Costs and benefits of ISO9000-based quality management systems to construction contractors

Abstract

ISO9000-based Quality Management Systems (QMSs) have been widely applied by many contractors with a hope to improve the product quality and hence achieve the desired objective of client satisfaction. However, setting up and implementing an ISO9000- based QMS is not without cost. Unless the contractors can benefit from such system, it is unlikely that the senior management of contracting firms will commit to implement an ISO9000-based QMS. In this paper, the costs of setting up and implementing an ISO9000- based QMS are assessed through a questionnaire survey. The results are compared with the benefits attained by the contractors. It is found that contractors could be benefited from the use of ISO9000-based QMS both tangibly and intangibly. Based on a more conservative estimation of some tangible benefits, a basic operational cost-benefit ratio of one to three was derived from the results of the survey. Since the latest version of ISO9000 has been fully implemented for a number of years, the perception of contractors on the benefits gained after the implementation of ISO9001:2000 is also examined in this paper.