Author(s)

F. Rodriguez-Lopez, R. Jimenez-Rodriguez & P. Hruskovic

Abstract

Quality assurance is an important topic in the construction industry, both in Spain and elsewhere. The concept of \“quality” of a constructed facility has evolved over the years, and it is now generally accepted that following design standards, guidelines, and recommendations is not always a guarantee for quality. In this paper we use our recent experience in the construction quality control industry in Spain to propose a definition of quality as \“the capacity to satisfy the needs of different entities involved in the process in the best possible way”, and we argue that risk management should serve as a basis for construction quality control in the future. Furthermore, we also discuss some specific examples of risk quantification and hazard evaluation with state-of-the-art computational tools that can be used for risk management in the context of quality assurance. Keywords: risk management, quality assurance, construction insurance, design codes, decision-making. 1 Introduction The concept of construction quality in Spain has evolved in time. Initial efforts in quality assurance were focused toward \“assuring constructions with zero defects”, and they relied on assuring that design codes were followed, assuring the quality of materials, and assuring the quality of construction procedures. In the last fifteen years (1990–2005), however, the concept of construction quality in Spain has evolved toward a performance-based approach, in which the quality of the construction is given by the quality of the end result (considering collapse, serviceability, and functionality, among others)—hence introducing the need for quality assurance of the overall process.

Keywords

risk management, quality assurance, construction insurance, design codes, decision-making.