A Survey of Quality Management Practices in the Large Kenyan Building Construction Firms

Abstract

This study sought to determine the extent of quality management practices in the large Kenyan building construction firms and to investigate the challenges that face these firms in their quality management efforts. The study surveyed the quality management practices being used by. the Kenyan building construction firms by collecting primary data via self-administered questionnaires. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study has found out that the firms use several quality management practices with the traditional practices being the most common, though there are no significant differences in the preference of these practices. The research established four major challenges facing the building construction firms in their quality management endeavours as resource limitation, inadequacy of designs and contract documents, lack of awareness and knowledge of quality management systems and industry traditions. Those firms that have adopted quality management practices enumerated three major benefits as reduction in costs of quality, client satisfaction and increased profitability. The main conclusion of this study is that most of the Kenyan building construction firms have not adopted modern quality management practices but are still using traditional quality management practices that do not appear to be suitable in this era of cut-throat competition in a liberalized world market. Vll