Quality assurance taken a step further: how it's done at Draisma Bouw

The Dutch Quality Assurance Act (Wet Kwaliteitsborging, or WKB) has by now been announced about as often as it has been postponed. The law, meant to form a shared standard for safeguarding quality, is a much-discussed subject in construction. For Draisma Bouw it makes little difference: they started 'practising' long ago. That is not only to be well prepared for the WKB, whenever it finally arrives, but above all because the builder simply considers delivering quality important.

At Draisma Bouw, one impressive construction project after another has been delivered for years, with that high quality as the goal. That is exactly why the well-regarded company wants to be well prepared for the law that will (one day) come. To do so, they are getting to work with Snagstream, and an evening was organised to go through the ins and outs of the WKB with all site managers.

Not waiting for a WKB that keeps being postponed

Deputy director Kees van Buuren opens the evening in plain terms. "The WKB is postponed time and again, but Draisma Bouw does not want to wait. Starting with Snagstream now can only benefit the work and the communication with subcontractors. It can also help us on many more fronts than the WKB, it is going to help us improve our own quality. And we want to bring our site managers along in that."

Getting to know Snagstream

To give everyone a first introduction to Snagstream, Pieter Beuker of Pro4all takes over. "To safeguard that standard of quality, anyone walking quality rounds can place a marker, a so-called Snag, when something is wrong or when something has gone really well," he explains. "And you can attach different attributes to it. The Snag in question can be assigned to a supplier, for instance. They then have to resolve the Snag, or compliments can be handed out. That way we create a setting where we do not only speak to each other when something has gone wrong, but also when something has gone brilliantly."

That way you always have exactly the information you find important, bundled together.

All the information in one place

It is also explained that, alongside the Snag, there is another way to record things: a form, a kind of checklist. "It contains, for example, a fixed set of questions the inspector has to check," Pieter says. "That way everything is safeguarded. After that it is also possible to export all recorded data to a report, often based on a template devised together with the builder, or set out from the assurance plan or the risk analysis. That way you always have exactly the information you find important bundled together, and, once the WKB is in force, the information you are legally required to deliver as well."

The assurer works in Snagstream

Dennis Kuijper, who helps Draisma Bouw with the WKB rollout on behalf of Advise-R, confirms this. "What is so good is that at the end of your round with the quality assurer you can add a signature, and that goes straight into your digital file. That is especially handy once the WKB takes effect, because then there is a quality assurer in play who wants to know from the builder whether everything has been checked. If you file that away in folders, you have to search a lot and things are likely to get lost. Because the quality assurer works in the same system, they can see the same data as the site manager and approve it. That saves time and effort, and prevents a lot of mistakes."

Practising to be ready for the WKB

To practise placing and finding Snags in a light-hearted way, treats were hidden throughout the Draisma Bouw building, to be found via an assigned Snag. The treats were then hidden somewhere else and assigned to another budding Snagstream expert. That way everyone got to know the new system in no time.

Snagstream in the context of the Quality Assurance Act

To close the evening, Kuijper gives a bit more context on the WKB. "The WKB is only a small part of a larger system change. It was devised to protect the consumer and raise quality. By recording everything, it all becomes traceable and you also know who to consult when something goes wrong. The assurer is brought in at all the moments recorded before construction in the so-called assurance plan. That is always the same body, and often the same person too. One advantage is that the quality of communication with the assurer is higher than with the municipality, which often stands a bit further away."

The traceability of defects is an important part we have to teach ourselves.

You build a relationship with the assurer

"The relationship changes in the sense that the builder hires the assurer. So they really do have to turn up at the agreed moments," Kuijper continues. "It will not be the case that they suddenly are not there at the crucial moment. You probably build a lasting relationship with such a party. Another important change is that, more than ever, you will have to stick to the plan devised in advance. Changing something at the last minute becomes very difficult. The traceability of defects is an important part we have to teach ourselves. That is why you should use it to replace email and WhatsApp too. Everyone has to take part, otherwise you end up keeping several administrations side by side. You can make it hard by printing and sending everything, or make it all digital. That is what is so handy about Snagstream: the burden of proof lands in the right place straight away. The inspection plan will be recorded in forms in Snagstream."