The production of defects in construction – An agency dissonance

The costs of defects and quality issues in construction can be significant for stakeholders and can include societal consequences. The aim is to address how failures and defects are produced and handled in the social practices of construction projects and specially to scrutinize the unintended consequences of both structured and chaotic problem solving. The argument is based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of a dwelling project, encompassing just over 100 days of fieldwork. Structuration theory was applied to understand the interrelations between project actors and structures in the handling and redressing of quality issues and to elucidate unintended consequences of the practices. The analytical strategy was abductive, allowing theory and empirical material to inform each other. Two cases were selected; the well-structured process of erecting concrete panels and the chaotic processes of building a penthouse. The results show how routine and experience are helpful, but also how they maintain an “acceptable” level of defects, which should change the widespread appreciation of experience as being positive for building quality. The unintended consequences of routinized practices are corroborated by the lack of knowledge sharing beyond the project. Both reactive and proactive problem-solving practices are important, but the reactive tend to dominate

Byggeriets produktion af svigt i et strukturationsperspektiv - et studie af reaktive og proaktive problemløsningspraksisser

The thesis is the result of an Industrial PhD project conducted in NCC Construction Denmark addressing quality issues. The study examines how failures and defects are produced in the social practices of construction projects and the role of problem solving. The approach to failures and defects is open-minded and empirically oriented. It is the specific phenomenon of the failures and defects that are investigated, but also the previous actions, processes and structures that affect the incidents, as well as the ex post effects in terms of consequences for both actors as structures. The thesis is primarily sociological with a flavour of interdisciplinarity through elements of an engineering approach. The research process is abductive and adopts a reflexive qualitative methodology acknowledging the need for various types of interpretations. The theoretical framework is based on theory of structuration and enables the central analysis that includes underlying structures, agency as well as the processes of structuration. Based on a 15-month ethnographic field study comprised of workplace observations and qualitative interviews the analysis provides an in-depth understanding of the relationship between structural premises and actions and decision-making of project managers and craftsmen on construction projects. The key contributions of the thesis are the expansion of the understanding of unintended consequences of social practices; how routines and experiences of construction managers and craftsmen in addition to helping to reduce the extent of failures and defects, also can be seen as instrumental in producing and maintaining a certain level of failure. The agents' reflection on the underlying structures are described as limited, constraining exchange of experiences, learning and quality concerns in the processes and also reproducing project participants as powerful problem-solvers. The research also highlights reactive and proactive problem solving practices as important for the structuration. Problem solving practices are however often forced into a reactive problem solving. Implications for the company are to direct the attention not only to the planning but also to facilitate and support the problem-solving and trouble-shooting competencies of projects managers