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This research has been conducted to determine the design quality indicators and parameters for affordable housing in Karachi Pakistan. The absence of quality in Karachi housing resulted from various factors ranging from policy failure, violation of bylaws, population, housing scarcity and non availability of quality parameters etc. The amalgamation of these factors eventually lowers the quality of housing and ultimately results deficient housing design and construction. Because of this trend the end users experience the nuisance of unplanned maintenance and bear the tax of heavy repair and reworks. Significance of research has been accomplished through developing design quality models for both professional and users. This research has eventually evaluated forty eight (48) quality indicators for housing design (QIHD) from listed 65 design quality variables farmed in seven sections. This research concludes that existing design quality of affordable housing in Karachi could be enhanced through improving the design, construction, services, site development and neighborhood and sustainability. The QIHD model will provide the opportunity for design and construction professionals of city to rethink their housing design intellect in context of the housing quality.

A mixed philosophies epistemological design with inductive reasoning was adopted to develop new theoretical insights into the phenomena under investigation. First, interpretivism was employed to contextualise the prevailing body of knowledge and source questions (and prompts) to be posed to practitioners. Second, a case study strategy (augmented by participant action research) was adopted to measure construction industry professionals' perceptions of the clerk of work's role and their impact upon both quality and safety of construction.

This research conducts a case study investigation of affordable and/or social home construction and examine industry's perception of the clerk of works (CoW) and their powers and responsibilities within existing legislation to impact quality of construction.

The findings illustrate that while the clerk of work's role positively impacts quality and safety of construction, it is hindered by cost and time constraints that are often prioritised. An analogy to “yield points” in materials science is then adapted to develop new theory to conceptualise the pivotal position that the CoW has in upholding quality construction. The research concludes with pragmatic recommendations (such as industry centric codes of practice) to mitigate quality and safety issues arising and signpost future academic research in this area.

UK construction has been criticised for prioritising costs and profits vis-à-vis quality and safety issues, as exemplified by the Grenfell fire. This study demonstrates the need for reinstatement of the CoW role in mitigating residential housing quality decline.

Builders have a long history of a public perception of poor image and low quality products. Political and administrative demands for builder registration and tighter control of entry into the industry have been seen to be the solution to these problems. However, progress towards registration and control has proved elusive. Recently, the state of Victoria in Australia introduced mandatory builder registration under its Building Control Act 1993. Further reform for the housing industry was introduced in 1996 through the Domestic Building Contracts and Tribunal Act 1995. As the first legislation of its kind in Australia, the Victorian experience provides a case study for similar developments elsewhere. This paper reviews the history of builder registration in Victoria and identifies the major provisions of the 1995 Act, including the organisations established to regulate and supervise the implementation of the legislation. The perceived drawbacks and benefits of the new system are also analysed following the limited experience since the introduction of the legislation.

Quality in tourism has many dimensions. Through quality management, efforts are being made to take account of the growing importance of individual aspects of quality. A Iprogramme with various instruments was designed for Swiss tourism with the aim of ystematically promoting and securing on‐going quality development. The programme consists of three levels: in level 1, the focus is on quality of service and in level 2 on management quality. It is not until level 3 that familiar TQM systems are adopted. This article provides a brief overview of the entire programme which covers all aspects of a tourism service package, ranging from tourism information through the hotel trade mountain cableways.

Quality management (QM) cannot be assured unless some objective assessments are undertaken. A number of tools and techniques are available to conduct such analysis. Although some of them are product or service specific, however, a few basic tools and techniques are commonly used in manufacturing firms. This study focuses on the state of application of QM tools and techniques in small and medium industries (SMIs). The findings reveal that by‐and‐large, lack of methodical analysis is a major weakness of SMIs. Still some rule‐of‐thumb and subjective observations are dominating over objective evaluation in the process of quality control decisions. A few case studies which have been conducted, and one that has been briefly reported here, also support this conclusion. The methodology of the study has three folds: literature review, survey in SMIs and case studies.

Applications of systems like total quality management (TQM), total productive maintenance (TPM) and just‐in‐time (JIT) have been studied mainly in large industries with little attention being paid to small and medium industries (SMIs) in developing countries. This paper discusses the state of implementation of TPM in SMIs and the effects of lack of productive maintenance. The main hypothesis is to determine if SMIs have understood the importance of a productive maintenance system as a constituent of manufacturing management. A survey methodology has been applied for this test. The outcomes of some case studies are kept in mind. All these show that the implementation of TPM or preventive maintenance in SMIs is still low. Therefore, more effort should be given to developing a better understanding, motivation and participation for implementation of productive maintenance systems. Finally, an implementation methodology is proposed.

A considerable amount of resources are being deployed by organisations of all sizes and types towards implementing Total Quality Management and other improvement strategies. However, little is known about the impact these practices are having on organisational performance, particularly for small‐ and medium‐sized businesses. This paper examines the relationship between quality management practices and performance in small businesses. Over the past decade a number of empirical studies has been conducted that examine the link between quality management practices and organisational performance; however, most of these have focused on larger organisations. This study uses data collected from 62 small business in Australia and uses the Australian Quality Awards framework to determine the link between quality management practices and business performance.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.