Wallmark’s recent ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems reaccreditation has reaffirmed the systems behind one of the most important responsibilities in construction: being able to demonstrate that what was designed and specified is what was actually built.
For Wallmark Operations Director Tony Hewines, good quality assurance is ultimately about evidence.
“We have a critical responsibility to not only deliver a project as drawn, but to demonstrate the requirements have been met,” Tony said.
“That means removing assumptions. We verify the work at the appropriate stages, record the evidence and make sure the required acceptance criteria have been achieved.”
Proving the design where it matters most
Quality assurance is particularly important where critical work will become concealed or difficult to verify later.
Foundations are a clear example. A bored pier transfers structural loads into the ground, yet the conditions fundamental to its performance are no longer visible once it is concreted. Requirements such as depth and founding conditions must therefore be verified during construction, when they can be inspected and any issue can still be addressed.
On a recent Wallmark project, each pier was progressively verified, with drilled depths, photographic evidence, geotechnical acceptance and supervisor sign-off captured before construction progressed.
Tony said this is where a disciplined quality system directly protects the integrity of the project.
“The design establishes the requirements. Our job is to confirm they have been achieved before the work progresses. That gives the client confidence that critical elements have been built as designed, including those that will ultimately be concealed.”
Early verification means discrepancies can be identified and resolved before they become embedded in the permanent works, reducing the potential for defects, costly rework and downstream programme impacts.
Building the evidence as the project progresses
Wallmark uses Dashpivot to support this process in the field, allowing project teams to capture inspections, photographs, test results, supporting documentation and approvals as work progresses.
For project managers, that provides visibility across active work fronts while creating a traceable quality record progressively rather than trying to assemble it at the end of the job.
The principle extends throughout project delivery: establish the requirement, undertake the work, verify the result and retain the evidence.
Wallmark’s recent ISO 9001:2015 reaccreditation provided independent scrutiny of the management system supporting that approach. The audit reviewed areas including client specifications, drawing control, Inspection and Test Plans, subcontractor management and site inspections, and found the system demonstrated the ability to systematically achieve agreed requirements and expected outcomes.
“ISO reaccreditation is important because it independently tests the system behind how we deliver our work,” Tony said.
“For our clients, the outcome is straightforward. They need confidence that what was specified is what was built — and that we have the evidence to demonstrate it.”
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