The construction industry has often been accused of providing low quality structures, mainly to increase financial profits. While in most European countries the picture has changed, and quality control and management systems are in place, in Greece, construction suffers from the lack of quality systems, especially in the apartment building industry. In the first part of the thesis, approaches of quality are reviewed, and their applicability to the construction industry is analysed. Furthermore, quality systems and total quality management in the construction industry are widely examined. The aim is to investigate the main reasons laying behind the poor quality structures in the Greek apartment building industry, and if the available quality control systems are applied, to monitor their contribution in quality of construction. In the second part, an outline of the Greek apartment building industry is described through a research on quality aspects, from the customers and construction firms' perspective. In addition, new construction techniques, building materials and quality standards are introduced, in order to improve the industry's picture. Finally, the future prospects of management systems and quality processes are recommended to customers and construction firms
