This guidebook focuses on the identification, understanding, and dissemination of alternative quality management systems (QMSs) in the highway industry throughout the United States. Innovations in quality assurance organizations (QAOs) and other features of quality programs are being used by state transportation agencies (STAs) across the country. The use of non-traditional QAOs is being used with both designbid-build (DBB) delivery and alternative delivery methods such as construction manager/general contractor (CMGC) and design-build (DB). The need for this guidebook is, in part, a consequence of both the growing use of alternative project delivery methods and the need for a better definition of quality management in the context of alternative project delivery. The roles of owners and contractors in QMSs are changing. These changes are leading to varying QAOs, which range from the agency-dominated system of quality management associated with the traditional DBB method to DB/public-private partnership (PPP) agreements where the responsibility for quality management is shared to varying degrees between the contractor and owner (FHWA 2012). One of the attractions of projects using alternative delivery methods like these is the transfer from the owner to other parties of some project responsibilities, which may include design, finance, and/or quality management. These alternatives may result in savings to the owner and are increasingly making inroads into the highway construction industry. This research makes a fundamental assumption–that all projects, whether using alternative quality management methods or traditional methods, must be delivered to meet the same standards and specifications that are found in the baseline method. In traditional DBB contracting in the transportation industry, decades of owner-managed quality assurance (QA) efforts and material supplier quality control (QC) experience provide a wealth of knowledge and standard practices that are readily accessible and widely accepted for producing infrastructure projects that function as intended. For projects using an alternative QMS (whether a modified baseline method or an alternative delivery method), there exists a limited, but rapidly expanding, body of experience associated with ensuring quality. The purpose of this guidebook is to bring together this relatively new body of experience and summarize it in one easily accessible reference treating the subject of quality management in alternative projects. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting