Implementation of total quality management (TQM) for District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) Projects at Atwima District Assembly-Precontract Stage
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Date
2005-11-15
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Abstract
A lot of concern has arisen over the quality of construction projects being executed at the District Assembly level funded through the allocation of not less than 5% of the total national revenues to the Districts known as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF). This unsatisfactory quality product has led to increasing cost to Government and other donors due to the short life span, high capital cost and long completion period of projects.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management led system designed to obtain the involvement of all stakeholders in the continuous improvement of the performance of all activities and hence the proposal for TQM implementation in pre-contract stage of project execution at the District level.
The study covers 43 construction projects executed in the Atwima District Assembly of Ashanti Region in Ghana between 1994-2001.
A structured interview/survey following an identified logical structure of pre-contract
administration was conducted. Information gathered covered the following stages:
Project Identification, Selection of Consultants, Design Practice and Selection of
Procurement System. The rest are Procurement Process, Bid Evaluation and Contract
Award Procedure.
Lack of quality management at the pre-contract stage of construction works at the District Assembly’s level can be substantially explained by lack of commitment by management and technical personnel in charge of projects. There is also ineffective
communication among beneficiaries, the Assembly, Consultants, Administration/ Management staff and other decentralized departments.
Top management commitment to TQM technique and practices, introduction of project management unit and proposed checklists for pre-contract administration are three main areas recommended for easy implementation of TQM at the pre-contract administration stage of DACF projects.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Construction Management, 2005
Keywords
Total Quality Management, District Assembly, District Assemblies' Common Fund, Pre-Contract Administration