Implementation of a quality management system in architecture offices: case studies at Rio de Janeiro

Implementation of a quality management system in architecture offices: case studies at Rio de Janeiro Abstract The improve of quality on Brazilian s civil construction industry have been initiated after 1998 through the Federal Government with implementation of PBQPh Brazilian Program for Quality and Productivity in the habitat. This program has been proposed considering the progressively comply with the requirements of ISO 9001/2000. The design sector was the last to join this initiative with the establishment, in 2008, of the compliance evaluation system for companies in the construction industry that are specialized in preparing projects. The delay on the establishment of a quality management system specifically for the design sector is related with the great resistance of the professionals involved (architects and engineers) who could not comprehend the value of a quality program that did not assure the quality of the building itself, but is focused on the quality of the design management process. The main purpose of this paper is to present the partial results obtained through a pilot-experience with a collaborative project among the researchers of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) and architecture offices. The selected companies had the following common characteristics: interest in participating in a cooperation project; operate professionally with the coordination and compatibility of designs; not having an implemented quality management system. Among the partial results obtained, it is important to emphasize the impact of knowledge management for the implementation of a quality management system. It is also important to emphasize that the first phase of the discussion on design process management at Brazilian companies has identified the importance of aspects, such as the quality in the conception of the building, user satisfaction, among others. This happened due to the urgency in reducing project errors, such as incompatibilities between the different specialties, the discrepancies between the last reviewed version of the project and the one that is actually being executed at the construction site, and the problems in tracking project decisions. Keywords: design management, quality system management, architectural design

1. Characterization of Brazilian civil construction industry The definition of quality as an adjustment to certain requirements is the one that best expresses the tendency that in the Brazilian civil construction sector gained its biggest impulse into the 90 s, when companies found out that they have to find ways to incorporate new production management concepts into their daily practice. The work had been focused on issues related specifically to the improvement of productivity on construction site, considering: - to adopt quality specification and control Standards for the receiving of construction materials; - to define operating and service execution procedures used on construction sites; - to make workers aware of and train them on standardized processes. Considering the importance of the construction industry in the country s economy, the Federal Government instituted in 1998 the Brazilian Program for Quality and Productivity in the Habitat (PBQP-H). This program s overall objective is to provide support to the Brazilian effort of modernizing the construction industry by promoting quality and productivity in residential construction. PBQP-H was structured in projects, based on a matrix model. Each Project corresponds to a set of actions that contributes directly towards the Program s development and seeks to solve a specific problem in the construction industry. Every project is developed by the Federal Government in conjunction with specialists, sector associations, consultants and the private sector, and has the support of a technician of the General Coordination and of the Technical Assistance Group (Grupo de Assessoramento Técnico GAT), which acts as process facilitator and is responsible for ensuring that actions of all Program projects are compatible. One of PBQP-H s triggering projects is the System of Conformity Assessment for Construction Companies (Sistema de Avaliação da Conformidade de Empresas de Serviços e Obras SiAC- Obras). The objective of SiAC-Obras is to evaluate the compliance of quality management system of Brazilian construction companies based on ISO 9001 quality management system standards. (BRASIL, 2005) The evaluation of construction companies compliance according to SiAC-Obras is divided into four levels: D, C, B and A. Each level has standard guidelines that have to be met by the companies that are interested in being certified. Each standard guideline includes which ISO 9001 requirements have to be met. This way, companies gradually develop their quality management systems until eventually reaching the SiAC-Obras level A qualification. The concern for quality in projects came from the fact that most of the problems identified in building sites were due to failures in the designs. By the end of the 20th century, Helene (1992) said that, based

on studies, approximately 40% of the pathologies that occur in buildings start in their planning and design phases. Thanks to this observation, professionals of the sector became interested in discussing design management process. Tzortzopoulos (1999) highlighted the importance of developing a model that would help in the design management process, a development plan, where the main activities and their priorities, as well as roles and responsibilities of the main participants of the process and information flow, would be defined. In her research, the author observed that, in general, designers have a process approach that is restricted to their specific area of expertise, which proves their lack of knowledge of the process as a whole. Melhado (1994) introduced the production project concept: a set of project elements are developed at the same time as the executive project is detailed to be used in production activities at the site, and defines: organization and sequence of construction activities and working fronts; equipment use; arrangement and evolution of the construction site, among other items related to the construction company s characteristics and resources. This proposal gave birth to the following discussion, conducted by Fabrício (2002), who suggested the simultaneous engineering logic be applied to the design process. However, he mentioned the lack of models capable of globally treating the integration between the project and the client, the production process and undertakings entire life cycle. It became necessary to map the design process and organize companies so to ensure proper production flow in design development. A research conducted by Ferreira (2006) at architecture offices that were ISO 9001/2000 - certified by the end of 2006 concluded that, for those companies, the certification was not a market differential, and that the high financial cost constituted an obstacle for maintaining a certified management system. However, all surveyed companies acknowledged the importance of a QMS to organize their production processes. One of the difficulties in regards to the organization of the management system is to reconcile the development of each employee s everyday tasks with the production of the documents the system requires, as well as implement a culture change in the company. What one can see is that companies that try to implement the quality system very often make mistakes, such as (SALGADO, 2004): - in the procedures, they describe the ideal and not the real process; - they describe details that do not affect quality, but stiffen the process; - they plan for inspections at the beginning, during or at the end of the process, but do not detail the parameters that should be observed;

- they plan to use reference documents for the application of procedures/work instructions, but do not consider them fully when carrying out the processes, among others. It should be emphasized that the design company s quality management system is supposed to help manage information, thus making work easier and contributing indirectly towards improving the quality of the designed building (or building complex). 2. The present moment: management models for companies that develop designs for the Brazilian civil construction industry The design process management has sparked the interest not only in researchers, but also in professionals of the field, who see a possibility to with this discussion improve their productivity with quality and efficiency. Of the architecture professionals, who manifested themselves on the topic, Mahfuz (2003) was the one, who severely criticized management models, pointing out the importance of drawing the distinction between design process certification and product certification. According to the author, some architecture offices use the ISO 9001 quality seal as misleading advertisement, since the simple certification of a company s quality management systems does not ensure the quality of the projects this company executes. This discussion confronts the two meanings of a project: project as product refers to the building or building complex to be built; Project as process refers to the sequence of activities that are required to turn the original construction idea (concept) into guidelines that have to be followed by the construction company in order to create the product, i.e. to build the building. Another aspect that compromises the implementation of a quality management system in design companies is their resistance to complying with ISO 9001 requirements. The professionals of the area say that the model the standard proposes is not applicable at small companies, which are common in the building design development sector. Based on the need of creating a management system that is consistent with the reality of companies that develop projects, researchers in the field developed some management models, incorporating this production sector s particularities. 2.1 Different proposals for design management models Of all presented proposals, we would like to highlight the one the Brazilian Architecture Office Association (AsBEA - Associação Brasileira dos Escritórios de Arquitetura) prepared in 1992, which

offered a basic routine for the development of architecture projects with the objective of establishing information, subsidies, requirements, procedures and end products for each phase or step of the work. In 1997, the Technology Center (Centro de Tecnologia de Edificações), in partnership with the Union of Construction Industry of São Paulo (Sindicato da Indústria da Construção Civil de São Paulo SINDUSCON-SP), prepared a Quality Management Program in Design Development in the Construction Industry that intended to gradually self-implement improvements to the design process, by understanding the flow of design process activities, mainly the need to develop the strategic planning of design companies (Tzorzopoulos, 1999). In the search of a model that was geared towards small design companies, Oliveira (2005) prepared a proposal, including guidelines for the management of the main processes and functions of these small building design companies, such as: organizational structure, strategic planning, design process planning and control, cost management, commercial management, information system, H/R management, project-aggregated services and performance evaluation. Oliveira tried to establish a model that is different from those offered by the standard, because according to him the implementation and maintenance of ISO 9001-based quality systems are very costly, require a great deal of bureaucracy, staff that is exclusively dedicated to issues related to the specific management of the quality system, which make them basically unfeasible, specially for small companies. The Brazilian Architecture Office Association (AsBEA) focused again on the topic design process management, when it published, in 2006, a series of manuals, whose objective is to establish the scope of the services related to the development and coordination of projects. Discussed topics range from the hiring of services to the scope of the projects to be presented. AsBEA does not suggest any specific management model, but points out the issues that the companies have to consider when organizing their way of operation. 2.2 Management model proposed by PBQP-H The Brazilian Federal Government addressed the concerns of the Brazilian construction industry, specifically the project preparation sector, by creating in 2008 the Compliance Evaluation System for Companies that are specialized in preparing projects (SiAC-Projetos). This system was created within the Brazilian Program for Quality and Productivity in the Habitat (PBQP-H) and has the following main properties: Four implementation stages; Four standard guidelines one for each stage; STAGE 1 Statement of Adhesion to Standard Guideline of Stage 1; STAGES 2, 3 and 4 Certification by Certification Bodies (CO) or Authorized Certification Bodies (CCO) with in loco audits.

Table 1 Compliance Evaluation System for Companies that are specialized in preparing projects stages STAGE Stage 1 Stage 2 PHASES PHASE 1 Characterization of the company and of its planning and management processes PHASE 2 Contractor relations management PHASE 3 Document management PHASE 4 Communication management PHASE 1 - Characterization of the company and of its quality planning and management processes (complement) PHASE 3 Document management (Quality Manual) PHASE 5 Design process management PHASE 6 Customer satisfaction management PHASE 7 Evaluation and Improvement Source: (BRASIL, 2008). Design companies wishing to adopt the PBQP-H proposed model will be certified according to the qualification stage they have reached. With this proposal, design companies will be able to qualify for stage 2 permanently, without necessarily meeting all management system requirements set forth by standard ISO 9001; this will make it easier for small and medium-sized design companies to adhere. Qualification stages 3 and 4 include ISO 9001 requirements. Companies wishing to implement the system up to stage 4 receive a standard-equivalent certification. 3. Report on an experience with design companies in the city of Rio de Janeiro 3.1 Characterization of the Project and of the involved companies In order to conduct the experience of following up on SiAC-Projetos implementation in design companies, a work proposal was prepared that was presented to three design companies located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The objective of implementing a quality management system in design companies is to prepare them to be qualified and meet the requirements defined in stage 2 of SiAC- Projetos (PBQP-H). After this phase, depending on how work progresses, companies may remain at stage 2 or upgrade the implemented management system, expanding the documents and registration so to meet the requirements of the following levels until they reach ISO 9001 certification. Table 2 lists the characterization of the design companies that agreed in participating of this pilot project.

Table 2 Characterization of companies that participated in the project. Companies A B C Foundation year Number of employees Activity niche What do you expect from implementing a quality management program at your company? 1987 2006 1986 Architecture projects, including all phases, and coordination of residential and business projects. To improve the company s performance; record the adopted operation and organization; improve the workflow and information management. 6 33 39 Real estate, schools, special projects (dealers, stands, squares, etc) To organize the company s management system by establishing routines in order to comply with contracts, reduce errors and rework.. Architecture projects: coordination and development of executive projects. Engineering projects: infrastructure for developments and groups (implementation, earthwork, drainage, sewage system, drink water, power supply, lightening, etc). To standardize the procedures used by the company (from internal administrative processes to the services rendered to clients) in order to ensure the quality (deadlines, costs and technical quality) of the services we render to our clients. The selected companies had also the following common characteristics: Interest in participating in a cooperation project; Operate professionally in the development, coordination and compatibilization of projects; Not to have an implemented quality management system. The suggested work dynamics considered holding bi-weekly meetings, which would take place alternatively at the University s or at the involved companies premises. At the request of the companies, the work initially took place in monthly meetings. However, six months later the group realized that it was necessary to intensify the periodicity of the meetings and went back to the original proposal of holding bi-weekly meetings.

3.2 Company diagnosis and work routine At the beginning of the project was necessary to perform the diagnosis of the companies in relation to its management systems to identify the tasks to be introduced for the implementation of the management system as suggested in PBQP-H. Table 3 Design company diagnosis as for stage 1 requirements REQUIREMENTS A B C Phase 1 Fully met. requirements (Company characterization) Phase 2 requirements (Management of contractor relations) Phase 3 requirements (Document management) Some procedures had already been implemented for the process, but they had not been documented. Some of the procedures had already been implemented, but lacked formal registration. Some of the necessary procedures had not been defined yet. Some of the procedures had already been implemented, but lacked formal registration. Phase 4 requirements ([internal and external] Communication management) Communication management procedures were in place, but were only partially documented. Communication management procedures were in place, but were only partially documented. Communication management procedures were in place and were entirely documented and implemented, undergoing continuous feedback and improvement. In his opinion, this issue was solved at the company. Based on the companies diagnosis, the management system implementation process started, discussing document management procedures and instructions. The three companies found that this requirement was partially met; it was therefore chosen as priority to establish the quality management system. It has to be emphasized that we chose to start the discussion on the design companies quality management system by the organization of the information management system. Based on other experiences in Brazil, this has been the main challenge companies have to face that wish to organize their management system. Information and communication technologies meet this need by offering possibilities of organizing information over cooperation networks. These networks can help professionals of different companies to make contact, facilitating the registration of information related to project development.

Table 4 Schedule of work Activities Stage 1 SET OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB Characterization of the companies Definition of the administration representative Quality policy and planning for management quality Critical analysis of management process Identification and analysis of requirements for the project Briefing elaboration methods Classification, identification and traceability of design documents PHASE 1 Characterization of the companies and its planning processes and quality management PHASE 2 Management of relations with contractors PHASE 3 Management documentation Registration, forwarding and return of ommunication PHASE 4 Communication management (internal and external) Activities - Stage 2 Quality Assurance in Design Management Continuous improving in planning process and quality management process. PHASE 1 Characterization of the companies and its planning processes and quality management PHASE 3 Management documentation Preparation of Quality Manual and quality registers Design planning Critical analysis, verification and validation Procurement management Technical assistance Post occupancy evaluation Evaluation of results and the goals of care Evaluation and improvement of processes PHASE 5 Design Management Process PHASE 6 Clients satisfaction management PHASE 7 Evaluation and Improvement

3.3 Difficulties in implementing a quality management system Although the three companies involved acknowledge the importance of establishing a quality management system and the advantages of its implementation, in the middle of the year (2009), one of the involved companies decided to abandon the project. We believe that the causes of such decision reflect the main issues these companies have to face when defining their management models. According to the Board of Directors representative, these were the reasons that led them to interrupt the project (SALGADO, 2009): little TIME dedicated to organizing the company s management system: the Board of Directors representative believes that the implementation of a quality management system cannot be done in your spare time. The company should allocate some time to perform this task; the implementation of the system has to become a PRIORITY: if it is not perceived as a priority, it ends up ranking second and being forgotten. Considering that the implementation of a quality management system initially generates costs and no revenue for the company, executing the company s projects becomes the priority and not organizing its management system; a professional of the company has to be assigned to be EXCLUSIVELY dedicated to follow up the tasks that are required for the organization of the quality management system. This aspect is closely linked to the others. Smaller companies also have more limited resources, and it is therefore not always possible to assign a person that will exclusively perform this task. The OVER-OPTIMISTIC MARKET increases the demand for services at the companies and, consequently, the time to perform the tasks for the implementation of a quality management system is reduced. In addition, on a heated market, companies have problems keeping professionals and hiring new ones. Therefore, they work hard to meet the deadlines defined in the contracts. Something that seemed unusual in what the company that chose to abandon the implementation process of the quality management system as per PBQP-H said was the fact that it is a FAMILY business. According to the Board of Directors representative, it is common for family businesses not to have a formalized organizational structure especially in regards to its management. When directors in this type of companies have conflicting opinions as to the importance of a quality management system, the system implementation does not go ahead. 4. Final considerations Based on the reported experience, we can conclude that information management has to be the first step in the organization of a quality management system for companies that develop projects. Considering the issues the architecture offices that participated in the project identified, we can establish some guidelines for document management as follows:

Establish unique codes for each file there can be no duplicity when identifying files, even if they are filed in different directories or subdirectories; Organize the file directory and subdirectories on the server this should allow all coworkers to quickly identify the used path when searching for a specific work document. The company should establish its own rules on how to open new folders on the server (mentioning the professional within the company that has that responsibility), and to migrate these project folders to the permanent file, after the work is concluded. Verify the safety and control the access to the documents not everybody working at the architecture company has to have access to all company folders. Even small companies should take this preventive measure. Unfortunately, what we see is that does not always happen. Our suggestion would be to establish safety protocols to access documents with registered passwords. Ensure the integrity of the office s information and data backup A routine has to be in place preferably an automated mechanism that ensures that a safety backup of all the design company s files is done at different times of the day. Both companies that stayed on the project acknowledged that the problems pointed out by the one that abandoned the project are true; they are aware that they will have to overcome these problems if they really wish to conclude the implementation of their management systems. The goal for 2010 is to conclude the project, meeting all requirements up to Stage 2, and to conduct the first audit of the implemented system in order to obtain the official certification by a certifying body. Finally, it has to be emphasized that the first phase of the discussion on design process management at Brazilian companies has relativized the importance of aspects, such as the quality in the design conception of the building, user satisfaction, among others. This happened due to the urgency in reducing design errors, such as incompatibilities between the different specialties, the discrepancies between the last reviewed version of the design and the one that is actually being executed on the construction site, and the problems in tracking design tem decisions. Design valorization should consider conferring a higher priority to aspects related to the quality of the designed spaces, which shall not be surpassed by the needs of the companies design process management. Acknowledgements The author thanks all directors of the companies that participated in this experience: ART5 Planejamento e Projeto; FEU Arquitetura and SEICOR Projetos e Obras.

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