As American author John Steinbeck wrote (borrowing from Scottish poet Robert Burns), the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. In homebuilding, if quality assurance isn’t taken seriously during construction, all of the design and engineering effort that went before is worthless.

Take the performance goal of comfort, for example. If the foundation, walls, and roof of a home don’t achieve the thermal performance goals that the heating and cooling system was designed to meet, homeowner comfort can suffer. Defects can arise from faulty insulation installation, inadequate air sealing, or the wrong window being delivered and installed. If the distribution system is not tightly sealed with mastic, air may not get delivered to the space it was intended for.

Quality assurance can be especially challenging when you’re using new products or practices to improve the home’s quality. New products and practices require the site supervisor to be diligent and constantly paying attention. It’s the site supervisor’s job to make sure everything is done correctly.

Using scopes of work to assure quality
One critical component of a comprehensive quality assurance process is documentation, commonly known as scopes of work. Because there are so many people involved, especially in big builders’ organizations, it’s essential to make sure everyone’s on the same page. You want to create comprehensive scopes of work that allow for consistent communication throughout you and your trade contractors’ organizations.

Scopes of work should be customized for the different people who will need it. For example, purchasing agents, site supervisors, and trade contractors will use the same documentation differently, so tailor it to their needs. A comprehensive scopes-of-work package for these groups should include installation details, installer checklists, an installer requirement of understanding, material spec sheets, standards and requirements, supervisor checklists, and a step-by-step installation guide.

Using training to assure quality
A second critical component of a comprehensive quality assurance program is training. With multiple homes in various stages of production and continual employee turnover, it can be extremely difficult to maintain a consistent level of quality. Consistent training will help improve the overall quality of homes built. And consistent levels of quality can help you shorten punch lists, minimize waste, reduce warranty claims, and increase overall customer satisfaction. In simpler terms, this adds up to better business. For more information about training your teams, visit www.buildiqu.com.

Don’t gamble on whether your planning and design are being implemented correctly. Make sure your quality assurance process includes documentation and training to enable your team to carry out your best-laid plans in the field.