Almost 30 years ago the Construction Industry Institute (CII) researched the “Costs of Quality Deviations in Design and Construction,” and concluded that, “The average cost of rework on industrial projects exceeds 12%.” Design deviations accounted for about 80% of the increased cost and construction deviations only 20%.

Victor E. Sower, an author and quality management consultant, and his coauthors published their cost of quality research in 2007 in the International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. In surveying members of the ASQ Quality Management Division, they found that about one-third of organizations systematically tracked cost of quality. “We have seen no evidence since then that this percentage is substantially higher today,” Sower said.