Raising the bar: Managing quality in the construction sector

Director General of the QSAE, Ato Mesai Girma

GTZ IS Ethiopia Director, Mr. Helming with QSAE trainers and newly certified auditors

56 employees from construction companies, construction management companies, and architecture and engineering firms who have been trained and successfully certified as ISO 9001:2000 internal auditors were honored at a ceremony in Addis Ababa Friday night.

These auditors are pioneers- quality pioneers.

They are not financial, but rather quality auditors. It’s their job to get companies ready for ISO certification by inspecting and assessing the quality of companies’ business and management processes. They are the first auditors of this kind for the construction sector.

For companies that aim to become ISO 9001:2000 certified, internal auditors are essential. Often long and arduous, the process of preparing for ISO certification requires aligning business systems and procedures with established international standards. These 56 employees now have the qualification to audit their own as well as other construction companies, thus preparing them for the official ISO certification process.

The auditors, certified by the Quality Standards Authority Ethiopia (QSAE), are from 27 different construction sector companies. All these companies are part of a larger company re-engineering and quality improvement program for the construction sector, the University Capacity Building Program.

Construction is one sector driving Ethiopia forward. The second largest employer in the country, it’s also an engine for technology, innovation and overall development. While the construction sector is doing well, it can enhance performance by using international standards, such as ISO. For the construction sector, continuous improvement and consistent quality are essential to increasing competitiveness. More than any other time, the global market demands Ethiopia’s private sectors to equip their businesses with modern processes that can deliver quality products and services in a sustainable manner.