Measuring the Cost of Quality in Design and Construction

Defining quality as conformance to established requirements provides an objective basis for measuring the costs of quality, provided the requirements are clearly stated.

In the design, procurement, construction, and startup phases of a project, the cost of quality consists of two main parts: 1) the cost of quality management efforts, and 2) the cost of correcting deviations.

Quality management activities involved in design and construction (including startup) can be adequately tracked using a small number of categories (approximately 31, of which 10 also can be performed on a reworked item).

Excluding impact costs associated with deviations, the costs of correcting deviations can be adequately tracked using approximately 80 categories, and can be identified for cost tracking by cause (owner, designer, vendor/fabricator, transportation, constructor, or other), type (error, omission, or change), and time of detection (design, procurement, construction, or startup).

Existing cost breakdown structure coding systems can be easily adapted to include the major categories involved in the cost of quality for design, procurement, construction, and startup.
(RS10-2, p. 11)