The quality debate

Abstract

The paper argues that there are intrinsic difficulties in defining quality. This is particularly true of construction in view of the endemic uncertainty to which it is subject. However, an institutional framework comprising a balance between technical, occupational, contractual/legal and economic orders was developed making possible the equitable negotiation of quality. This balance has been disturbed and the current debate within the industry concerns the way a new balance can be achieved. Two major tendencies in the debate about what quality is and how it is to be achieved are identified. One argues the need for market forces to operate at all levels, for tighter specification and quantification of quality standards and for the development of formal control procedures. The other argues the intrinsic limits of specification, quantification and formalization of procedures and therefore the ineluctable need for occupational discretion to be exercised at the point of production.

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