ABSTRACT
The issue of ‘quality’ has become a watchword of the construction industry during the late 1980s and early 1990s and many organizations have perceived ‘quality’ as one vehicle to help survive the ravages of the UK recession of the early 1990s. The expression of this movement has been the willingness of designers and constructors to seek out quality assurance accreditation under BS 5750 and to offer warranties for the final product. This process has further developed so that constructors are now marketing services which gives a maximum guaranteed price, guarantees the project duration, the quality of the finished product and provides a guarantee against defects for the first 25 years of the buildings’ life (Building Magazine 17 May 1991).
