The Two Words No One Wants to Hear

For this week’s Guest Post Friday, we welcome Erik Peterson.  Erik has over 20 years of experience across the construction development industry, but realized there was a step missing on many projects he worked on. In 2005 he founded OAC Management Incorporated, a professional owner’s representation company (@oacmanagement)  which specializes in Quality Assurance Observation to fill the gap. This innovative program protects OAC’s clients from construction defects and ensures that their projects are truly sustainable. In 2010 the OAC team certified The Ritz-Carlton in Vail, CO as the first QAO Certified structure in the world. Recently OAC has begun to train and certify industry professionals and contractors who have expressed a desire to utilize QAO internally to ensure their projects are built to the highest quality standard.

In coming up with a topic to blog on for the “industry leading construction law blog” (thanks for all you do Chris), we decided to create and discuss a checklist of the most common and costly construction assembly problems we see on projects. But after compiling a large list of specifics which included; no flashing around windows, missing sill pans, unsealed penetrations, improper caulking, incorrect application of waterproofing materials,  unacceptable material preparation, etc. We decided to change our strategy and focus on the single most common issue we see.

95% of the issues on our original list contribute to this one issue.

It is not something that is eliminated with a LEED Certification, an EnergyStar qualification, or a blower door test.

It is costing our industry millions if not billions of dollars a year.

It is the two words that no owner, contractor, or insurance company wants to hear.

It is water infiltration.

Each one of you has undoubtedly heard a story or seen with your own eyes a structure like this one.

This structure is less than 10 years old and had extensive water infiltration due to improperly installed roof flashing caps, siding, head flashing, waterproofing, and windows. The building was involved in a defect lawsuit a few years back and recently completed a total exterior re-skin. The water infiltration caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage, countless headaches for owners, and now retail businesses were being adversely affected by re-construction.

The challenge is not finding buildings with water infiltration, but rather to consistently construct structures which will not suffer from this problem. While we have worked with many world class contractors who have assured us that this has never happened on their projects and that they have excellent quality programs, we continue to see projects that experience water infiltration. We have also seen an incredible increase in green construction, energy efficiency, and new technologies such as BIM, but none of these have proven to address the issues of construction defects which lead to water infiltration.

The most effective way to consistently assure that common assembly problems are not replicated is a thorough Quality Assurance (QA) program. We have seen that having an effective QA program in place can save projects upwards of 2-3%, yet having QA (externally or internally) is consistently overlooked or believed to already be in place.

Example: Two weeks ago we began work on a high-profile project in Vail, CO which was experiencing infiltration issues with previously installed waterproofing on decks – a project less than 5 years old I might add. We held a pre-installation conference with manufacturer’s reps, foremen, subcontractors, superintendents, the owner, architects, engineers, and tradesmen; which included an overview of “The 7 Steps to a Proper Assembly” that fleshes out the substrate requirements, material prep, application method, temperature, cure period, protection, et al. All the details were reviewed and everyone was on board. Less than a week into the job, our internal QA practitioner checked the temperature of the kiln in which the waterproofing material was cooking only to find that the temperature was much higher than the agreed upon and specified temperature – which was the problem with the material that was failing in the first place. Work was shut down and the waterproofing was disposed of. Imagine that: fixing what was failing with a failing fix. Luckily for the owner they had us J – and a solid QA program in place.

Most contractors and projects that we work with do not have an effective QA program in place. QA is not difficult, but it does take some effort. Here is a starting block we have developed and modeled our own QAO program on:

The 7 features of a highly effective QA program

1. Purpose – What are we trying to accomplish?
2. Definition – Define all the terms (QA vs. QC) which will be used and get everyone talking the same language
3. Explanation – Describe how the QA process will work. Scope/phasing/assemblies/process
4. Administration – Establish a work plan: What are the goals, objectives, meeting requirements, reporting requirements, milestones, etc.
5. Application – Understand | Observe  Report | Resolve | Repeat
6. Evaluation – Regularly scheduled review of defined criteria
7. Replication – R³– Report> Refine> Repeat

This process will not eliminate every possible construction issue but it will drastically reduce the number of callbacks, warranty issues, and re-work necessary when compared with a project without a QA program. I liked the inverse pyramid referenced by Sean Lintow a few months back, and could not agree more with it. Quality Assurance is a tangible way to catch potential problems before they hurt your client’s reputation and their bottom line. So if you could save your client 1-3% of the total project cost, deliver a product that was truly sustainable, and preserve your brand and reputation, what would stop you from implementing an effective QA program? Surely not the money!

Erik and I welcome your comments below.  Also, please subscribe to keep up with this and other Guest Post Friday Musings.