Project behavior 3

Quality Management in Construction

Name

Institution

Table of Contents 2 Request for Proposal 3 Background 3 Project Goal and Scope of Services 4 Submission of Proposals 5 Budget 6 Project Management 9 Source Selection Criterion 10 Procurement Contract Award 11 Procurement Risks 13 Procurement Management Process 14 Communications Process 14 Contract Administration Process 14 Roles and Responsibilities 15 Change Control Process 15 Quality Control Plan 17 Performance Reporting Plan 18 Project Procurement Legal Rights and Responsibilities 19 Project Procurement Closeout 21 References 23

Quality Management in Construction

Wilkins Construction Inc.

Address: 1534 Excellency Way, Memphis, TN, 30126

Procurement Contact Person: Julia Wagner

Telephone number: 227-131-8990

Fax: 227-131-8990

Email Address: juliawagner@wilinc.com

Wilkins Construction Inc. was founded in 2008 to provide top-notch construction services to clients in Tennessee and the United States at large. We have made an enviable reputation of constructing state of the art buildings with postmodern architecture and unparalleled quality. We have a strong work ethic, based upon giving clients a good value for their money. This is evident mainly through our continued deployment of quality management firms in our projects to make sure that our construction projects are top notch from initiation to closing, through and through.

The project involves quality management of constructing buildings in Memphis while in the process review our project management systems to ensure better service delivery to our clients in the future (Gido et al, 2015). We intend to contract a quality management firm that will be responsible for this project that will work for hand in hand with our quality management team within our company. The objectives of the project include but are not limited to the following:

i. To work with our team and help determine what is the quality management system that is currently being employed at Wilkins Construction Inc. and come up with a better system that we will employ in coming projects (Cruz & Marquez, 2013).

ii. Determine the role which the company management has in quality management.

iii. The selected team will also be tasked with the task of determining the quality of the tools and techniques in quality management that we have employed in our company.

Anticipated Selection Schedule

The timeline for RFP is as follows: Request for RFP: May 31, 2019

Bidders to Submit any Questions by June 15, 2019.

Responses to Bidder Questions: June 20, 2019.

Selection for top-rated Bidders/ notification of failed Bidders.

Start of Negotiations: July 1, 2019

Contract Award/ Notification of Unsuccessful Bidders

The RFP will be posted on the company’s official website, wilkinsconstructions.com. Respondents to the RFP should submit the original proposal alongside 3 copies and mail them or delivered in person to the person listed above by June 5, 2019.

Timeline

The project is expected to be completed within 8 months.

Elements of Proposal

For a proposal to be considered, it must have the following elements:

i. A description of your firm including a general overview, names and details of the team intended to work in the project and the total number of employees working full time (Cruz & Marquez, 2013).

ii. One page of your firm’s areas of strength that are in line with our organization.

iii. A portfolio of a similar project completed successfully.

Evaluation Criteria

For a respondent to be successful, they will,

i. Have been operating continuously within a period of not less than 24 years in the area of quality management.

ii. Share detailed information on education, skills, experience, and knowledge of the individuals who will be involved in the project.

iii. Indicate the competitive costs of the services they offer.

iv. Show their expertise in working with clients who have needed these services in the past or currently.

Possible Roadblocks

We expect the contract team to train our project management team, therefore, the firm ought to have training competencies.

The budget for the project $2,500

Reserve for any additional costs $100

Extra personnel for Monitoring $500

Bookkeeper $200

Total Budget $2,800

We have shortlisted Angel Quality Management Inc., Excellent Work Quality Management Inc., and The Best Quality Management Inc. as the vendors of the service whom we intend to invite to submit their proposals. The reasons for this are indicated in the letter below

Julia Wagner,

Chief Procurement Officer

Wilkins Constructions Inc.

1534 Excellency Way,

Memphis, TN, 30126

To whomever, it may concern,

RE: SELECTION OF THREE FIRMS TO SUBMIT THEIR PROPOSALS FOR OUR PROJECT

This is to inform all concerned parties that we have decided to invite shortlisted Angel Quality Management Inc., Excellent Work Quality Management Inc., and The Best Quality Management Inc. to submit their proposals for the project as mentioned above.

We have successfully worked with these contractors before and they have shown that they can offer high-quality services and for competitive costs.

We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Yours Sincerely,

Julia Wagner

Chief Procurement Officer

Statement of Work (SOW)

SOW for Quality Assurance Project

Introduction

The work will entail quality management for our construction project in Memphis, TN.

Contractor Contacts

The contractor is required to provide the contacts for the following individuals:

i. The project manager

ii. Senior executive to be contacted in there is an issue that needs to be clarified.

iii. Technical support contact (Cruz & Marquez, 2013).

Contractor Proposal (Response)

The contractor will be required to provide a proposal document.

Description and Scope of the project

The contractor will be required to do the following:

i. To work with our team and help determine what is the quality management system that is currently being employed at Wilkins Construction Inc. and come up with a better system that we will employ in coming projects (Kerzner & kKerzener, 2017).

ii. Determine the role which the company management has in quality management.

iii. The selected team will also be tasked with the task of determining the quality of the tools and techniques in quality management that we have employed in our company (Cruz & Marquez, 2013).

Management of the Contract

The contractor will be required to plan, manage and administer all the aspects of this contract.

The Contract Project Manager

The Project Manager will establish an overall point of contact and will be the intermediary between the contractor and Wilkins Inc (Nicholas & Steyn, 2017).

Schedule and Milestones

The Contractor will be required to prepare and maintain the contract schedule. The schedule shall be followed by the contractor when accomplishing the requirements of the tasks as prescribed in this SOW (Hwang & Ng, 2013).

Project meetings

Project meetings will be undertaken to discuss the progress of the project between the chosen representatives from our company and the project management team.

Acceptance Criterion

Milestones will be reviewed and accepted based on requirement compliance after which invoices will be paid off. The final acceptance will be done after the company representative has signed the entire milestone acceptance and the overall project requirement compliance form (DE Carvalho et al, 2015).

The firms will be ranked according to their probabilities of which the team that is the best at delivering a certain set requirement getting the highest score of 3 while the one that has the least probability getting the score of 1. The firm with the highest score will be awarded the contract.

After tallying the results of the standards of delivery we have decided to award Excellent Work Quality Management Inc. We have awarded them because they have the highest probability to deliver the highest quality of work, work within the budget without extra costs after the work is done and also have the best working ethic and relationship with our project team. We believe that Excellent Work Quality management Inc has what it take to deliver quality services as they have done in the previous assignments (Mesa, Molenaar & Alarcón, 2016). Below is a letter to awarding Excellent Work Quality Management Inc

Contract Award Letter

4th June 2019

To

Chief Executive Officer

Excellent Work Quality Management Inc

Memphis, TN, 30452

Subject: Letter for awarding the contract

Dear George,

This letter is to respond to the proposal we sent you earlier to seek your services. We are pleased to inform you that we intend to award the contract to your firm. We maintain a budget of $2,800 as earlier mentioned in our proposal.

We have carefully reviewed the best firm for the job and we are satisfied that you will deliver quality services as you have always delivered to us and our project team. Our project is looking forward to work and learns from your expertise.

Enclosed is the contract along with this letter. In case of any query please feel free to contact us through the official website.

Yours Sincerely,

Julia Wagner

Chief Procurement Officer

The risks involved in this process are mainly

1. Cost of the project. These are the main risk of the project since it is likely to happen especially when the suppliers misquote the prices when they submit information for the budgeting process. The prices may also change due to the market factors like a demand which will affect the overall cost of the project (Guo, Zhao & Xu, 2016). The strategy that was put in place was that in the budget we have a reserve amount of $100 to cover these uncertainties.

2. Quality of the work. The kind of output in any project is anticipated depending on the material, personnel, and supervision involved in the process (Darr, 2019). Our team that will be working with Excellent Work Quality Management Inc with being consistently checking on the quality of the material and the structures being put in place as the project proceeds. We will need to hire the right personnel for this job which will cost $500.With that control set in place, it is unlikely to happen

3. Corruption and misappropriation of funds by the project team. This is a risk that can only happen when our finance team does not monitor the project team and the expenditure (Ferri et al., 2016). To avoid this risk the finance team will be giving reports on the expenditure every week until the project is completed. We will need an additional bookkeeper that is experienced to help the finance team in monitoring and reporting every week. This will cost us an average of $200until in the completion of the project.

Plans to include the additional tasks related to the deliverable that is now outsourced. According to (Cerezo et al., 2019) once you have selected your resources and the project team that you will use, it is upon the management to look into the additional control measures that will help a smoother delivery projects outcomes. For this project, the, once Excellent Work Quality Management Inc is on site the project team will engage in the process and inform us of any extra requirements that they feel it will be necessary through the experts assigned on that specific task.

Excellent Work Quality Management Inc will be giving a progress report every week through their engineers to our project team on site, The project team on site will be reporting to the directors of Wilkins Construction Inc. In case materials are needed on site from the procurement, the team working on site will make an official request through Ms. Julia Wagner (The Chief Procurement Officer ) who will issue the needed items after approval by the directors.

The Site engineer from Excellent Work Quality Management Inc, our Directors, Ms. Julia Wagner and the heads of various departments in our project team will have a progress meeting every end of the month. The engineer from Excellent work Quality Management will report on the progress of the building, challenges and the possible solutions that can be offered.

Our project team will give a report on what the challenges they have faced, what they learned in the process and the support they need from the management to support Excellent Work Quality Management Inc as the project, this form off status meeting where it involves the buyer and seller enables better results of the project (Muller, 2017). 

The project will be checked one phase one is done and the cost implications will be analyzed to check whether the project is carrying on according to plans. This progress will be checked by our directors and the senior engineers of Excellent Work Quality Management Inc.

It is the role of Excellent Work Quality Management Inc to deliver the project in good time and the desired quality as agreed in the contract. It is the role of Wilkins Construction Inc to provide to its seller the materials and the human resource that is required and in good time.

In case problems arise in the process of carrying out the project, an emergency meeting for both project parties will be called to address the arising challenges. Once the problem is established the party involved with the problem will need to solve it urgently with the support of the project team so that the project can continue smoothly.

In any project management process, change control is vital. Owing to change demands witnessed in the contemporary world, it is crucial to note that a project may require some adjustments in order to reflect the current business needs. However, it is imperative to be careful when considering and approving such changes by ensuring that they are reviewed and approved before implementing them. Change control process in crucial in ensuring efficiency in any project that is being undertaken by an organization (Whyte, Stasis & Lindkvist, 2016).

The project manager oversees the review and approval of the change request submitted. This involves considering the impact of the proposed change, that is, whether it has any benefit, resources required, risks associated with the change process, as well as any regulatory concern linked to the proposed change. The authority can also review the requests by the project manager concerning the proposed change (Whyte, Stasis & Lindkvist, 2016). The request can either be accepted, rejected or deferred once it has been evaluated based on the above discussed factors.

There are two key documents that used in the change control process. These documents include:

1. Change Request Form

This document is used to give a clear overview of the proposed change. It includes information on the importance of the change process, its impact, resources needed among other details. The authority uses this information to decide on whether to approve the proposed change or not.

Sample Change Request Form

2. Change Log

This provides the details of the change proposal and the decision that has been made by the relevant authorities. It shows the details of the changes, requesters, the decision made, as well as any comment on the approved or rejected changes.

Sample Change Log

A project must comply with the specific set requirements. Throughout the project process, the project must be checked and inspected to ensure that it meets all the requirements spelt out. The quality control plan must set out all the tools and activities necessary to deliver a project the meets the expectations of the customer. The plan defines the procedures, policies, and priorities that should be adopted when undertaking a project (Sinha et al., 2015).

The project supervisor will be responsible for inspecting and verifying whether the project is going on as per the set requirements. The supervisor will be responsible of assessing the whole progress to ensure that project is meeting the standards. The auditing of various phases of the project should also be done to ensure that everything is meeting the quality objectives (Mallawaarachchi & Senaratne, 2015).

In case a project does meet the set requirements, any member of the project team is supposed to present a non-conformance report. It should include all the backup information showing non-compliance. The report should give details of deviation from the set requirements. The non-conformity report (NCR) should show where the project has failed to meet the quality standards and what can be done (Sinha et al., 2015). The report can thus be used as part of quality control process to come up with all the corrective measures or changes required. If the contractor does not show commitments to improve in such areas of concern, then the contract should be cancelled and handed over to another contractor.

As stipulated in the communication plan, it is the responsibility of the project supervisor to report the progress of the project to the relevant stakeholders. This involves the dissemination of the necessary information pertaining the state of the project, how the resources have been utilized, as well as the projection of the future of the project (Kirkham et al., 2016). In the project performance report, the supervisor should include the progress of the project processes in both texts and visuals like graphs, tables, and charts (Salunkhe & Patil, 2014).

The project performance reports should be done weekly and quarterly to ensure that the relevant stakeholders are update on the progress of the project. The supervisor must be able to analyze the performance of the project team, changes that have been approved previously, the work that will be completed before the next report is released, issues and risks linked to the project, variations, as well as the projection of the project completion (Serra & Kunc, 2015). There are a number of performance reports which include:

i. Progress Report

ii. Trend Report

iii. Forecasting Report

iv. Earned Report Value, and

v. Variance Report.

All the reports are meant to keep the management informed on the progress of the project, when is it going to be completed, and how resources have been utilized. Moreover, the reports are meant to give details of variation from the forecasted or expected reports.

Legal Aspects Involved with Contract Management and Closure

Contract management involves management of contract made with various partners during start and implementation of the project such as suppliers, partners, and employee. The contract management objective is to reduce the risk involved in the implementation process as well as maximize financial and operational performance. In this project, it has managed the contract with Excellent Work Quality Management Inc and Wilkins Construction Inc. at the end of the project. It involves contract closure where all the task and terms of agreement come to an end between the two parties.

As per the contract act, between the Wilkins Construction Inc and Excellent Work Quality Management Inc, the legal aspect of contract closure involves legal deficiencies of contract design, provision of the contract and legal terminologies, and conflict resolution in the matter of contract (Sanchez-Graells, 2019). It also involves legal perspective in a matter of the contract, aspect of drafting contract agreement, the process of arbitration, area of pitfall, and legal aspect of contract management.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Process of Handling any Outstanding Issue, Claim, and Dispute

A technique or process allows disagreeing parties to agree short of litigation. In this project, it an effective process to use between the Wilkins Construction Inc and Excellent Work Quality Management Inc since it does not involves judicial process instead use mediation, arbitration, and case evaluation processes. If there a dispute between the Wilkins Construction Inc and Excellent Work Quality Management Inc, the first process involves the two parties decided how the dispute is two be resolved involving a mediator (Sime, 2018). They try to come into agreement by following their interest in the work where the mediator will be mandated in establishing communication flow between the two.

In case the two parties did not agree, the next process involves an arbitrator, who it takes to review all the evidence, preparing for hearing from both parties and come up with a decision to resolve the dispute. The other step involves employing a neutral evaluator who will give an opinion on the strength and week of the dispute following proper evaluation of each party evidence and arguments.

Document for the Contract Termination

During contract closure, there should be a careful review and analysis of the duties and responsivities of both parties to ensure all the activities assigned to are complete. A contract can be terminated after any of the parties issue a notice of completion of the work of for not less than three weeks to evaluate all contract duties are complete (Mickelsen, 2016). Any of the party can provide a copy of the termination clause of contract agreement were upon each parties signing the clause the contract is terminated. Others document that must accompany the termination clause includes proof of payment, solicitation document, evaluation report, requisition, copy of the winning offer, the original document of contract and any amendment made and suppliers evaluation report. The above document helps to show proof of the work done and rate of performance, and they constitute evidence of payment of the contract or any dispute and useful for audit purposes.

Right and Duties of both the Seller and Buyer in Procurement Closure

Depending on the type of contract, the buyers preserve the right to terminate the contract at any time. He has the right to terminate either the part of the contract or the entire contract but has the responsibility to pay the seller all pending payment of completed work and compensation for any preparation and accepted work upon termination.

Upon completion of the contract, the buyer has rights and responsibilities to check all the activities are completed as assigned, check whether all the deliverables have been delivered, writing of a report on seller performance, conducting an audit of the goods on the seller, and signing of closure document (Martin-Ortega, 2019). The seller has the right and responsibilities of ensuring he has received all the payment, all the document for contract closure signs, there is no dispute between the two even after the contract termination, and receiving the performance document.

Acceptance Criteria for Determining that the Project Procurement is Complete

It represents a certain requirement that must be fulfilled before the closure of the project (Agca & Cotone, 2018). For this project it include termination clause signed by both parties, approval of audit report by both parties, review of all procurement document to determine effectiveness of the contract, reviewing of the policies and procedure used in the contract to ensure they are followed, and signing of the lesson learnt from the project and acceptance of final payment.

Process for Obtaining Final Sign-Off and Final Payment to Close the Contract

It involves reviewing and confirming all the step are followed in the close checklist, preparing for the final contract report and making the singing according to the requisition reports (Lines & Raghu Teja Kakarapalli, 2018). The final payment is made after making the final financial statement record and paying any pending transaction to the suppliers.

Final documents

For this project, the final document involves the supplier's performance report that shows all the activities are completed and their following the assign duties, policies, and procedure of the contract up being signed by the requisitioner (Agca & Cotone, 2018). It also involves a contract file of both the parties.

The Technique that Will Be Utilized to Use to Elicit Lesson Learned

The best tactic for eliciting the lesson learned to involve asking a various question such if the scope was adequately completed, the evaluation criteria was the most appropriate to use, the best suggestions to make of the project, evaluation of the challenge encountered and if the evaluation method was appropriate. It also entire recommending the solution the problem identified.

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