The reality of working in construction is that quality assurance is very undervalued. It is undervalued from the input that people put into it but also undervalued with the incredible amount of information that is available in the Quality Assurance (QA) records.
The reality was no one was solving the problem in a way that benefited the industry. Previously paper-based QA systems were filled out after tasks were done. There is a massive waste in QA records and a lack of improvement in QA in the industry.
At Kapitol we were looking for a tech solution that enhanced our QA.
Our partnership with QA Software provider Visibuild sees us implement a robust digital quality management system that allows the entire project team, all stakeholders, subcontractors, and consultants to work in one collaborative environment giving live insights into what is happening in our projects.
Unlike traditional quality management systems you typically see in the construction industry, Visibuild streamlines data collection with real-time image captures to verify that works are delivered according to plan.
When informed live decisions with reliable data are being used more regularly, quality becomes more normal. Everyone is working together gathering QA information and collectively monitoring their projects.
The Visibuild system enhances accountability, transparency, and collaboration with our subcontractors. Subcontractor responsibilities are clear and site teams (and clients) can easily track progress on site ensuring the correct processes are being followed. Providing extra assurance, our Head Office Support Team can monitor the team’s progress remotely and get key insights into how the project is travelling.
With Visibuild you can identify problems the second they happen. Not looking back retrospectively at what went wrong. For example, since using Visibuild, Kapitol has had to reject 10 piles from a subcontractor, and they had to repile them. Works were halted after we looked at the records via the Visibuild system and realised what the installers did was wrong with issues such as incorrect covers and inaccurate link spacing. This would have caused major problems down the line with significant cost and time implications to fix works especially if they were required post fitout.
Visibuild has developed an online Inspection Test Plan (ITP) management platform that is changing the quality culture across the industry. ITPs detail the critical points of a project that require inspections and verifications to make sure the job is progressing as it should be. The ITP process has significantly improved with Visibuild as we have enhanced consistency across our delivery teams and improvements for ITPs are being fed back into the Quality Management System.
You don’t do things after the fact if you want to achieve quality outcomes. The ITPs are set up at the start of the project and Visibuild makes sure the information is accurate and aligned with third party hold points within the ITP, making sure engineers, architects etc. tick off the hold point before works can reliably proceed.
Every little issue you capture that doesn’t happen on the next job is a lesson learnt and fed back into the system. We get the benefit of over 100 companies in Australia improving the platform with their collective industry experience and knowledge. Lessons learnt with other builders and manufacturers can improve our processes and Quality Assurance across the entire industry.
Having pioneered this new system and after using it for over 18 months now, we are seeing a real cultural shift within our organisation and with our project partners. The more we invest in our QA system the more improvements we see, and we are constantly working with Visibuild to improve their system and the wider construction industry.
Australian Construction Industry safety standards have come forward in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. Quality needs to go on the same journey. No one should worry if a builder or a developer has built their house correctly. The industry must be seen as a reliable deliverer of quality products.
Visibuild is the tool that helps us see what is happening in the real world. The quality of what we are delivering across our projects has been transformed but the journey has just begun. Years of work and training and feedback will help to build and grow the system. We couldn’t do it with a paper-based system. In the past you may have asked “Can you bring me up the latest concrete test results on a project?”. It could take up to a week to gather the information from paper-based sources and files and this barrier often prevented the task from even being completed. With Visibuild, the information is live and readily available and accessible. Now we pull up live Quality dashboards and discuss live reporting on project quality and progress to make better informed decisions.
ITP templates will keep iterating and improving and improving. Visibuild is so easy to use and there is no technical barrier to using it. The more people use Visibuild the better it will be. When this flows down the supply chain to subcontractors and manufacturers the improvements are even greater.
We are pushing the industry forward. Kapitol, our teams, our subcontractors, and our manufacturers are all being lifted, and we are committed to a complete cultural shift in Quality Assurance across the construction industry.
Watch the video to find out more!
