A PDA and wireless web-integrated system for quality inspection and defect management of apartment housing projects

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Abstract

In general, quality inspection and defect management in apartment housing construction are one of the major factors that general contractors have to consider for improving customer satisfaction and raising their images in the industry. However, many cases show that prompt and efficient actions are not made due to lack of the number of on-site quality managers, excessive workload for crews to meet deadlines, and inefficient communications among project participants. The primary objective of this research is to propose a computerized Quality Inspection and Defect Management System (QIDMS) which can collect defect data at a site in real time using Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and wireless internet, and effectively manage statuses and results of the corrective works performed. Authors expect that the effective use of the proposed QIDMS would significantly improve communication efficiency among the related participants and help quality managers systematically manage and accumulate useful data that would be utilized as a reference in future construction projects.

Introduction

The population density of South Korea is roughly 483 inhabitants per square kilometer which is much higher than that of most of the other countries (e.g., Canada and Iceland have 3 inhabitants per square kilometer; the US has 31, and Japan has 338) [1]. This high population density is even much higher at major cities in South Korea where it is not easy to find vacant lots to build new houses. For this reason, a strong demand for apartment housing where multi-households can be occupied in one building unit has been rapidly increased among residents in major cities since 1990. Since most of the interior designs or floor plans are alike for each household in the same building, there has been an increased strong desire among customers to have various options in selecting especially finishing materials, fixtures, and other facilities in terms of types, styles, quality, colors, and functions. To satisfy customers' various tastes, general contractors have paid more attention than before to complete quality inspection and defect management until final acceptance of a project is made by the customer. Regardless of this effort, however, many deficiencies and discrepancies are still identified near the completion of a project. The problems are due to: 1) the lack of number of on-site staff to handle quality and defect management, 2) too much workload for crews to meet deadlines, 3) non-unified traditional checklists and a number of documents to manually fill out, 4) poor communications among project participants, and 5) complicated and labor-intensive interior finishing work process. These problems require additional work to correct the defects which often result in the delay of project close out. To efficiently cope with such problems, there has been a strong need to develop a computer-integrated management system which helps site quality managers promptly identify and correct defects on finishing materials and facilities, and assure their quality.

The primary objective of this paper is to propose a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and wireless web-integrated Quality Inspection and Defect Management System (QIDMS) which can collect defect data at a site in real time, and effectively manage the statuses and results of the corrective works performed by crews. The proposed QIDMS can provide a structured repository of data where various project participants can place and maintain the data in real time for seamless information acquisition and prompt decision making for corrective actions when problems are found. In an effort to verify overall efficiency of QIDMS developed, a general contractor satisfaction survey has been conducted in this research as well. Finally, it is anticipated that the effective use of QIDMS would be able to improve communication efficiency among the related project participants and help quality managers systematically manage and accumulate useful data that might be utilized as a reference in future construction projects. Authors also expect that QIDMS would significantly improve the work efficiency of current quality inspection and defect management practice conducted in apartment housing construction, and the data collection and management process of QIDMS can be applied to other types of building or infrastructure construction.

Section snippets

Apartment housing in Korea

The concept of apartment housing in South Korea is similar to the one of condominium in North America where multi-dwelling units share stairs, elevators, and some common structures, while each apartment unit is owned separately. Owners or tenants generally form an association to get some after-sales services (warranty service) during a certain period of time from general contractors and to maintain their units during the remnant service life. A greater sense of community is fostered in

Quality inspection data breakdown and database structures of QIDMS

The most important and critical task required to design the proposed QIDMS is to devise a data breakdown structure which can effectively interconnect the information of facilities, trade contractors, materials, and defect types related to quality inspection and defect management. Since construction materials and their corresponding defect types vary in contractor by contractor and project by project, the flexibility is a key factor in designing the data breakdown structure for quality

Case studies and validation of QIDMS

Recently, the developed QIDMS has been applied to 10 apartment housing projects (sites) of 9 large contractors in South Korea. The main objectives of the field trials are to verify the overall performance of QIDMS and to collect feedback for future improvements of QIDMS from on-site quality inspectors and managers. In an effort to validate QIDMS in quality inspection and defect management, a general contractor satisfaction survey has been conducted during the field trials as well.

Conclusions and recommendations

In summary, this research introduced a PDA and wireless web-integrated QIDMS and its process. A unique Quality Inspection Data Breakdown Structure (QIDBS) and a relational database structure were devised to effectively interconnect the essential information such as facility, trades, trade contractors, materials, and defect types required for a computerized quality inspection and defect management. In QIDMS process, the on-site quality inspectors simply inspect the defects using the e-checklist

Acknowledgements

This research was sponsored by Inha University research grant. Also, special thanks go to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for additional support and encouragement throughout this study.

Dr. Young Suk Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, on March 13, 1967. He entered Inha University in Incheon, Korea in 1986 and earned the degree of Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering in February 1992. Upon graduation, he was hired as a researcher of Korea Institute of Construction Technology in Seoul. In January 1994, he entered the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin with a specialty in Construction Engineering and Project Management, and earned his Ph.D. degree in

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Dr. Young Suk Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, on March 13, 1967. He entered Inha University in Incheon, Korea in 1986 and earned the degree of Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering in February 1992. Upon graduation, he was hired as a researcher of Korea Institute of Construction Technology in Seoul. In January 1994, he entered the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin with a specialty in Construction Engineering and Project Management, and earned his Ph.D. degree in December 1997. Dr. Kim is now an Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Engineering in Korea. His current research interests are in the area of Construction Automation and Field Robotics, Sensing, Information Technology in Construction, Graphical Modeling and Simulation, Construction Process Innovation, Construction Productivity, and Construction Workforce Issues.

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