Quality in Construction Management: An Exploratory Study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of factors affecting quality.This is important where great expenditures of time, money, and resources are wasted each year due toinefficient or non-existent quality levels.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach is employed. After a literature review,six interviews are initially conducted with construction experts and then a simple survey of 328questionnaires was administrated through structured personal interviews among contractors andarchitects in the Jordanian housing sector.Findings – The findings suggest that contractors and architects combined agreed that the highestimportant factors affecting quality are: human resource management, customer satisfaction, and constructionspecific factors. The findings also suggest that strategic planning, continuous improvement, resources are thelowest important factors. A conceptual framework encompassing the key quality factors is also developed.Research limitations/implications – This research has important implications for different levelmanagers at construction companies. By understanding the quality factors, managers can focus on thehighest factors and catch up with their lowest important factors in order to maintain a balanced andintegrated quality approach.Originality/value – This is one of few studies that investigate the importance of quality factors. Tothe authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper providing empirical evidence of the quality factors inconstruction management in a developing country.Keywords Construction management, Quality, Developing country, Housing industryPaper type Research pape