Do the Indian construction industry, in terms of Quality Control and Quality Assurance, keep pace with required standards to achieve a mutually acceptable level between clients and contractors?
Do the contractors in India, especially those undertaking large projects, have enough resources and systems in place so that reasonable efforts are made to carry out the awarded work as per standards bound to the contracts?
Do Indian construction projects get the due consideration they deserve regarding the implementation of processes and procedures to ensure that the works executed at the site meet the criteria specified in CPWD/IS specifications on which the project is awarded?
Are enough provisions made in Indian construction contracts so that it becomes mandatory to follow some basic guidelines to ensure compliance with standards and specifications during construction?
Do awareness and training programs about each work activity’s Quality Control and Quality Assurance aspects exist to achieve satisfactory output at each stage, especially among managerial and supervisory staff in the industry?
Are design consultants and architects bound to ensure that the actual work meets what they had specified through approved drawings and details?
Are clients determined enough to oversee that systems are in place and the execution of their projects is as per prevailing standards and contractual obligations?
These are some ever-relevant concerns in the construction industry — not only in India but globally too. From a true perspective, it is difficult to have a consensus or a perfectly satisfactory answer to these questions due to a variety of factors prevailing in India.
The Growth Story and Challenges
Due to urbanization, economic reforms, industrialization, and globalization, the Indian construction sector has shown continuous upward progress over the past decades. It resulted in increased employment and a boost to the Indian economy.
But India, being famous for its talent pool — whether engineers, supervisors, tradesmen, or skilled laborers — also faces a challenge. Many of these skilled people leave the country for better prospects abroad. This creates a shortage of competent manpower or managerial staff to handle multimillion projects across the country.
This shortage directly affects the quality standards of the final product. It is also evident from project experience and feedback that intense competition among contractors for getting projects leads to quoting lower rates. This, in turn, results in compromises on quality and safety prescribed in tenders, which ultimately brings out substandard work.
Quality Certification and Gaps
Though international standards of achieving and measuring quality, like ISO certification, are now popular among many established firms, there are still a lot of smaller contractors and subcontractors without such certification.
This clearly shows the scope for improvement in terms of execution and standard methodology to achieve the desired result is still wide open.
Influence of Foreign Expertise
India allowed foreign firms to operate here a long time ago, and its impact is visible in the construction sector too.
Many reputed and well-known companies that made a name in countries like the US, UK, and the Middle East — regions famous for their strong project management — have opened offices in India. These companies bring vast experience and expertise in handling all kinds of projects, right from the conceptual stage to handing over.
The various phases like design, selection of consultants, design development, tendering, shortlisting of contractors, awarding projects, project management, claims, disputes, and coordination among different stakeholders are well-handled by these companies.
This approach has, in a way, rewritten how big projects are managed in India compared to the conventional methods that prevailed for long.
Some of these global names include Hill International, Mace, Turner, WSP, Colliers, and McDermott etc.
Indian infrastructure developers were quick to realize the advantage of involving Project Management Consultants (PMCs) in their major projects — even if it came at a higher cost. This Indian–Foreign partnership in developing infrastructure across the country helped both sides. It gave Indian developers exposure to international practices and gave foreign investors confidence in India’s project delivery standards.
Adapting to Indian Conditions
Though foreign PMCs had to adjust to India’s unique management style, they were quick to adapt. They brought in best practices while respecting local conditions.
Their involvement introduced new practices in design, consultant engagement, and architectural coordination. More importantly, they helped improve quality and safety standards across projects.
Metro Projects and Infrastructure Boom
In the last 10 to 15 years, India’s construction industry has gained new momentum with metro rail projects in major cities and with the upgradation and construction of highways across the country.
Apart from Delhi, which already has a vast metro network, other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune have also seen major progress.
It is interesting to note that respective governments have assigned these projects — from design to execution — to international PMCs where quality control and assurance have prime importance.
The sheer volume of these metro projects is massive compared to other infrastructure works, creating demand for more engineers, supervisors, and technical staff across the country.
The Need for Quality Systems
The presence of PMCs in project management has brought more attention to robust quality systems in construction activities. There are now several tools and structured methods available to achieve quality in a systematic way.
Quality in Construction means: Do it right the first time.
It is too expensive and inefficient to come back and do it all over again.
Quality construction done on time is the key to successful projects and satisfied clients. One of the simplest definitions of quality in construction is:
Finish the project within the allotted budget and agreed time frame — without compromising on standards.
Purpose of This Site
The purpose of this site is to provide some essential quality requirements in the form of blogs. These will cover quality-related matters, method statements, and Inspection and Test Plans (ITPs) for various construction activities.
Leave a Reply