Application of TQM to environmental construction

Cost and schedule data were obtained for 40 environmental construction projects built for the United States Navy. Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques were used during the construction of 21 of the projects. The amount of cost escalation during construction, increases in project duration, and the level of supervisory effort required by Navy engineers are compared. Analysis of the data also revealed that projects requiring subsurface remediation work were more likely to have cost overruns and increases in project duration due to changed conditions. Standardized costs and durations are used to compare projects of different magnitudes. Stem and leaf plots are used to provide a means of comparing the distributions of the TQM and non-TQM data sets. Stem and leaf plots are also constructed for projects that included underground remediation work and projects that did not. An analysis of the comparisons suggested that application of the TQM methods may provide benefits by reducing the number and magnitude of duration increases. Project cost escalation appears to be more closely connected to changed conditions as a result of the uncertainties of underground remediation work.