Construction defects are a common cause of cost overruns, rework, claims, and more. Use these three tips to keep your projects from having defects.

The success of a building project depends on how well it is planned, how much it costs, and the quality of the finished product. Defects are one of the main reasons why construction managers have to plan for rework and fight claims.

A high-quality build is one where there are no problems and there is zero punch list. We’ll look at a list of construction problems, what causes them, and what you can do to avoid them.

3 types of defects in construction

First, let’s talk about the three categories on our list of construction defects:

1. Material defects

Material defects happen when building materials are damaged, whether the damage happens at the factory or on the job site.

These kinds of flaws can be very expensive, and sometimes contractors don’t notice material flaws until after they’ve been used on a project. This is especially true for items that are sent out with problems.

2. Design defects

Design flaws happen when the design team doesn’t make construction documents that are well-organized and correct. These problems can be caused by omissions or mistakes.

Most of the time, omission-based flaws are fixed by adding work to the scope of work for one or more contractors through change orders.

Most mistakes that cause defects require new parts or a redesign.

3. Workmanship defects

Workmanship defects are what most people think of when they hear the word “defect.” They happen when someone doesn’t follow the plans for a project when building parts or structures.

A problem with the way something was made can be as simple as an issue with how it looks or as serious as a lack of structural integrity. In either case, figuring out who is responsible and how to fix the problem is usually a complicated process.

3 causes of defects in construction

Next, let’s look at three of the main reasons why construction projects go wrong:

1. Inadequate quality control

Poor quality-control procedures cause a lot of problems in building. Some things that affect this are:

  • A lack of skilled labourers
  • Low-quality materials
  • Unrealistic deadlines

Also, if you don’t have good inspection plans, you might not be able to find problems early on in the project, resulting in more rework and less profit.

2. Inefficient document distribution

Even though the construction industry has a lot of automated solutions, it’s not unusual for paper documents to be floating around both on the job site and in the back office. This makes it hard for contractors to get the signed and approved documents they need to stay on track.

Also, builders might end up using old versions of construction drawings that don’t include the latest changes made by the design team.

When different people have different versions of the same document, it’s almost impossible to keep tracking project progress accurately.

3. Poor communication

When project stakeholders, jobsite crews, office staff, and contractors aren’t on the same page, work moves more slowly and there’s a much higher chance that construction defects will show up.

Poor communication also costs billions of dollars in rework, unnecessary delays, budget and cost overruns, safety issues, and more. It’s one of the most important parts of project management and the construction industry as a whole.

3 ways to avoid defects in construction

Lastly, let’s look at how you can stop these three things from happening:

1. Change how you manage defects

To stop construction problems caused by bad quality control, you need to change how you handle defects.

Safatco helps prevent and cut down on mistakes by letting you:

  • Give everyone access to punch lists and documents about inspections
  • Find out what’s wrong with the site and pull the plug before one problem grows into many.
  • Tell people right away what’s happening on your site.
  • Sign documents or turn them down without going to the office.

2. Store your documents in one place

You can avoid construction problems caused by bad document management by making sure everyone on the job site has immediate access to important documents.

By switching from paper forms to digital ones, Construction management software can help keep documents from getting damaged or lost and speed up the way they are passed between teams.

Using a dedicated digital platform to manage your documents also lets you check and approve different documents in the same place, giving all users access to the most recent changes, reviews, and comments.

3. Share progress and communicate in real time

Miscommunication can lead to mistakes in construction work, which can be avoided by using the right ways to talk and sharing the project’s progress in real time.

With Safatco, you can cut down on building mistakes and:

  • Make sure that everyone working on the project is on the same page.
  • Use a single app to talk to each crew in real time.
  • Send tasks, site problems, comments, and daily summaries to a large group of people.
  • Use real-time visuals to show team progress and reports.

Reduce defects in construction with Safatco

All three of the above ways to avoid mistakes in construction have one thing in common that makes them work: they use computers instead of paper to track mistakes.

With the right software for defect management, you can do the following:

  • Record defects and quality problems right away and assign tasks from your phone.
  • To handle defects, give each worker a list of tasks and a deadline.
  • Attach photos, documents, and notes to each defect for full transparency.
  • Make templates so you can quickly do walkthroughs to find problems on-site.

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