Key quality attributes of design documentation: South African perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The poor quality of design documentation has been identified as a significant contributor to delays, rework and cost overruns on construction projects in South Africa. Despite this, limited research has been undertaken to specifically investigate the quality of design documentation. This in turn hampers efforts aimed at improving the quality of the design documents. The aim of this study is to identify the key quality attributes of design documentation and determine the extent to which the design documents issued on South African construction projects are perceived to incorporate the quality attributes.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire was distributed among civil engineering design consultants and contractors in the South African construction industry. Responses to a total of 120 completed questionnaires were statistically analysed. The relative importance and extent of incorporation of the quality attributes was determined based on the mean scores.

Findings

It emerged from the study that the two key quality attributes of design documentation were legibility and coordinated design documentation. Attributes with the least importance were relevancy and certainty. Regarding the incorporation of the quality attributes, the design documents were rated highly with respect to their legibility and clarity. The quality of the documentation was deemed inadequate in terms of accuracy and certainty.

Practical implications

The findings provide valuable insight to stakeholders involved in developing initiatives aimed at improving the quality of design documentation and as a result construction project performance.

Originality/value

The study provides empirical evidence and extends the literature on design documentation quality especially from the perspective of South Africa, a developing country.

Citation

Akampurira, E. and Windapo, A. (2019), "Key quality attributes of design documentation: South African perspective", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 362-382. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-08-2018-0137