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Introduction
Achieving first-time quality on a construction job might seem like an impossible goal, but there are a lot
of good reasons to strive for it. Customers, employees, subcontractors, and company owners all benefit
when a project comes in on time, on budget, and with no defects. With the right systems and quality
improvement processes in place, you can get there.

However, no matter what steps you take to improve quality processes in your own company, the reality
is that a subcontractor plays a significant role in the outcome of a construction job. Your success
depends on their success, so you must integrate subcontractors into your quality program if you want
to achieve first-time quality.

The ultimate strategic goal is to get all of your subcontractors to the level of first-time quality, but most
of the time you can’t expect them to do this on their own. When you approach your relationships with
subcontractors as partnerships, rather than “just hiring” them, you create the opportunity for everybody
to be more successful.

This Guide Is Designed to Help You:

• Identify the subcontractors that are most likely to strive for first-time quality
• Create a system for evaluating performance
• Develop strong, lasting relationships with the subcontractors that are
committed to continually improving quality

2 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

Evaluating and Hiring
Qualified Subcontractors
Hiring qualified subcontractors can be a challenging process. The stakes are high, and the wrong
choice could have a major impact on your project. Too often, subcontractors are hired based on their
pricing alone—and later fired based on quality or schedule performance. This approach is backward.
You should be evaluating for quality and schedule before you hire, not waiting for these issues to arise
later. You are looking for the true low-cost subcontractor and—after time delays, correcting defects, and
so on—that may not be your lowest bidder.

Evaluating subcontractors is actually a forecast of their performance on the project. It’s easier with
subcontractors who have worked with you before, because you already have some data points.
Nonetheless, it’s still important to have an evaluation process. Have an internal assessment tool that
you use for all subcontractors you are considering for a job—both new and existing partners—and
gather this information for predicting quality performance:

• Experience with the specific type of work

• Personnel qualifications for key positions
• Inspection methods for verifying completed work
• Methods for handling issues and deficiencies
• Processesses for learning from mistakes and prevention of issues
• Programs for training and qualifying field personnel
• Past insurance claims and safety ratings
• Expected on-time performance based on past performance
• Anticipated job-site cleanliness based on past experience
• Evaluation of gaps in subcontractor quality capabilities that will need to be filled by
project personnel
• Estimated true cost in addition to bid amount

3 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

A Simple 5-Level Assessment of
Subcontractor Quality Programs
When evaluating subcontractors, use this system to determine the level of their quality program, with
Level 1 being the least effective quality program and Level 5 being the most effective quality program.

LEVEL 1:
Relying on Experienced Field
Personnel

• No consistent definition of quality

• Completion of work focuses primarily on
responding to customer punch lists
• Quality depends on each individual field
supervisor’s monitoring of daily work

LEVEL 2:
Beginning an Inspection Process

• Quality is understood as an acceptable level of

customer issues
• Supervisors generally perform final walk-through
inspections to catch problems
• Punch lists document issues required for
completion of work
• There are inspection checklists but only some
people are using them

4 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

 LEVEL 3:
Utilization of a Structured
Inspection Process

• Quality is well understood as compliance

with project requirements
• Checklist-based inspections routinely
document proper completion of work
• Final QA checks are made to prevent
issues from reaching the client
• Quality performance is measured by
numbers of defects
• Some larger issues trigger efforts to learn
from mistakes and prevent recurrences

LEVEL 4:
A Structured Quality
Management Approach

• Quality is understood as “building it right

the first time” in compliance with project
requirements
• Project inspections are planned
and tracked
• First-time quality results are measured at
every inspection
• Inspections record whether work is first-
time quality, an open deficiency, or a
corrected deficiency
• The company strives for first-time quality
to prevent issues from reaching the
customer

5 | Guide to Achieving First Time Quality From Subcontractors

 LEVEL 5:
A Fully Deployed, Responsive Quality Program

• The company priority is to achieve first-time quality in order to prevent issues internally as well as
for the customer
• Inspection checklists adapt to project-specific risks and customer concerns
• First-time quality performance is part of personnel and department performance reviews
• Issue prevention improvements are routine and occur on a regular schedule
• Well-defined problem-solving and improvement processes are in place

6 | Guide to Achieving First Time Quality From Subcontractors

Setting Expectations and Evaluating
Performance
When you decide to hire a subcontractor, it’s important to set the quality expectations early and let
them know that you will be evaluating their performance. This sets the stage for ongoing conversations
about quality.

You’ll notice that every step in the process of setting expectations and evaluating performance
requires communication between both parties. Without regular meetings and open communication
about quality, you can’t expect even the best subcontractors to perform in the way that you are
envisioning. You are setting subcontractors up for failure when you assume that you’re on the same
page about quality. Remember, your success depends on their success, so be clear about your
expectations, and give them all of the information they need to achieve first-time quality.

Once you’ve hired the subcontractors, use your inspection checklists to talk about the specific
requirements for the job—in addition to reviewing your overall approach to achieving first-time
quality. Before each work task, talk to each subcontractor about the checkpoint items—especially the
heightened awareness issues you have identified. When subcontractors know what expectations they
will be evaluated against, they are more likely to fulfill them. On the other hand, if they are operating
blindly, they will continue to do the work they normally do, defects and all.

It’s also important to let subcontractors know that you are paying attention to their performance.
When each work task is complete, evaluate the actual results against the expectations, and work with
subcontractors to create improvement plans so any issues that were identified can be avoided in
the future. When a subcontractor passes an inspection with flying colors, celebrate it. You can even
create healthy competition between subcontractors by offering acknowledgment and rewards for
defect-free work.

Watch out for subcontractors who are not interested in improving their
performance. If they push back on your quality processes, this is a sign that
they might not be the best partner to help you achieve first-time quality.

7 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

What a Subcontractor Scorecard
Might Look Like
In addition to the scorecard rating system, you can learn a lot about subcontractors by asking
these open-ended questions:

• What is your definition of quality?

• How do you make sure that your work complies
with the project quality requirements?
• What is an issue that you had on a project, and
what did you do to make sure it wouldn't
happen again?
• How did you build in accountability for quality on
your projects?

You can also see examples of FTQ360’s

performance scoring system and performance
trend reports on our website.

Look for thorough, well-informed, specific responses. If a subcontractor has only generic answers and
there does not seem to be an underlying process, it’s a sign that their quality management systems are
not well developed. This doesn’t necessarily rule them out as qualified partners (keep reading to learn
more about how you can work together to bring up everybody’s quality game), but if you are considering
hiring them, it’s important to know how they address quality.

8 | Guide to Achieving First Time Quality From Subcontractors

Developing the Self-Managed
Subcontractor
Eventually, your best-performing subcontractors should evolve into self-managed partners that have
shared quality goals. By going through your quality management processes and creating their own,
subcontractors will see that they can make more money on your jobs because there is less rework. This
is strong motivation for developing a lasting partnership with your company, which will serve to reduce
and eventually eliminate the feelings of judgment subcontractors have when being evaluated
by a company that hired them.

You can take this even further by providing ways for subcontractors to give feedback that improves
quality. Get out of the mindset that feedback is a one-way street with subcontractors on the receiving
end. For example, giving them the opportunity to assess whether the site was job-ready when they
arrived allows them to participate in the quality management process for the overall project, not just
their own work. Ask questions before making assumptions or jumping to conclusions. A subcontractor
might not have met your expectations because of factors that were out of their control or quality issues
you didn’t know about. For example, a framing contractor might have taken longer than expected
because of issues with the foundation. If you don’t take the time to ask why a quality issue arose, you
won’t learn how to prevent it in the future.

The easier you make it for subcontractors to communicate, the more they will do it.
For example, having communication tools on-site that allow them to take notes and
post pictures gives you a more complete picture of quality for the project and allows
them to fully participate in quality management. Daily site walks are also a great
opportunity to address potential quality issues before they become costly mistakes.

When it comes to subcontractors and quality, it always circles back to the reality that your success
depends on their success. Micro-managing subcontractors is not a sustainable solution for helping
them get to first-time quality. Giving them the support they need to become self-managing partners
will pay future dividends as they become an integrated part of your team.

9 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

Addressing the Qualified
Subcontractor Shortage
It’s no secret that the construction industry is suffering from a skilled worker shortage in the middle of a
boom. This makes qualified subcontractors even more valuable to your company, especially if they are
aligned with your quality goals. Setting the strategic goal to become the preferred company to work for
can pay off in both the short term and the long term.

Subcontractors want to work with companies that are organized, efficient, and timely about making
payments. They also want to work with people who respect their craft and give them what they
need to get the job done right. You can attract the best subcontractors by demonstrating all of these
characteristics through your quality management program.

Good subcontractors also don’t want to work with companies that make the same mistakes over
and over, especially if it impacts their ability to complete the work. When subcontractors see that you
are taking steps to learn from mistakes and improve quality over time, your company will be more
attractive than the others that do not have the same approach.

After doing a few jobs with clear expectations, discussions about how to improve, two-
way feedback about quality, less rework (which means higher profits), and rewards for
good work, subcontractors will see the benefits of working with your company.

10 | Guide to Achieving First Time Quality From Subcontractors

Mentoring Subcontractors for Success
Success breeds success. With this in mind, a great long-term goal might be to create a mentoring
program for subcontractors to help them elevate their success. This provides multiple benefits for both
subcontractors and your company. Subcontractors will continue to improve quality over time and will
see the added value that a partnership with you provides. You’ll get the benefits of strong, long-term
relationships with subcontractors who are committed to quality, as well as the quality results that stem
from those relationships.

Your “subcontractor university” might include programs such as:

• Seminars on how to create quality programs in their companies

• Training on quality management software
• One-on-one mentoring between quality managers
• Certification or preferred partner status after completing the program
• Rewards programs for subcontractors that show the most improvement

Creating an incubator for great subcontractors not only

helps you improve quality on projects; it also attracts
more good subcontractors who see the value in creating
long-term partnerships with your company.

When subcontractors participate in these types of programs together, they tend to operate more like
a team. They speak the same language about quality, have the same quality goals, and recognize how
their work affects others and the project as a whole.

11 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

Conclusion
Building a deep bench of great subcontractors that are committed to first-time quality doesn’t happen
overnight. Given the high-turnover nature of the industry, it’s also not a one-time effort. To attract
and retain these types of partners, you need an ongoing quality management program that includes
mechanisms for:

• Evaluating and hiring qualified subcontractor partners

• Assessing performance against expectations
• Creating plans to improve performance
• Providing and gathering feedback that helps improve project quality
• Communicating about quality efficiently and effectively
• Providing ongoing training and support to develop quality processes

To do this successfully, you need the right systems, processes, and tools. Using a quality
management software system to support your quality management program gives you the
information you need to:

• Make smart decisions about hiring subcontractors

• Set clear expectations through inspection checklists
• Create improvement plans based on objective performance data
• Communicate about quality issues
• Compare subcontractor performance
• Track subcontractor performance over time

Combined with a solid quality management program, FTQ360 gives you the tools you need to take
your subcontractors to the next level and build strong partnerships. If first-time quality is one of
your goals, you need subcontractors on board with your vision because your success depends on
their success. If you’d like to learn more about how FTQ360 can help you improve subcontractor
performance, schedule a live demo today.

12 | Guide to Achieving First-Time Quality From Subcontractors

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