Comparative Study of Impact of ISO Standards on Selected Construction Industries in Karnataka

Abstract

The construction industry is the biggest industry in the world, controlling the activities and
sequences are very important to achieve success and profit. Hence there needs a effective quality
tool or system to effective functioning of the construction industries. ISO is the quality system
which is adopted by all the industries, irrespective of their nature. From the review it can be
observed that the implication or adoption of ISO in the construction industries increases the
productivity and efficiency. According to some researchers the ISO implication is needed to
improve the quality, but some researchers quote that it increases the paper work, leads to wastage
of time and money. The study focuses on to interpret these findings and finally to arrive with correct
result of implication of ISO standards. The study focusses mainly to study the main impact of ISO
standards on the private construction sector in Karnataka. According to review, the implication
of ISO standards may benefit the construction industries of long term and for high investment
projects. The questionnaires are prepared in such a way that, it covers the critical quality
aspects of the construction industries and are prepared with reference to the discussion with the
experienced quality managers of the construction industry. The questionnaires concentrates more
on the critical quality factors. The questionnaires are distributed to the construction employees
in Mangalore and in Bangalore, and 328 responses were collected. The responses are from the
companies that are certified and non-certified by the ISO. The comparative study of the five
companies, that are certified by the ISO are carried out. The comparative study was carried
out by preparing the content analysis and tool format, and also by interviewing the employees
of the construction companies and with the project managers. From the comparative study it is
concluded that the implication of ISO leads to benefit and success. The ISO implication merely
needed for the larger scale construction industries, where the quality is given first priority.