What is the cost of poor quality on a typical EPC project?

Industry benchmarks place rework and warranty cost at 5–12% of total installed cost on poorly managed projects, and 1–3% on well-managed ones.

Which calculators on PMMilestone.org apply to Quality Management?

For Quality Management, the most relevant tools on the flagship platform are the Schedule Health Checker and DCMA 14-point quality assessment. They reproduce the formulas referenced in this entry against your own project data.

What is a common misconception about Quality Management?

That quality cost only includes inspection. The cost-of-quality model includes prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure — and on capital projects external failure (rework, claims, defect liability) usually dwarfs the others.

Which related encyclopedia entries should I read alongside Quality Management?

Read Earned Value Management, Critical Path Method and the DCMA 14-point assessment next. The full A–Z is available in the PMMilestone Encyclopedia, and quick one-line definitions live in the PM Glossary on the flagship platform.

How does Dr. Hassan Eliwa's research treat Quality Management?

Dr. Hassan Eliwa's research focuses on owner-side project controls, schedule integrity and forensic delay analysis on capital construction and power programmes. Quality Management is treated through that lens — what a planning or controls engineer is expected to do with it on a live project, not its textbook definition alone. See the full research library at PMMilestone Research Articles.

How is Quality Management defined on PMMilestone Research & Insights?

The processes that ensure project deliverables meet defined requirements and stakeholder expectations. For the full treatment, see the definition, principles, applications and related entries above — every encyclopedia entry follows the same research-grade structure.

Quality · Letter Q

Quality Management

The processes that ensure project deliverables meet defined requirements and stakeholder expectations.

By Dr. Hassan Khames Eliwa, PhD · Updated 2025-02-19

Definition

Quality Management on projects covers three integrated processes: quality planning (defining standards and acceptance criteria), quality assurance (auditing the processes that produce deliverables), and quality control (inspecting the deliverables themselves). The ISO 9001 family and ISO 21502 codify the underlying principles.

Principles

Quality is planned in, not inspected in.
Prevention costs less than correction; correction costs less than failure.
Acceptance criteria are defined before the deliverable starts, not after it is delivered.

Applications

On EPC projects, quality management governs Inspection and Test Plans (ITPs), Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs), welding procedure qualifications, hydro tests, and turnover documentation packages.

Common Mistakes

Confusing QA and QC — auditing the process is not the same as inspecting the product.
Punch lists discovered at handover that should have been caught at hold points.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost of poor quality on a typical EPC project?
Industry benchmarks place rework and warranty cost at 5–12% of total installed cost on poorly managed projects, and 1–3% on well-managed ones.
Which calculators on PMMilestone.org apply to Quality Management?
For Quality Management, the most relevant tools on the flagship platform are the Schedule Health Checker and DCMA 14-point quality assessment. They reproduce the formulas referenced in this entry against your own project data.
What is a common misconception about Quality Management?
That quality cost only includes inspection. The cost-of-quality model includes prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure — and on capital projects external failure (rework, claims, defect liability) usually dwarfs the others.
Which related encyclopedia entries should I read alongside Quality Management?
Read Earned Value Management, Critical Path Method and the DCMA 14-point assessment next. The full A–Z is available in the PMMilestone Encyclopedia, and quick one-line definitions live in the PM Glossary on the flagship platform.
How does Dr. Hassan Eliwa's research treat Quality Management?
Dr. Hassan Eliwa's research focuses on owner-side project controls, schedule integrity and forensic delay analysis on capital construction and power programmes. Quality Management is treated through that lens — what a planning or controls engineer is expected to do with it on a live project, not its textbook definition alone. See the full research library at PMMilestone Research Articles.
How is Quality Management defined on PMMilestone Research & Insights?
The processes that ensure project deliverables meet defined requirements and stakeholder expectations. For the full treatment, see the definition, principles, applications and related entries above — every encyclopedia entry follows the same research-grade structure.

Related Entries

Risk Management Change Control