Bob Leibforth FMI Management Corp. Not too long ago, I was talking with a group of contractors about quality, customers, and the economy - subjects guaranteed to generate lively discussion. All they're looking for is a low price. We produce a much higher quality building than many of our competitors. They don't care about that. All they want is the biggest bargain they can get.
Conformance quality is conformance with the specifications.
High conformance quality decreases the cost to the contractor due to reduced rework, repair, and punch list cost. Work is done right the first time. Continuous improvement of conformance quality is done primarily for internal reasons - lower cost, higher morale, or the ability to do more work with the same number of employees. But that's not necessarily the vision of quality that customers see. Quality in perception is quality as perceived by the marketplace.