On this page, we have compiled answers to frequently asked questions about construction quality and quality defects.
Frequently asked questions about construction quality
How can the quality of construction be assessed?
+The quality of the construction is both technical and functional quality and compliance with the customer's expectations. There are no comprehensive methods for general assessment of construction quality.
Technical quality is typically weighed based on the flawlessness of the end result, and overall service quality by customer satisfaction.
In order to evaluate the customer experience uniformly, Rakennusteollisuus RT has developed a customer satisfaction index for new apartment construction with the independent research institute EPSI Rating Finland. This measures the experience of those who bought a new apartment, among other things, the quality of the product and service. Read more about the customer satisfaction survey for new housing construction
What are the most common errors related to construction quality?
+In housing production, by far the majority of construction defects are small defects in finishing and surface treatment, mainly cosmetic defects. They are usually easy to fix, but they cause unnecessary pain and trouble for the customer. Errors of a larger scale occur less, but, for example, dismantling and rebuilding an entire structure is laborious and expensive.
In apartments, the most common mistakes concern the adjustments and tightness of balcony doors and windows, different types of cracks in walls and ceilings, installation of parquet floors, scratches and dents on interior surfaces, incorrect pouring and tile joints in bathrooms, balcony structures and glazing, and adjustments to ventilation devices.
Leading apartment builders are constantly developing their operations and strive to eliminate all errors before the move-in inspection and handing over the apartment to the resident.
What proportion of construction-related errors are serious?
+For example, mistakes related to the strength of structures and moisture management are counted as serious construction errors. Their share has remained more or less the same over the past decades, but the number of copies is not large. However, we must reach zero tolerance for serious mistakes, because at worst they can cause harm to health or safety.
Knowledge is increasing all the time, and with the help of legislation and construction regulations, efforts are made to prevent the most serious errors from occurring. For example, in the 1980s, bathrooms were problem nests. With the help of research, guidelines, qualification requirements, supervision and measurement, rooms exposed to moisture can now be properly built.
How do you know if it's a mistake?
+The general quality requirements for construction, or RYL, is a written description of good construction and real estate management practices agreed upon by the industry. RYL determines the technical quality of the end result of the work and good construction and real estate practice even when, for example, the client and the contractor disagree.
The defects of the apartment are assessed according to the defect provisions of the Housing Sales Act. The apartment must, among other things, comply with the contract, the information provided, the requirements set in the regulations and the appropriate level of health and safety. The apartment must be built with appropriate materials professionally and carefully, following good construction practices. When interpreting good construction practice, in addition to building regulations, for example RYL's criteria used by professionals, which contain instructions on quality requirements and quality review, are examined.
The construction industry RT has produced a new home buyer's guide, which is available to consumers online free of charge. The guide instructs, among other things, what are the rights and obligations of the home buyer, and how errors should be reported to the home seller.
If there are disagreements between the consumer and the company that cannot be resolved by negotiation between the parties, it is worth contacting a free consumer rights adviser. If this doesn't help either, the Act on the Consumer Disputes Board enables matters related to the sale of the apartment to be handled by the Consumer Disputes Board.
Buying a new home - buyer's guide [
The general quality requirements for construction, or RYL, is a written description of good construction and real estate management practices agreed upon by the industry. RYL determines the technical quality of the end result of the work and good construction and real estate practice even when, for example, the client and the contractor disagree.
The defects of the apartment are assessed according to the defect provisions of the Housing Sales Act. The apartment must, among other things, comply with the contract, the information provided, the requirements set in the regulations and the appropriate level of health and safety. The apartment must be built with appropriate materials professionally and carefully, following good construction practices. When interpreting good construction practice, in addition to building regulations, for example RYL's criteria used by professionals, which contain instructions on quality requirements and quality review, are examined.
The construction industry RT has produced a new home buyer's guide, which is available to consumers online free of charge. The guide instructs, among other things, what are the rights and obligations of the home buyer, and how errors should be reported to the home seller.
If there are disagreements between the consumer and the company that cannot be resolved by negotiation between the parties, it is worth contacting a free consumer rights adviser. If this doesn't help either, the Act on the Consumer Disputes Board enables matters related to the sale of the apartment to be handled by the Consumer Disputes Board.
See also
The sale of a new apartment - the buyer's guide
Competition and Consumer Agency
How has the quality of detached house construction developed?
+Currently, three-quarters of the new single-family houses are implemented as house packages of various sizes. About a third of all new detached houses are delivered on a turnkey basis. When the house is manufactured under standardized factory conditions and protected from the weather, moisture damage during construction is completely avoided, among other things.
As shoulder bank construction has decreased, the number of mistakes made by amateur builders has also decreased in certain work phases. However, it is worth remembering that many problems related to the structures of old houses were not originally construction defects, but can be caused by neglected maintenance or inept renovation. For example, with the wrong choice of materials, the renovator can make serious mistakes and the famous "mold bombs".
On the website of Pientaloteollisuus PTT, you can find, among other things, the general contract terms and conditions for the consumer trade of house packages and elements and installation, as well as instructions and guides for building a single-family house.
See also
Small house industry PTT: contract terms
Was the quality of construction better a hundred years ago, and why is it not built the same way anymore?
+Quality characteristics are often defined in completely different ways in old and new buildings. In old houses, the floors can be crooked and creak, or the windows are drawn and fog up easily. However, these are not considered defects, but rather typical features of an old house and often aesthetically attractive. However, similar features in a 2000st century house would be unequivocally classified as errors.
The requirements for housing, construction and buildings have changed considerably in recent decades. In many respects, the new buildings are of higher quality than the old ones, as the building regulations currently set precise requirements for buildings, for example energy efficiency, heat and sound insulation, and ventilation. Construction methods are also significantly more efficient, more precise and safer than before, not to mention the safety and health of construction work.
It is also good to note that most of the hundred-year-old buildings have already been demolished, because they have no longer met the needs or have deteriorated to the point of demolition. What remains are the ones deemed to be the best, which have also been adequately maintained and repaired. For example, many housing associations built in the 20s have already had time to carry out plumbing repairs twice, replace windows and renovate the kitchen several times. Active maintenance and service also help current buildings to remain in working order even for the next hundred years.
Are moisture and mold damage caused by construction defects?
+VTT and Tampere University of Applied Sciences TAMK have investigated the scope of repair work for moisture damage in residential buildings as part of the Finnish residential building repair needs study.
A key point in the results of the survey is that moisture damage is not only a problem for certain high-risk buildings or structures. Any residential building can be damaged if care and maintenance are neglected. With good care, maintenance and proper use, a significant part of moisture damage can be prevented or the consequences of the damage can be reduced.
Numerically, the most moisture damage has been caused by broken pipes and leaking joints between equipment or furniture and pipes. Second, the most damage was caused by incorrect structures, such as missing waterproofing, underlayment, drainage or soil that prevents the rise of capillary water in the subsoil. For example, in school buildings, problems have been exacerbated by turning off the ventilation when the facilities are not in use.
Houses built in the 1960s and 80s are in their own risk group due to the fact that during that period, according to the regulations and construction methods of the time, several construction solutions were followed, which have since proven to be prone to damage.
In new buildings, moisture damage can occur, for example, if materials or structures get wet during construction, water remains in hollow tiles or pipe connections fail. Many times these are clearly identifiable, errors can be corrected and the structures dried, and they do not lead to actual mold damage. Other types of indoor air problems can arise when, for example, a plastic mat is attached to a concrete base that is too moist.
In the construction industry, a lot of research has been done, guidelines have been drawn up and methods have been developed to prevent and repair moisture and mold damage. The information has also been compiled comprehensively into one Raknentinnings veuiteusmantal data bank, commissioned by Rakennusteollisuus RT and the Ministry of the Environment.
See also
Residential building repair needs 2006–2035 survey
Dry construction - a guide to moisture management in construction
What factors affect the quality of construction?
+The quality of construction depends on numerous factors, such as building regulations, design solutions, building products, project management and site management, the competence and attitude of individual employees, and official supervision.
The construction process is exceptionally prone to errors when thousands of construction parts are connected to each other under constantly changing conditions.
Tight schedules are often cited as a reason for quality deficiencies. However, a construction project can be implemented with high quality even on a fast schedule, if it is planned well. However, an overall schedule that is too strict is a sure way to contribute to the occurrence of errors.
When it comes to producing quality, the biggest challenges in construction are the fragmentation of the industry and the lack of an overall vision. This is due to both the project nature of the activity, the large number of operators and the shared contract models used in the industry. In order for companies to be able to adapt their operations to fluctuations in demand, the use of subcontracting and temporary labor has become more common.
The cheapest price as the contractor's main selection criterion rarely leads to the desired result. There is a very motley group of actors working in the construction industry, more than 40 companies in total. It is worth carefully checking the company's background and references when choosing a construction service provider. For example, Rakentinnen Laatu RALA ry offers information about RALA-qualified and -certified companies and the project feedback they receive.
See also
What has been done in the construction industry to develop quality?
+Responsible companies in the field are constantly developing their own operations and have systems in place for, among other things, quality management and customer satisfaction monitoring. In companies, more and more attention is paid not only to the quality of the final product, but also to the quality of the service. They use information modeling more and more comprehensively in planning and implementation, which helps to eliminate errors in advance.
In 2011, a large-scale quality development project started at RT in the construction industry. In the Quality Path project, information and tools were produced to improve the quality of construction. The quality path included several sub-projects, where, for example, a Quality Meter was developed for construction sites, which can be used to identify the causes of quality defects during the construction phase and eliminate them. The quality path has also provided guidelines for good site practices and smooth customer encounters. The project has now ended.
A significant factor in producing quality is the professionalism and pride of the personnel. For example, the right attitude plays a big role in trimming surface defects in the finish. In particular, research and know-how related to building physics are important in order to be able to avoid risky structures as energy efficiency becomes tighter. The construction industry's own training organization RATEKO offers additional and supplementary training for professionals in the field, for example experts in building health and indoor air quality.
The long-term development of construction regulations, Ratu materials, maintenance of the construction error bank and other similar activities related to the documentation of work phases and errors also have their share. Rakennusteollisuus RT's Ratu card is an information bank intended for construction production professionals. It includes, among other things, work method descriptions in accordance with good construction practices, cost information and quality assurance procedures.
FISE, on the other hand, maintains a construction error bank, whose task is to promote good construction practices.