Elevating Construction Foremen – Part 27

I always ask crew leaders in meetings, “If we focus on what word while doing this work, we will go fast?” Every crew leader who has worked with me long enough will say, or yell, “Quality.” If you want to go fast, you install it right the first time, with quality at the source.

This is Part 27 of my walk-through of my book Elevating Construction Foremen. If you are just joining, start with Part 1. This last part covers a quality product: pre-construction meetings, first run studies, mock-ups, prefabrication, standard work, quality at the source, finishing as you go, and the book’s conclusion.

Short answer: Quality is a scheduling system. Projects that stay on schedule, and even accelerate, do it by making a quality product correct the first time. Crew leaders get there with good precon meetings, first run studies, mock-ups, prefabrication, standard work, quality at the source, and finishing as they go. Remember that quality from the start means the work flows.

Why Is Quality a Scheduling System?

Remember what the Navy SEALs say: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. In construction, slow is done right the first time. Done right the first time allows for continuity in the work. Continuity of work allows for fast construction.

How Should Crew Leaders Run Pre-Construction Meetings?

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Meetings are not bad. Poorly run meetings are bad. My favorite way to host a precon is to get all the parties around a table with the model on the screen and access to all project documents. Go over the scope, what you will need, how you want to order things, hoisting requirements, and your plan of attack. That discussion creates the quality checklist or feature of work visual you will use to install the work. Be absolutely clear about what you are building, and make sure every person on the crew knows the requirements well and visually.

Why Run First Run Studies?

A first run study clocks the cycle time for a scope of work, work package, or takt wagon. Do it on any high-risk process, on a preceding project, on the mock-up, or at a minimum in the first zone. This is how you improve cycle times, package the train of trades, level work, size buffers, and right-size the crew. We must stop guessing durations and start using data.

On one project, the steel in a mock-up took three times the projected duration. We brought it up with the steel installer and were told not to worry, they would speed up in the field. You guessed it. Every single piece of iron on that building took three times longer. Trust your first run studies. More in First Run Studies Explained.

When Do Mock-Ups Matter?

Joel Hamilton wrote this section. When there are unique interfaces or quality levels higher than standard, a mock-up is crucial. On one project, all rails had to be fabricated to an AESS-3 level. The team built a mini-railing, shipped it to the architect, built a new one from the comments, and the crew leader carried it from workstation to workstation as a visual aid. They never had an item on site fail a quality standard.

A mock-up also works when QA/QC gets over rigorous. On a project with multiple inspectors, each one wanted to find something the last one missed. The crew leader would take the inspector back to the mock-up and ask where the requirement came from, usually ending with “ah, never mind.” That avoided a lot of work that wasn’t required. John Coffman talks about this in Perfection is an Asymptotic Curve.

Why Prefabricate?

Joel wrote this one too. Prefab moves work away from crowded, expensive, dangerous, or uncontrollable environments to places that are less populated, cheaper, safer, and controlled. Rodbusters tie walls and columns horizontally and hoist them. In Canada, prefab yards build whole sections and ship them north to gas plants, where welding in a shop beats welding at 30 below. Prefab can be as simple as material pre-cut to the drawing dimensions, and it pulls critical flow path work out of the direct line so smaller crews and batch sizes can feed the takt time. One day we will need to prefabricate every possible piece, like we do steel. See Prefabricate Everything!.

What Do Standard Work and Quality at the Source Look Like?

Standard work means following a standard for the work. Working zone by zone, there is no reason to recreate the wheel. List each trade’s work in each zone on a quality checklist or visual feature of work board carried with the crew. After each zone, reflect on it, improve it, and use it in the next zone, then format it into a best practice. Quality, improvement, training, and inspections all come from standards. We are not taking the human element out. We are bringing it in by letting smart people improve what smart people already figured out.

Quality at the source is simple. Every worker, crew leader, inspector, or manager speaks up the minute something does not meet the standard, and it is fixed, ripped out, repaired, or done right, right away. No asking the architect to approve it. No hiding it. No hoping it will be all right. You are the source, and nothing gets past you unless it is done right. Teach it, preach it, sleep, eat, and breathe it. More in Build Quality at the Source.

Why Finish as You Go?

A team took over a bankrupt project where six stories of columns stood out of plumb. They had to stop, break bolts, cut welds, and pull the building into position before any other work. After that, the next lift was plumb within a few hours. Finish the small things too: make the weld, clean it, and paint it while you are there, instead of having an apprentice chase your welder. Clean up, fix deficiencies with the inspector there so there is only one inspection, and move on so the trades behind you can follow. So to all you pushers out there, stop pushing. We don’t want pushers. We want drivers. See Driving vs. Pushing.

How Does the Book End?

These principles apply regardless of how the general contractor runs the site. All projects are broken out by zone, and all zones have a train of trades flowing through them. In Part One, you learned the who, what, when, where, and how of crew leadership. In Part Two, we armed you with tactics to lead a group, plan and progress work, and look into the future. You are a builder. Now you are a crew leader. Stop using a magnifying glass and start using a telescope. Focus on flow and quality, and you will do just fine.

So here is the challenge. Pick the highest-risk process in your next zone and run a first run study on it. Then turn what you learn into a one-page standard your crew carries into the zone after that.

Bottom line: Quality from the start means the work flows, and flow is how you go fast.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

On we go.

Elevating Construction Foremen series:
Previous: Part 26: Creating Stability: Clean Sites, Healthy Teams, Delays, Start Dates, and Meetings

FAQ

Why is quality a scheduling system?

Because if you want to go fast, you install it right the first time with quality at the source. Done right the first time allows for continuity in the work, and continuity allows for fast construction.

What is a first run study?

A first run study clocks the cycle time for a scope of work, work package, or takt wagon, on a preceding project, a mock-up, or at a minimum the first zone. It replaces guessed durations with data.

What does quality at the source mean?

Every worker, crew leader, inspector, or manager speaks up the minute something does not meet the quality standard, and it is fixed right away. No hiding it, ignoring it, or hoping it will be all right.

People Also Read:
Standard Work & Foremen
Quality At The Source Floor Markings
First Run Video Studies: Plan-Do-Check-Adjust
Why Prefabrication Matters in Construction