Eliminating poor-quality buildings

This Issue This is a part of the Building better feature

By - , Build 179

A BRANZ research programme is taking a whole-of-system look at the industry to examine why we still have so many poor buildings in New Zealand when the ways to reduce this perennial problem exist.

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BUILDING A DREAM HOME is an aspiration for many New Zealanders. Historical issues such as leaky homes, land shortages and the shortage of skilled workers make the viability of a successful build challenging. This has been exacerbated by evidence of ongoing quality defects in new builds resulting in decreased consumer confidence with the building industry.

Quality is defined as a failure to meet functionality, durability and performance requirements as set out by the Building Code and building contract.

BRANZ has the expertise

BRANZ recognised that, as an independent, impartial building research company, it had a role in helping the industry understand the causes and identifying solutions to build quality issues. A structured work programme was needed to find answers to the following questions:

  • What are the causes of the most common quality issues for all building types?
  • What are the barriers that prevent uptake of solutions?

The EQI programme

In response, the Eliminating quality issues (EQI) programme has been set up as a multi-year, multi-million-dollar programme of work by BRANZ to focus on build quality issues. BRANZ has been undertaking quality issues-related projects for several years through a series of research projects. These have all now been brought together under the EQI programme for a more effective delivery.

The EQI programme is building on previous research that has shown emerging trends about what contributes to quality issues. The programme’s goal covers three key areas.

Communication

Understanding what the client has asked for, creating this accurately through design, assessing it as fit for purpose and buildable, having the plans approved then constructing it as planned is a complex process. Simple errors in communication can impact what the client ends up with.

The programme aims to identify ways for better information flow between all the key players in the construction process.

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Technologies

In this digital age, we have many tools and resources that aid processes and practices. It is no different in the building industry. However, there is evidence that we may not be fully utilising the technologies that would make construction work a little easier and houses of better quality.

Understanding what these technological solutions are, what else is on the horizon and how they will benefit construction is another key area of interest. It’s all about working smarter, not harder.

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Higher standards of work

While many in the industry work hard to deliver what is expected, evidence shows that those that aren’t are pulling the industry down. This affects everything and everyone in the process, including the quality of the end product – the buildings and our experience of them.

There must be some common causes that can be easily fixed and others that, with additional support, training or rethinking of systems and processes, will lead to improved workmanship and reduce quality issues in new builds.

Enabling a common understanding

BRANZ understands the construction industry well and knows how hard it can be. It is keen to research ways to improve the issues and barriers that hinder quality builds. There are many players, and they all think differently. However, there is an important need to connect in a way that establishes a common understanding focused on quality.

Having a clear, evidence-based understanding of what is happening and why it is happening gives us crucial insights on how we may fix it.

Stakeholders are crucial

To ensure consistent high-quality building requires a joined-up approach across the entire building system. Discussions on how to use the research findings and develop new, more-effective solutions need to take place within project teams, companies, regulators and the industry as a whole.

Working with stakeholder individuals and organisations is not new to BRANZ. Stakeholder needs have always been critical in identifying the research needed by the industry and in working to identify research-based, viable solutions.

BRANZ recognises this input will be even more important for our future as much of the EQI research relates to the building-related policies, processes and practices of the many players in the system.

A programme advisory group of key industry people has been set up to provide advice and identify how they and their organisations can help turn the research findings into viable solutions that eliminate build quality issues.

Recent projects

Recently completed projects:

  • Facilities management industry census
  • Persistence of weathertightness issues
  • Knowing enough to ask
  • Adopting new ways
  • Prioritising quality
  • What is quality in buildings?

At the heart of many of the findings is doing it right first time, an old adage that is more important now than ever. Perhaps it is time to reframe this as build it right, fit for purpose, first time.

It’s the endless search for knowledge and better understanding and the questioning how and why that is behind the work of the BRANZ team that independently and impartially conducts research for the construction industry.

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For more

EQI research reports can be found at www.branz.co.nz/eqi. For further information, contact Matthew Curtis at [email protected].

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

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