Log In  |  Register          Free Newsletter Subscription

Grayson Homes
Handbook for Winning - HousingZone.com Forums


February 27, 2005
HousingZone

 

 Grayson Homes
Grayson Homes is a privately owned company based in Ellicott City, Md., that builds 150-250 homes per year in the state. The company is no stranger to the NHQ Award process: after an Honorable Mention award in 2003 and a Silver Award in 2004, Grayson received the Gold Award for 2005. Cindy McAuliffe is president and COO of Grayson Homes.


advertisement

A Formal Inspection Process

We debated the merits of checklists because we believed that the trades probably filled them out in their cars or filled them out in the office at the end of the day just to get them done. The need for a formal construction inspection process for our homes was brought to light as a result of the NHQ Award judges' site visits to Grayson Homes over the last three years, from 2002 to 2004.

In 2003, Dean Potter, who was director of the NHQ program then, asked, "How do you inspect your homes daily?," and I said "Well, the supervisors walk the homes every day and they take a legal pad with them and they make lists of any issues that may need to be taken care of." Then Dean said, "What do you do with those lists?," and we said, "Well, we don't know. They probably end up in the trashcan once all the items are complete."

The lightbulb went off and we realized that maybe we do need to do some formal inspection process. We researched a company that would inspect our homes during the 16 phases of construction, but they only guaranteed that each home would receive four formal inspections, and it was a little bit expensive. In January of last year, Ron Swecker, our director of home building, came to the International Builders' Show with a mission to find a software system that would help us inspect our homes and document the inspections daily, but he didn't find anything that really did everything he wanted it to do.

So, in March 2004, we teamed up with our network service provider, ATSG. We determined our requirements and they developed a prototype within a month's time. We used the prototype for a couple of months in the field. Ron did something very smart: he picked two of our supervisors - our most savvy computer user and our least savvy user [to try it] - so that he could ensure that everybody in the field could use the systems. Then we rolled it out last summer.

We call our system Construction Quality Management, or CQM. It uses a BlackBerry wireless handheld to enhance the ability of supervisors to manage and track defect resolution. You end up with improved field supervisor productivity because your supervisors never have to go to the office. They can use their handheld all day long. This is their phone. They can receive e-mail. They track all of their defects and issues on this little handheld BlackBerry and it's immediately sent back to our database.

Benefits of Construction Quality Management (CQM)

The CQM system improves construction process efficiency because your trade contractors see their errors and give reports on a regular basis. There's error reduction, which improves your efficiency. It enhances trade contractor effectiveness for the same reason. It reduces project risks, meaning higher quality and lower cost because things don't fall through the cracks anymore. Anytime a defect or an issue gets entered on the BlackBerry, it's held there until it's complete. It has to physically be removed from the system.

CQM Walkthrough

The Construction Quality Manager (CQM) uses a BlackBerry wireless handheld to enhance the ability of field supervisors to manage and track defect resolution.
The supervisor can:
  • Walk the home and enter a building defect on the system.
  • View all defects that are already there for each home
  • View all defects on the list for any trade contractor
  • Change and update a defect, meaning, it has either been resolved, or more detailed information can be added if he needed for the trade
  • Notify the trade subcontractor of the defect either immediately or at the end of the day
  • Print an outstanding defects report to walk his home daily with
  • Produce quality improvement reports on a regular basis to send to our trades

    For each lot, drop-down menus are used to enter:

  • Phase of construction in the home
  • The room, or location, of the defect
  • The trade contractor
  • The defect
  • Further description or details about the defect
  • The status - a home under construction, an item from our pre-delivery quality inspection, etc.

    As the supervisor walks his house, he can view a list of defects and select the items to update. He'll scroll to the defect, select the defect, enter the change, and he'll notify the trade contractor, either immediately if it needs to be dealt with right away or, if not, then all of the items are compiled on a list. He hits a button and the trades are either e-mailed or faxed those items at the end of the day.

    CQM Reports

  • The checklist has the defects listed by community and lot number, along with the trade contractor contact information. This is the list the supervisors typically print each day as they walk their homes. They take the lists with them and try to verify whether or not the defects have been corrected each day.
  • Frequency summarizes the number of defects by phase of construction. This is real telling for us. It will tell us by community who's creating the number-one defects for us so we can try to help that trade contractor reduce or eliminate those errors.
  • Defect details gives you the details of each of the defects noted and defects by trade contractor.
  • Sub-defects or trade contractor defects summarizes the defects by trade contractor.

    The defect detail report and frequency report get sent to our trade contractors on a quarterly basis. It's very eye-opening to them. As quarters pass, they can see how great the system is because it helps them reduce their errors. Quarterly, the supervisors take their number-one defect and meet with the trade that's involved with that defect. They come up with a plan of action to reduce or eliminate that defect.

    Think about it. If you had 10 supervisors, and you're eliminating contracts in each of those communities, hopefully you're eliminating or reducing 40 defects per year.

    The results: consistent information - all supervisors are using the same information, and the trades are getting the same formatted information. It's an easy way to evaluate your trades and the trends that are going on in the field.

    Visit the Grayson Homes Web site at www.graysonhomes.com


    © 2009, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Talk Back

    There are no comments posted for this article.

    POST A COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

    •  

    Advertisement








    Advertisement



    Sponsored Links
    Security System
    Affordable wireless security systems from SafeMart.
    Hardwood Floors
    Stylish and durable hardwood floors from Armstrong