Quality Assurance
Our Systems & Approach
Quality Always
We are fully committed to quality assurance, consistently investing year on year to maintain our reputation by ensuring we have the finest systems and highly qualified personnel.
MV Kelly are one of our most highly regarded groundworkers who have demonstrated their commitment to quality assurance and assisted us in developing processes and procedures which are worker friendly but really contribute towards the delivery of quality.
Mark Bailey, Regional Managing Director – Barratts
Start Well
We believe that a quality job starts with a quality and value-reviewed design.
To that end, we have a dedicated team that review Engineering drawings from a practical and cost effective point of view to ensure that what looks feasible on paper is buildable and maintainable at a fair price.
We encourage constructive review meetings ahead of any site start to ensure that our clients are getting the right quality and value design.
The Right Team
A specialist, professional quality team who advise, train, score and ultimately instruct the rectification of work during their visits. We view this process as one of education, gradual improvement, and sustainability.
We want to develop a skilled and conscientious workforce that has the ability to adapt to the ever-changing expectations and requirements of the industry.
Our site supervisors are required and trained to check their own teams and sub-contractors work to complement the independent inspections.
End Well
We strive to provide works at completion that both developers and residents can trust is to the highest standard, compliant with all regulatory authorities, with a ‘Right First Time’ approach.
Consistent Quality Assurance throughout the build process and supply chain helps to ensure that we hand over a finished product we are proud of and that our Clients and Residents can count on.
Since introducing our quality assurance system, we have witnessed significant enhancements throughout every aspect of our business, driving excellence and growth.
%
Reduction in infrastructure defects
%
Reduction in Customer Care call outs
%
Increase in efficiency
Our Quality Assurance System
With a huge investment behind it, and constant evaluation of its efficiency, our Quality Assurance system has seen our infrastructure defects reduce by more than 80% and customer care calls drop year on year.
Our Programme
We are fully committed to Quality Assurance, consistently investing year on year to maintain our reputation by ensuring we have the finest systems and personnel.
The NHBC estimates that correcting defective or incorrect works accounts for 21% of project costs, 20% of site waste, and 30% of accidents across the Industry. Additionally, 72% of newly built homes have some form of defect from occupation.
Around 100 Infrastructure and 100 Civils/Groundworks Inspections are carried out per calendar month. Each Inspection covers around 50+ items ranging across the specific requirements of the site.
Bespoke software
It provides continuous improvement at every stage of build. All data and evidence from the software is stored and filed for company records and used to analyse and advance Quality throughout the process.
The results
The results from this process have seen our infrastructure defects reduce and our customer care call outs decrease year on year, despite our continued growth. The cost savings from minimising defects far exceed the investment, and the reputational, safety, and environmental advantages of getting it right the first time have solidified this approach as a resounding success.
We are dedicated to further improvement, ensuring responses are as swift and effective as reaonsably practical. For us, even a single unresolved issue is one too many! We always welcome constructive feedback from clients, customers and our own team.
Customer care
Our dedicated in-house Customer Care team is available around the clock, every day of year, ensuring our clients consistently receive the highest standard of service. While our robust quality process address the majority of larger defects, some issues inevitably require the attention of our team.
We take pride in offering direct, out-of-hours responses with a designated team member at the end of the phone to manage calls and arrange immediate resolutions for urgent matters. Our Quality process is continually reviewed and refined, utilising insights from our statistics and findings. This allows us to address issues effectively whilst enhancing our system to minimise the likelihood of future occurrences.
The 6 Quality Steps We Undertake Post-Contract Award
01
Initial discussions take place during internal pre-start meetings with site teams around the projects design, complexity and technical considerations alongside training and education in the build.
02
First site inspections ensure the quality of materials, workmanship and independent testing specifications are understood and undertaken. This includes further training and education of specific requirements of the project.
03
Continuous visits at consistent intervals ensure the build quality is to the high standards expected. We remove defective work identified, raise snagging issues and halt future work if the quality does not meet the standard we strive for. We would rather miss a deadline than hand over substandard work.
04
Post staged build inspections are carried out to ensure that, before handover any issues raised through Quality Inspections are closed out and rectified, materials placed correctly and nothing has been compromised in the process. Our Quality Maintenance system is utilised to ensure all as-built information data is recorded.
05
Prior to final stage completion we re-check our work alongside various authorities. Any defects or issues are rectified, and works are signed off for completion.
06
Post completion we collate final as-builts and Quality assurance documents to handover to our Client to review and run through any operational or maintenance queries.
Quality Manual
For detailed insights into our standards and procedures, please refer to our Quality Manual.