QUALITY WORK
create different colours of the mixed mortar.” The challenges with labour, Weeks argues, is more complex. If a team lacks experience and training, then quality will likely suffer. “A tradesperson specialising in one trade can grow to perfect that trade over their ability to do other trades; whereas someone who is regularly doing different trades could become proficient at most of them but unlikely be an expert in any.” The result is that a team may not always have the best person for the job at hand. The environment – internal and external – of where work is being done can also affect quality. “Even the best of us have bad days,” Weeks says, “which can have a knock-on effect. A momentary lapse in concentration or forgetting something can have significant impacts on the quality and success of a project.”
Michael Kendal
Dennis Weeks
Members’ best practice tips
Kendal says: Develop and maintain strong working relationships with fellow tradespeople who share the drive to deliver work that they are proud of. Review past projects to see what lessons can be learnt, what mistakes can be rectified and what processes can be improved upon. Weeks says: Identify the different elements of a project that require unique skill sets and employ people who are experts in that field to deliver on those skills. Build upon each element of the project by successfully completing the element that precedes it – this ensures logical checks and balances are in place. Use each stage or element to assess that the plans have been correctly followed and quality standards met.
Cause and effect
of poor quality
In the FMB Coaching Programme, Coach Maria Coulter expands upon an idea presented by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) that there are four
Fix any errors before moving to the next stage. Record each stage with photographic or video evidence to ensure accountability.
key components affecting quality:
minimum standards to meet. “The difficulty is the diversity of regulations and advice, which can be conflicting and confusing, as they tend to change constantly. However, by ensuring our plans are well made, and presented clearly and consistently in all of our projects, we can adapt more easily to the changes and clearly guide our staff.” Standards are valuable for another reason too, Weeks explains: to use them to train teams. Meeting standards requires having essential knowledge. From
Standards, Technical Requirements & Guidance for design & construction of new homes; Building Regulations; National Building Specification; and British Standards related to construction. Kendal says some form of industry certification for builders – similar to Gas Safe for gas engineers – is “overdue at this point since a building inspector can only adjudicate if they're aware of the project in the first place”. Such a scheme would keep all relevant parties informed through coordinated planning and communication. As Weeks points out, standards and regulations provide an important benchmark to work against, and are generally the
design – including changes, poor specifications, poor design integration; production – including unrealistic programming and budget, irregular inspections, insufficient quality assurance; materials – such as poor handling, wrong choices, inefficient logistics and incorrect storage; and labour – including lack of skills and training, the wrong equipment on site, bad communication
Up to standard In the FMB Coaching
Programme, which has been facilitated by Construction Coach Maria Coulter, one of the modules concerns this very topic: how to deliver quality work. A key part of achieving this ambition is adhering to regulations and best practice standards. This is especially true when it comes to questions of safety. For example, the Building Safety Act 2022 requires rigorous duties from those working on high-rise residential buildings. But other guidances, are also important, such as: Codes of Conduct from the FMB and CIOB; ISO 9001; Criteria for a Quality Management System
that strong foundation, the only direction is up.
“Standards, in essence, give us a minimum benchmark to achieve quality. But it is the finesse and experience applied to those minimum standards that deliver higher and higher quality.”
and a lack of supervision.
National House Building Council – Performance
17
Master Builder
www.fmb.org.uk
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