Quality Management - Design Office

con1982

I work in an design office. We deliver all sorts of structural and civil engineering projects. I'm interested in hearing how other similar design offices undertake quality management.

I carryout checks on my designs and drawings through the process, and check the project when it's on site (setting out, concrete, steel fabrication, etc). However, we don't have a formal quality management system.

I'm certain our quality management can be improved by putting some standard systems in place but I don't know what other offices do. My previous employers didn't have formal quality management systems either.

I'm thinking I should separate the design stage and the construction stage. Very distinct requirements for each.

It's important that the system is easy to implement and not overly burdensome in terms of additional documentation and delays (cat 3 type full design check). Projects vary in budget from 100k to 5m.

Any thoughts

godtabh

I have worked in offices that have it and 'have it'.

A proper ISO9001 set up can add an extra layer of work that can put many people off doing it correctly.

I have worked in an office that 'have it' and by that I mean they have it in name but dont actually do anything to support it. No SOP etc. Not sure how they get away with it.

I have also worked with a company that has an ISO supported system but only for inbound/outbound correspondence. Purely for tendering only.

what size is your company?

con1982

There are about 30 people in the design office.

My aim is to improve the quality of the design, in terms of less errors and avoiding contractors claims. I also want to have a more systematic approach to inspecting works and seeking information from the contractor during the construction stage.

I'm not interested in ISO standards for the sake of them. Or generating paperwork to 'look good'. I want results

CatFromHue

What about having an equal level engineer check the drawings/designs and and then a Senior engineer having to sign off on the drawing/design?

I've never worked in that type of industry but in the past I did work in a manufacturing company with a lot of engineers working on different designs.

One of the checks was that an equal level engineer would check the drawings/design and then after that a Senior engineer would check it after that.

The difficulty here is that making it that you don't have to wait ages/weeks to get sign off on the drawings/designs.

godtabh

CatFromHue wrote: »

What about having an equal level engineer check the drawings/designs and and then a Senior engineer having to sign off on the drawing/design?

I've never worked in that type of industry but in the past I did work in a manufacturing company with a lot of engineers working on different designs.

One of the checks was that an equal level engineer would check the drawings/design and then after that a Senior engineer would check it after that.

The difficulty here is that making it that you don't have to wait ages/weeks to get sign off on the drawings/designs.

In theory that is the way it should work. In reality it doesnt.

If you want a proper ISO system you have SOPs that tell you how something should be done. If you dont do it its a non conformance item which can result in the ISO system not being accredited at audit. If you go down this route there is a lot of paperwork.

Turbulent Bill

godtabh wrote: »

In theory that is the way it should work. In reality it doesnt.

If you want a proper ISO system you have SOPs that tell you how something should be done. If you dont do it its a non conformance item which can result in the ISO system not being accredited at audit. If you go down this route there is a lot of paperwork.

Where I work (not civil/structural), we're ISO9001-certified but also use a peer review system similar to that described by CatFromHue.

IMHO, ISO9001 doesn't do a lot for engineering quality (how good something actually is), but only improves the consistency. The key point is that it doesn't put many specific requirements on the SOPs, so a vague and useless process carrys the same weight as a detailed and well-defined one. For example, if your design checking SOP just states "Designers must check their own work", and you can prove that you did this then you are compliant, even though it adds little value to the output. ISO9001 is a de-facto requirement in our industry and has its place, but not for design.

Peer review is a lot more powerful. Typically I'll get a peer to review my work, spot mistakes, query stuff etc., then get the internal 'customer' (project manager etc.) to sign off that they're happy with what they're getting. The designer retains ownership/responsibility for the work and the checks weed out the vast majority of mistakes/misunderstandings early. It works because the review burden is shared; you review your colleagues' work too when they do it.

It does take time to do but saves multiples of time/money on mistakes. You also get the benefit of spreading good practice and parking egos - everyone's aware that their work will be checked.

con1982

CatFromHue wrote: »

What about having an equal level engineer check the drawings/designs and and then a Senior engineer having to sign off on the drawing/design?

This is how senior management would like it to work. In reality everyone is so busy there is never enough time. Or the review takes place the day before tender issue (or after).

It can be difficult to review someone elses drawings because you don't know if they have missed a works item completely. You can only really check that the information on the drawing makes sense.

Turbulent Bill

con1982 wrote: »

This is how senior management would like it to work. In reality everyone is so busy there is never enough time. Or the review takes place the day before tender issue (or after).

It can be difficult to review someone elses drawings because you don't know if they have missed a works item completely. You can only really check that the information on the drawing makes sense.

In that case the management have to weigh up the time and cost of reviewing vs. the time and cost of claims, rework etc. caused by simple mistakes. In most cases the former is far smaller than the latter.

Doing a review can be tricky, but it's made a lot easier if there's a design spec in place to check against. For example, the customer requires X as part of their tender, so the drawings must provide this.