19/10/2009 The Star

KUCHING: The Government has no plans to make it compulsory for contractors of projects under the 10th Malaysia Plan to adopt the Quality Assessment System in Construction (Qlassic) to address the problem of shoddy workmanship.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng said recently that existing procedures in terms of legal avenues were adequate to deal with poor workmanship.

Although the Qlassic method could improve workmanship in buildings and infrastructure, it would be used only for reference for the moment, he said.

“We have the legal avenue to address the problem as the specifications for each project are known to the contractors before the project starts, and if they fail to adhere to them, the legal consequences will certainly arise,” he told reporters after opening a one-day Qlassic seminar here.

Yong said it was high time the contractors measured their work quality on the Qlassic system as this would add value to their projects in terms of quality assurance, provide customer satisfaction and generate long-term profits.

He said that many countries in Asia such as Singapore had quality bench-marking systems and contractors in the country should emulate their foreign counterparts by implementing the Qlassic system. — Bernama