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THE NEED TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF DEFECTS
To be successful in the fit-out industry, project teams need to produce works to a standard that is generally only achieved at the very top end of the construction industry. This project involved the co-ordination of 19 specialist sub-contractors, and Eddie had to ensure that high levels of quality and consistency were delivered by each and every one. With the complex nature of the project, defective workmanship by one contractor could have a knock-on effect in delaying another contractor's work, which would in turn increase costs and delay the project.

One of the quality control measures ISG apply is the ongoing inspection of sub-contractors workmanship during the project. As project manager, Eddie would normally evaluate on-site whether a task had been completed by a sub-contractor to a satisfactory standard, and either sign it off or notify the contractor that it was defective and would require further work.

The inspection process would involve Eddie using his mobile phone camera to take a picture of each defect, and write down details in his notebook. Once back in the office, the information would then be entered into a spreadsheet and emailed, together with the images, to the relevant sub-contractor with the instruction to respond within 48 hours to update the rectification status.

With a tight timescale and a complex works programme, Eddie identified that the administratively burdensome and time-consuming manual process of capturing, sharing and managing the rectification of defects would cause unnecessary and unacceptable delays. He said, "Having to write out defect details, take photos and bring that information back to the office, enter it into a spreadsheet and then distribute it, involved a great deal of manual administration."

A REAL-TIME SOLUTION
Other ISG project teams were already conducting live trials of conjectMI, a mature defects & inspection management software solution, developed by Conject, a collaboration software specialist to the AEC industry based in Woking, Surrey.

In assessing the value it might bring to his own project, Eddie was keen to see how the platform would cut down the amount of time involved with data entry, and improve both data quality and communications with his supply chain.

He saw the benefits of the conjectMI cross-platform functionality; with onsite defect capture using an iPad together with services which are synchronised within the cloud, it provides an instant, detailed and accurate reporting and management solution for the project, fulfilling all of the project's defect management and rectification requirements.

The success of the application, however, would depend on its ease-of-use and acceptance from the supply chain partners that ISG work with. Eddie therefore opened up the evaluation process to the project's key contractors. Once they saw how simple it was to respond to and update defect statuses, they bought into the concept and agreed to use it, recognising that the quicker they were notified of a defect, the quicker they could respond to and rectify it. This was in everyone’s best interests, as the sooner a defect is signed off as completed, the sooner a contractor could apply for payment from ISG.

This, coupled with Eddie's positive view on the professional look and feel of the application and its wide ranging reporting functionality, made the choice to use conjectMI on the project an easy one.

INTEGRATING THE TEAM
The consultancy team from Conject configured the application to suit ISG's specific processes on the project. This involved associating instructions and drawings with specific contractors and sections of the building. Eddie was trained on how to use the mobile application's interface and reporting dashboard, with which he could view, in real-time, the status of all defects by contractor, defect type and trade.

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