An Evaluation of Application of Quality Assurance in Construction of Private Building Projects in Tanzania

Abstract

In Tanzanian, most of the privately owned residential apartments start to deteriorate few years after the practical completion, some of which need so many maintenance works to be done, as a result making the maintenance costs to be higher for the life of a building. Quality Assurance (QA) is a mechanism which is used to ensure that the quality of the project which is constructed conform with the specified requirements set prior to the execution of the project. This study aimed at evaluating the implementation of quality assurance in construction of private building projects in Tanzania. Achieving the objective, the study has examined the implementation of quality assurance, challenges towards the implementation of quality assurance and recommending ways of enhancing the implementation of quality assurance in construction of private building projects in Tanzania. The dimension of quality assurance implementation under the study includes preparation of quality assurance plan, the use of quality assurance techniques and other requirements needed in co-operation with the technique. Selection of projects was done purposively basing on the category of multi-storey residential apartments building projects which are currently in progress owned by private individuals, located in Dar es Salaam and are in a range of 2 storey up to 20 storey. Questionnaire survey was the main tool used to gather data relating to this dissertation. Total numbers of questionnaires were 67, only 44 were responded. Analysis of raw data was done using SPSS version 25. The study reveals that, many of the supervisors are not familiar with some other techniques of implementing QA with the exception of inspection technique and implementation is done without considering other requirements in co-operation with the technique used. Preparation of QA plan, site meetings, and quality peer reviews, frequency of site visit and adequate time of approving material are not fully considered when assuring quality at site. The study recommends ways that can be used by project supervisors so as to enhance the implementation of QA in construction of private building projects in Tanzania