Because construction sites are constantly changing and any defects or issues can quickly become evident in the final product, it is crucial that safety and quality managers have effective communication to ensure that work is progressing smoothly and meets all standards required.
Construction quality assurance is a critical aspect of any construction project. It ensures that projects are completed to the highest standard, minimizing risk and providing value-added services to all stakeholders. Construction management software (or quality assurance software) can help with this by providing digital solutions for efficient data collection, analysis and reporting.
Having quality assurance processes in place also provides tools for tracking labour productivity and material wastage – which can lead to improved efficiencies throughout the project timeline. This helps to quickly identify issues that may arise on site such as design or fabrication mistakes, improper installation practices, or incorrect materials used.
The question is: how can quality and safety managers trust that work will be completed on schedule and still maintain the necessary quality standards? The answer is communication.
How can going digital transform your quality assurance workflows?
By using digital project management in construction quality assurance processes, businesses and contractors can better ensure a successful end-result while reducing costs associated with potential delays or rework due to poor quality standards. Furthermore, preventative quality management can help to identify areas of improvement during the quality assurance process in order to ensure that best practices are implemented for all future projects. This enables construction businesses to use data-driven solutions improve construction quality and ensure successful project outcomes.
In this article, we explore three common challenges project quality managers can face on a typical construction project – and ways digital construction management software can help to overcome them.
1. Missed defects are time consuming and costly to fix
By using digital defect management tools, field teams can quickly and easily manage project issues to prevent delays and cost overruns. With these tool, you can create an issue when you spot it and include relevant information such as photos, videos, or reference project files.
With a system available for both mobile and tablet use on the go, you can easily locate any relevant issues by filtering through several fields such as assignee, locations, due date, custom fields, task status, notes and more – and each piece of information or issue can be found with a quick search by anyone who needs it. This allows your team to quickly identify problems so that they can be resolved in a timely manner.
2. Collecting necessary project data can cause delays
Project forms and inspection checklists are an essential way to collect required project data and information.
When you enable your teams to complete the forms and punch lists they need in a timely fashion, everyone benefits. You can opt to create form templates for standard project forms, so your team knows which one to fill out. And with a mobile app, team members can easily fill out the form on their phone or tablet—whether they’re in the office or on site.
Collaborative forms can be appointed to specific roles within a company, so only relevant users will see it. Comments also allow for better communication and coordination when multiple people are working on filling out the form.
3. Tracking and managing inspection assets can be difficult
It’s a field team’s responsibility to make sure that all construction assets and tasks are accounted for, from the materials and equipment used in construction to components of various systems. Inspecting and tracking these items is critical to ensuring that they don’t get lost or stolen.
Not only can construction management software to streamline asset and equipment tracking, but it also enables you to create, categorize, and track the lifecycle of project assets from design all the way to handover on both the web and mobile. By having this tool at your disposal, you’ll find that you save time trying to access asset data in the field as well decrease commissioning resolving defects – meaning less time is wasted so that operations can move more fluidly.
With a digital construction quality assurance solution, you can not only track and record inspection progress, but also filter assets and generate asset information – including reference details and thumbnail photos.
Conclusion
In short, digital construction quality assurance provides the necessary tools and technology for effective construction quality assurance processes. By utilizing construction management software, organizations are able to monitor, manage and optimize their projects with increased efficiency, accuracy and speed leading to improved project success rates. Furthermore, digital quality assurance helps reduce costs associated with rework or delays due to poor standards by quickly highlighting potential issues before they become a problem. In this way construction management software offers an invaluable resource for any construction organization looking to deliver successful projects with minimal risk of failure.
If you’re ready to see an uptick in productivity and collaboration within your construction site, you’ve come to the right place. It’s time to streamline those quality assurance workflows and adopt solutions that will support them—this way, your team can avoid common barriers impeding project progress.
Find out how PlanRadar can help your business with quality assurance and efficiency in construction sites (and everywhere else). Start your 30-day free trial today.
