Newsgroup: it.discussioni.iso9000
Titolo: ISO9000

any opinion about the Hong Kong construction firms in managing and
implementing the ISO9000 Quality Assurance System?

 implementing the ISO9000 Quality Assurance System?
What is your question? Is it about ISO9000, Hong Kong firms, those firms
adherence to 9000?  Help us out here.
Sincerely,
Donald L. Phillips, Jr., P.E.
Worthington Engineering, Inc.
145 Greenglade Avenue
Worthington, OH  43085-2264
dphi...@worthingtonNSengineering.com
(remove NS to use the address)
614.937.0463
 voice
208.975.1011
 fax
http://worthingtonengineering.com

In recent years, the various incidents involving compliance of construction
works both in public and private sectors have aroused communityĄŚs concerns
on building and construction quality as a whole.  Hong Kong has the highest
proportion of ISO9000 accredited construction firms.  However, a poor
quality record is still existing in construction industry.
can u tell me why ?
"Don Phillips" <dphi...@worthingtonNSengineering.com> źśźgŠóślĽó
news:UxiRa.17156$zE.1...@fe1.columbus.rr.com...
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 can u tell me why ?
I personally think that are several reasons - not just in Hong Kong:
1) Owners who are so focused on costs and quality is sacrificed when they
only look at the low bidder.  I believe in "you get what you paid for."
Part of this is based on how society sees the world - everything is a
commodity.  People compare an apple and an orange and base their selection
only on cost.  A subset of this is supervision.  If you do not pay someone
to oversee a job to ensure everything is being done correctly, you tend to
lose control of the quality.  A good contractor watches everyone to ensure
quality.  A poor contractor waits until it is caught.
2) Owners who are focused on time press contractors into cutting quality
corners.  Sometimes, you have out of sequence work that may buy you time but
at the expense of long term maintenance issues.  I think this is another
by-product of society.  We expect voicemail and e-mail to be returned
immediately and cannot understand that paint needs time to dry.  Similarly,
supervision of the work and ensuring corrections are made would kill the
schedule so quality suffers.
3) There is a trend towards design-build which is evolving into hiring a
contractor who is responsible for putting together permit drawings.  These
drawings meet code but do not address quality.  I am seeing less and less
project manuals with very specific requirements.  I see too many times
someone puts on a drawing a "standard wall."   If quality is not defined,
you do not get it.  The goal here is to save time, money or both.
4) The trades are not as well trained as they once were.  There is a
shortage of people that will become more grave in the next 10 years.
Apprenticeship is sometimes measured in months where it was once years.  I
do not believe this is a union versus open shop issue.  I think you have to
put younger workers out on jobs than you once did due to these shortages as
well as demands for faster and cheaper projects.  I understand Japan faced
this a while back and are leaders in robotic technology for construction.
5) Project managers and superintendents are also not as well trained either.
It is similar to the trades problem.  I saw a job once where the
superintendent was the finishes foreman on the previous job because the
superintendent was promoted to project manager.  Neither was ready but the
company had to fill the need.  The job is in litigation over unpaid subs and
incomplete work.
Back to ISO9000.  My understanding of ISO9000 is it is about commitments.
If you, as a contractor, have a quality assurance and quality control
program, ISO9000 requires this program be documented, your quality control
measures documented, and periodic certifications to ensure you are following
your quality control program.  What is does not do is set the quality
standard.  Typically, this is defined by the industry, for instance, ACI for
concrete.  If you install a FF50 floor and you followed your ISO9000
program, chances are your floor is very flat for most clients.  But this
client needs an FF125 floor due to its business needs.  You met ISO9000 but
failed your client.
I hope that is helpful.
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i see, thanks for your opinion. It's very practical and precise. I learnd
alot.
but i want to know .... are there any mean to improve these situation or
modify the system? e.g simplify the process of certifying the quality of the
works. Does it work?
"Don Phillips" <dphi...@worthingtonNSengineering.com> 撰寫於郵件
news:x%ERa.536$R46...@fe3.columbus.rr.com...
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 works. Does it work?
Sorry, I do not understand your question.
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