Inspecting construction is demanding work; there is so much to look at, including raw materials, your manufacturing process, and quality inspection process, and so little time. The last thing you want to do while you supervise the quality of jobs is waste time or have inspectors wasting time.
One way to save time is by using construction quality management software. To save even more time, eliminate these four construction quality inspection time wasters.
Time Waster #1: Giving Inspectors Long Check Lists
More is often not better and inspectors often ignore long checklists or quickly check off every box on the list to get it out-of-the-way. Thus, by having long checklists, the result will be the opposite of what you want – e.g. to make sure inspectors do a thorough job.
There are better ways to ensure compliance with job specifications, such as implementing quality control measures. A pre-production inspection conducted by an effective quality inspector can effectively identify deficiencies and address the most common causes, without the need to list every specification point on a checklist. This approach minimizes the risk of missing important issues during the inspection process.
Having a statement in the sign off area such as, “Task has been has been verified complete and in compliance with contract drawings and specifications except for non-conformance's and incomplete items reported above” will give you the record you need without causing your checklist to be a time waster.
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You want your checklists to cover most of the problems you experience with as few checkpoints as possible. Short check lists of ten or fifteen valuable points can help keep inspectors on tasks and will give you useful information to help fix and prevent problems.
One of the best ways to make valuable checklists is to have experienced personnel create them. In other words, your inspectors understand where issues usually come upso get them involved.
Checklists created with input from highly experienced inspectors can become a training tool for less experienced ones.
To ensure an effective pre-shipment inspection and strive for achieving continuous improvement, it is crucial that inspectors can relate to the checkpoints and recognize common issues. The purpose of checklists is to assist inspectors in identifying problems without adding unnecessary burden.
Time Waster #2: Not Acting on Inspection Information
Field personnel spend a lot of time dealing with issues (rework items, punch items, non-conformance's, etc.). After all, that’s their job. Nonetheless, when your field personnel perform inspections, they need to feel like the information they provide has a purpose (other than creating more work for themselves).
That it’s going to help the work they do, it’s going to help the company improve and that it’s going to make a difference. Otherwise, they might feel like they are wasting their time.
That's why when management uses the inspection information as part of the quality management system to identify recurring issues in the production process and ensure a thorough final inspection, field personnel will see the value of providing detailed information and conducting careful inspections before signing off. By doing so, they will feel empowered and recognize that their efforts are making a significant difference.
Otherwise, if the person inspecting has to choose between going to lunch or finishing a check that nobody will see, what do you think he or she will do?
Time Waster #3: Spending Too Much Time Inspecting Works in Process
If inspectors spend a lot of time looking over subcontractors' shoulders, they are wasting time. Instead, let your subcontractors be responsible for their own quality and have them let you know when they consider the job done.
To stay in the loop, you might have inspectors look at the first part of a job that a subcontractor finishes and then check again when the job is done.
For example, in the context of quality management, it is important to establish inspection criteria for verifying the correct installation of windows by subcontractors. This process involves assessing the quality of the first window installed as a representative sample. If the first window meets the required standards, quality inspectors can then perform a comprehensive check on the remaining windows to ensure consistent installation across the board.
If a phase of a job is a work in process, you do not want to be in the business of making a punch list of things to fix. Priorities should always be to look at completed work.
Time Waster #4: Over Complicating the Handling of Deficiencies and Non-conformance's
When more time is spent administering deficiencies than the inspection itself, you have a huge time waster built into you quality program. Handle deficiencies as an extension of your inspection process. Do not manually create deficiency reports, send out emails, or use spreadsheets for tracking.
Identify deficiencies right on the inspection checklists with pictures and notes to show what you need corrected, then email them to the responsible parties.
Let your inspection software track open inspections, then return to the checklist to close out the deficiency. Simpler is not only easier, it is better.
Conclusion
You want your inspectors to get as much out of your quality management software as you do. If you keep checklists short and valuable, give feedback, and help make their inspections smart and useful, their jobs will be easier and so will yours.
If you want to learn how construction quality management software can help you avoid these time wasters, contact us. We can help you.
