Building qualityFEATURESECTION

56 — August/September 2016 — Build 155

Initiatives to improve build quality

The New Zealand Certified Builders Association (NZCB) is proactively working to reduce defects through initiatives such as a mobile demonstration unit to show builders how to build common construction details correctly.

BY GRANT FLORENCE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NEW ZEALAND CERTIFIED BUILDERS

OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, the building industry has been peppered with significant fluctuations in levels of demand. These fluctuations – particularly evident in the residential sector – are well known and referred to by most as boom and bust cycles.

The downside of the upsideWhile there are many positives for all stakeholders in the building industry as we experience the boom times, there are also some negatives. History shows that these often don’t come to light until well after the end of the boom cycle and are usually accompanied by a decline in homeowner confidence in the building industry.

The pressure on industry in boom cycles is significant. It includes well documented issues such as:

● lack of skilled tradespeople ● lack of experienced people, on and off site, in supervisory roles ● reduced education levels ● reduced productivity ● less attention to quality ● the entry of participants into the industry without the understanding, experience or desire to meet accepted quality levels.

Build quality has deterioratedDeterioration in build quality is a concerning key indicator appearing in the residential sector during this boom cycle. This is evidenced by the high levels of inspection failures reported by building consent authorities (BCAs), the outcomes of industry-generated research and feedback from experienced industry practitioners.

Quality oversight too late in processPressures from the boom cycle are contributors, but there are also other factors. One is that the industry has evolved, perhaps due to modern demands, and taken quality oversight away from the front and middle parts of the build process.

The responsibility for identifying, managing and policing quality has been put at the very end of the process – the BCA inspection. The phrase ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’ comes to mind.

We differ from other industries like sophisticated manufacturing, that have a mantra and culture of building in quality in the process, not inspecting quality in the process.

The building boom is putting presssure on the building industry.

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Too much costly reworkThe outcome of the lack of quality oversight at the front and middle part of the process is that we build stuff, we find errors, we fix stuff. This approach is wrong. The defect has already occurred before it is identified, and the rework has to take place.

Rework costs builders money and is a significant blight on the produc-tivity of the industry. Unfortunately, it is clear that rework occurs right across the building process from design to handover – not just in the on-site building process.

NZCB has practical initiatives So what is New Zealand Certified Builders Association (NZCB) doing about it?Building Insites programmeIn partnership with BRANZ, NZCB has launched the Building Insites programme. This is supported by BCAs. Common construction details that are regularly built incorrectly and have a significant impact on build quality and productivity have been identified.

Utilising the experience of member mentors, NZCB is providing training on these details with practical demonstrations held on specially built trailers. Sessions will start shortly and take place where builders are working or by request.

Open to all builders, the sessions will be short and sharp and include training on the relevant regulation, theory and construction best practice. They will include demonstrations with the actual detail sections situated on the trailer.

The Insite sessions will be piloted in Auckland and the Waikato, but NZCB sees a real need for this initiative to grow and be taken across the country.Toolbox seminarsThe next seminar in the NZCB annual series is Build quality – have we got it right? It covers the length and breadth of the country and is aimed at educating builders and lifting the bar.

The seminar includes: ● what poor build quality looks like ● what is driving poor quality ● how it is impacting on builders’ liability, productivity and builders’ profit ● how the indicators that builders have historically used to measurequality are different to homeowners’ expectations and those of thebuilding inspector.

There are three different ways of measuring build quality. The seminar includes simple measures that builders can put in place to ensure they:

● get it right first time – no rework ● have happy clients – more referrals ● improve productivity and builders’ profitability – for better marginsand volume of work that can be handled.

The interactive seminars also include presentations on improving build quality from members of the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand (BOINZ) and Winstone Wallboards.

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