RICS, CIOB and RIBA launch digital tool to track construction quality

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have launched a new free-to-download digital tool – the Quality Tracker – to improve the quality of outcomes in the construction industry.

The industry bodies said that the Quality Tracker has five distinct benefits for the construction industry:

1.Although quality targets may be discussed at the start of a project, they often get neglected as deadlines approach and costs rise. The Tracker is a constant reminder of quality targets.

2.The Tracker sets up a formal ‘chain of custody for quality’ aligned to the RIBA Plan of Work, enabling all prospective and current members of the project team to better understand their risks. This improves collaboration, increases transparency, and averts disputes as project teams grow and change.

3.Post-completion, when signed-off, the Quality Tracker gives purchasers, tenants, investors and asset managers a straightforward account about the quality targets for the building they are buying into and its development history.

4.The Tracker allows clients to demonstrate their overall commitment to quality and differentiate themselves in the market.

5.Finally, the wider adoptions of the Quality Tracker will incentivise better quality in buildings which, in turn, will lead to improved human health, safety and wellbeing, and boost the construction industry’s reputation.

RIBA President, Ben Derbyshire, said, “This is a significant cross-industry initiative which will enable clients and construction industry professionals to achieve better long-term building quality. The industry needs a shared definition and method of measuring quality, and better ways to account for risk and uncertainty – and this tool is an excellent response to those issues. I urge all industry professionals to pilot and help to shape its development.”

Chair of the RIBA Client Liaison Group, Nigel Ostime, added, “Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the Hackitt Review, and the findings of the Edinburgh Schools Inquiry, there is a clear appetite for improving quality. We hope this toolkit will be a catalyst for that change. The tracker will provide a core component of what Dame Judith Hackitt called a ‘golden thread’ that has been missing to date, and we are convinced that projects that implement the process it sets out from inception to completion will see a step-change in the results achieved.”