of clients $($Ncwadi and Dangalana, $2006).$ This may suggest that

contractors have realized the importance of H&S in the construction industry, and then started to focus on H&S$,$ at the

expense of other project considerations such as quality. The lack of quality is recognized through non$-$conformance

of work to the established requirements that is evident when constructed project does not meet client$$s needs and

specifications $($Battikha$,2002).$

Concealed quality related problems such as rework during construction process can be projected to other phases of

the process $($Ford and Sterman, $2003).$ The quality of work is one of the factors that reduces the incidences of rework and

then, determine clients$$ satisfaction levels. Client dissatisfactions conversely could lead to a drop in the market share

and profit of the construction firm that is responsible for a project through its implications for productivity $($Rivas$,$

Borcherding, Gonzalez and Alarcon, $2011).$ Quality deviations affect clients and other members of the supply

chain, especially contractors. This means non$-$conformances affect the contractor because it yields penalties in the

form of rework, which can significantly reduce productivity $($Rivas et al$.,2011).$ Furthermore, this demonstrates

that quality$$ time, cost, and productivity are always linked together in construction $($Battikha$,2002).$ According to

Joubert, Cruywargen and Basson $(2005),$ who cited Grobbelaar $(2001)$ and Ngowi $(2001),$ top management in

construction firms, both in South Africa and Botswana$$ do not show enough commitment to quality because of a skewed

focus on profit maximization and construction time reduction. In some cases, it might happen that management$$s

commitment is not clearly communicated to the workforce of a project in terms of access to the quality policy and goals of

a firm and $/$ or workers are not motivated to deliver work that conforms to requirements $($Joubert et al$.,2005).$

This illustrated scenario contradicts the needs of clients nowadays as they require quality more than price, especially in

the public sector. The analogy means that clients do not necessarily look towards minimizing cost at the expense quality.

To deal with this problem, commitment to quality is the main fact