Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of defects on the satisfaction of residential construction customers. Three working hypotheses were tested: first, defects in residential construction impact the customer satisfaction; second, different defects have different impacts on customer satisfaction; and third, interviewing customers about defects in their residential units is not a reliable method to collect data. Design/methodology/approach: The research investigated correlations between data on defects and customer satisfaction surveys carried out by a construction company on its projects. Data were cross-checked to determine what kinds of defects have the worse impact on customer satisfaction. Findings: The occurrence of defects does not necessarily jeopardize customer satisfaction, although it appears to be a concern to the customers who responded to the survey. When the occurrence of defects did interfere with customer satisfaction, it was found that the worse impacts resulted from the occurrence of multiple defects in a single unit, the inability of the construction company to communicate with the customer after a claim was filed, and the occurrence of functional defects. Results suggest that interviewing customers about the defect occurrence in their units is not a reliable method to collect data for research purposes. Practical implications: Results can be used to help companies better define continuous improvement activities and avoid the occurrence of defects that cause the worse impacts to customer satisfaction. Originality/value: Data availability is a challenge for studies on defects. This study had direct access to data from a construction company, which made the presented analyses possible.

Collaborative scheduling (CS) and related practices impact the performance of construction projects which can be measured by key performance indicators (KPIs). However, little is known about which of these practices are implemented and how their combined implementation might impact KPIs. The objectives of this research are to identify perceptions of CS practices that drive project performance, define CS practices used by industry that impact KPIs, and establish practices that are more commonly implemented and have a higher potential to positively impact KPIs. The research team conducted a nationwide survey in the United States and obtained 241 usable responses. Utilizing an information theory approach to measure the uncertainty of implementation and impact of each practice, the research built a set of Chow–Liu tree models to determine the most efficient sequence of actions to improve CS. Results indicate that meeting owners’ expectation throughout the life-cycle of the project from design through construction and commissioning, using the schedule to support a strong project culture, and an effective communication plan were the top CS levers for overall KPI improvement. An innovative method was developed to help construction project managers discover the value of each CS practice, the relation between CS practices, and CS practices’ influence to project KPIs so that managers can improve KPIs efficiently by prioritizing their CS practices according to their own project needs.

Supplier quality management (SQM) inside the construction industry is complex given the one-off nature of projects and the enormity of project size and life cycle. The resultant supply chain that supports these projects is extremely broad and deep, creating unique challenges with managing a network of hundreds and even thousands of independent contractors, sub-contractors, and suppliers that often span the globe. It is a continual challenge to ensure that the project equipment, products, and materials that are produced are not in need of rework. This article summarizes findings from the literature of diverse approaches for SQM in the construction industry, and from other industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, aerospace, and food and restaurant. The aim is to identify approaches that could be beneficial to the construction industry such as supplier partnerships, category captain management, and product life cycle management and to determine how these approaches might be adapted to the construction industry. Engineering managers are challenged to improve SQM within an environment of limited resources. By investigating effective practices of SQM inside and outside the construction industry, the engineering manager can leverage and apply these practices. The contribution of this article includes examining and identifying diverse practices for assuring supplier quality. These practices can be applied by engineering practitioners to improve the current management systems so that poor quality problems can be prevented.

The process of assuring the procured and fabricated materials for an engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project are within their quality requirements is challenging because nearly every EPC construction project is complex and distinctive from previous projects in terms of its size, supply chain, and materials usage. In particular, EPC projects include contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers who collaboratively perform the engineering design for the project, procure the required materials and equipment, and then construct. Many (or most) construction organizations, representing owners and contractors, place high importance on documenting and tracking the quality performance of their suppliers as part of their sup plier quality management (SQM) to ensure that procured and fabricated materials are within the quality specifications. However, these organizations still face problems with their SQM, evidenced by the large number of rework tasks and replacement efforts for the supplied materials in the E...