Satisfaction of residents on public housings built before and after implementation of ISO9000

Abstract

In developed and developing countries, seeking an ISO9000-based QMS is becoming mandatory for every contracting firm. Yet, researchers believe that the claimed benefits of ISO9000 have not been fully realized and many customers further upstream may not be totally satisfied with the quality of the construction products/facilities. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether ISO9000-based QMSs can effectively uplift the quality of construction projects. An empirical study has been conducted in Hong Kong with residents of public housing properties built before and after the implementation of ISO9000-based QMSs. To examine if differences in satisfaction exhibited before and after the implementation of the QMSs is significant, a Levene's test is employed. Besides, data is collected from the clients to establish the trend of defects before and after QMS implementation. The results indicate that residents living in properties constructed before ISO9000-based QMSs were implemented are less satisfied with the construction quality as reflected by the common defects they are facing. The findings help confirm that the application of the ISO9000-based QMSs has improved the quality of construction work and hence provides empirical evidence for those developing or undeveloped countries which are yet to adopt the ISO9000-based QMSs in their construction projects. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.