FACULTY OF ENGINEERING - AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY ARCHITECTURAL DEPARTMENT

MASTERE OF ENGINEERING IN ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS MANAGEMENT

2015

Summary for

Applied Research to evaluate the quality assurance method during the

architectural design phase Case study :  an administrative building at Smart Village

Presented by : Supervisor:

Architect / Mohamed Sherif Hassan Prof. DR. / Akram Farouk Professor at Department of Architecture - Faculty of Engineering - Ain Shams University.

Introduction and research problem:

Large projects require huge budgets, a large amount of resources and time to implement them, which makes them - worthier than others- in a need to take advantage of the application of modern science of projects management to achieve a balance between time, cost and quality. The role of projects management in construction projects appears in what we call “project management”, which have within it different departments from multiple disciplines integrate and cooperate with each other to ensure the success of the project.

Many different tasks are required from each of the different departments of the project throughout the stages of the implementation of the project (starting from studies and strategies stage until the final delivery and warranty). One of the most important departments of these is the department of quality management, which represents the guarantor – in a practical and scientific way - to execute the project with the appearance and the performance planned in advance. Quality have four phases within the project: quality of design, quality of implementation, performance quality and continuity of quality.

Multiple mechanisms are used for quality assurance during the design stage as the existence of a written guide to the requirements of quality at every stage and a checklist to review the output of the stage. In spite of the existence and applying of these methods in most of the institutions in the "quality of design" phase to ensure the quality and coordinate between the various disciplines involved in the design process, but there are still deficiencies in these mechanisms. Which adversely affect the cost and time required to implement the project.

Objective:

This research aims to study and analyze the quality assurance mechanism used in the design phase. And then come up with proposals to evaluate and modify the mechanism to be more effective in ensuring the quality of the output of this stage - which is one of the most sensitive phases of the project and has a great impact on the subsequent stages -. This was done by analyzing a case study of an administrative buildings at Sixth of October City.

Methodology:

The study splitted in this paper into two parts: First, the theoretical study in the first three chapters. Second, the field study in the fourth and fifth chapters. Chapter VI then review the findings and recommendations of the study, as follows:

1. Introduction for the research and research problem 2. Review of the concept of quality and its development down to the

concept of total quality management and using it in architectural projects

3. Design phase management and quality control during the design process

4. Poll for Quality Assurance mechanisms currently used in the design stage in some institutes and measure application of the concept of total quality management

5. Analyze and identify the problems with the case study with proposed solutions

6. Presentation for the results and recommendations

Results and recommendations:

First, Results:

1) A detailed checklist to review the outputs during the design phase was designed.

2) Giving enough time to review and audit the documents - during the design phase - reduces the percentage of the errors that will appear after.

3) Using recent programs (example BIM) for preparing design documents helps a lot for better quality outputs and better product quality at the end.

Second, Recommendations:

Recommendations to the government and lawmakers

Recommendations for institutions and individuals

General recommendations

It is recommended to include plans for the rest of the disciplines involved, and not only the architectural and structural for the documents required to obtain licenses for the building.

Raising awareness among individuals and institutions with the importance of quality and state the effect of the culture of improvement and continuous development .

Constantly strive to develop the mechanisms of action at institutions, specially quality assurance tools to catchup with the rapid development of technology in the world.

Providing certified / subsidized courses for students and graduates in the field of quality and give preference in appointment to the quality departments in the Government to whom possess them.

Institutions should concern for individuals (workers) and direct an enough amount of its investments to train them and improve their efficiency.

Establishing a culture of quality among all employees of the institution is a must.

Putting a cash incentive for institutions (discount on taxes - Awards), which implement projects beyond the quality standards set by the government, as well as vice versa.

Giving attention to social aspects for workers, specially motivation and activities. because they have a significant impact on the relationship between workers and their belonging to the institution.

It is preferable for the designer consultant to be positioned in between the project manager and the rest of the consultants, to ensure architectural product quality.

Institutions should not be satisfied only with financial performance and client satisfaction and neglect relationship between workers and production systems Indicators. Because they have a long term effect on continuity and improving for the current quality level.

For future studies it is recommended to do an applied research to design a BIM template with all quality standards within to lead to more qualified output compared to usual CAD system.