Impact of ISO 9000 on the reduction of building defects

Abstract

While the ISO 9000 Quality Assurance (QA) Standards are undeniably the most prolific of all formal QA standards, the experiences that the construction industry has had with it are at best mixed. Past research which investigated its impact, in terms of benefits and costs, suggests that most construction firms have yet to achieve optimal results from its implementation and use. This paper investigates the impact of ISO 9000 on the reduction of building defects in the construction industry. By means of an extensive condition survey involving 53 institutional buildings and an evaluation using the Multiple Linear Regression as well as the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), it examines how ISO 9000 certification for contractors may affect the amount of defects occurring in their completed building projects.