Quality Management in Soil Improvement Projects: A Case Study of a Power Plant Project in Vietnam

In Vietnam, the concept and quality management in construction have been used in recent years. Nevertheless, many problems have been exposed because of the lack of managerial skills and competencies as well as the internal capacities of construction organization for satisfying the rapid increase of construction project. Projects delay happened normally in the majority of development projects due to poor communication, resource mobilization or other factors. Poor quality management process has significance on the Client and Contractor as well as to Consultant Client and Sub-contractor. If the performance of the projects is not managed successfully, the parties are likely to fail to meet its goals that they had for the project, associated with the quality management. Such failures may include the delay in schedule, cost overruns, quality, and safety and so on.

Mr. Tran Tuan Binh made a study which focused on soil improvement, construction industry and oil & gas industry; and the advantages and disadvantages of quality management in construction applicable in oil & gas projects in Vietnam. His study focused on several specific objectives as follows:
- To identify the quality management in construction
- To conduct quality management for project construction

The purpose of his research is to study quality management for construction project.
- To study implementation of PVMPC quality management in construction
- To state problems that occurred in the execution of quality project.
- To give out some recommendations to treating principle soil improvement
- To learn lessons from PVMPC project.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, the quality management in construction project is very important and necessary in soil improvement project. Quality management considered in this study is appropriate and applicable in soil improvement of power plant project in Vietnam.

The purpose of project quality management in construction is to manage the quality in order to achieve the objective of the project such as time, cost, quality, safety and environment. In particular, quality management helps people involved as project manager.

Quality management in construction is setting priorities, allocating resources and implementing actions and process to evaluate the risk of project and reduce the cost.

Quality management utilizes knowledge and experienced people to analysis for the better decision making. It supplies the better decision for the whole stage of project such as Project conceptual, Project planning, Project execution, Project termination prevention or risk avoidance.

Management in construction is a very important part of project management process. It is a fundamental to achieve good product.

Recommendation

Considering the quality management application in soil improvement of Power Plan project, below are the recommendations for the most effective quality management in construction:

In Viet Nam, the project managers completely have awareness of the importance of quality management in soil improvement and its efficiency for project success. However, they find difficulties to conform factor: cost, time, quality with Client’s requirements.

Based on the author’s opinion, there are some existing main reasons which the company has to change and improve well if they would like to have good project management:
1. Lack of Communication

2. Responsibilities are not assigned clearly enough to all members: client, design consultancy, project manager, construction.

3. Cost estimate in national norm is not appropriate with actual case.

4. Complex Legal procedures.

In conclusion, a good soil improvement quality management for every stages: engineering, procurement, construction, installation, hook up, pre-commissioning and commissioning in hand is very important, however how to manage and control efficiently and effectively the performance of QMS can lead the success or failure of any projects especially the complicated and big projects in oil & gas governed by soil improvement quality management.

His thesis abstract is copied and posted.

Abstract

In construction project, quality management is a very important sector using particular method to achieve the best practices in the project of company. Quality management is a systematic approach to managing unexpected issues circumstances related to a threat through a sequence of human activities including: Quality identification, Quality classification, and Quality control and Quality improvement

In the organization, there are some ways of quality management such as quality management in construction, quality management in operation and quality management in business.

The purpose of Quality management is to reduce risks. It may refer to numerous types of threats caused by environment, technology, human, and organization and politic. On the other hand it involves all means available for human, or in particularly, for a quality management entity.