CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ACHIEVING HIGH CONQUAS SCORES BY CONTRACTORS

Abstract

Intensifying global competition and increasing demand by clients for better quality have caused more and more companies to realise that they will have to provide quality products and /or services in order to successfully compete in the marketplace. However, good quality is hard to achieve and sustain. Ensuring workmanship quality is tough, particularly in the construction sector, where clients expect the final built product to be of high quality but low cost and constructed in the shortest time possible. Hence, contractors are facing increasing complexities to improve workmanship performance. According to Deming, without measuring something, it is impossible to improve it and this means that one needs to determine the quality management criteria and measure its effect on workmanship performance. In Singapore, there is a defined quality performance measurement system called the Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS) which has proven to be a challenging task for contractors to achieve a high score. There is therefore, a practical value, of researching on the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for achieving high CONQUAS scores by contractors. This study will primarily focus on quality issues involved and the 33 CSFs identified as a means of developing a CONQUAS management framework for optimum workmanship quality management. These literature findings are then tested through a survey questionnaire and supported by three interviews and one case study conducted. The results show that while the CSFs identified are known tenets of quality, they are still not being followed. Thus, it is important that the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) plays an important role to implement the proposed CONQUAS management framework on a national level to compel all contractors to adopt this model on a full scale and reap the benefits of being an enthusiast of adhering to the CONQUAS workflow.