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Every contractor that I have ever worked with has proudly defended his company's ability to deliver quality. Often I hear, "Oh no Brad, when we say we produce quality, we really mean it! There is no better pavement maintenance company in the area when it comes to putting out quality than my company."

As much as I know that the contractor is sincere when he shares this statement, I also know that almost every one of his competitors would give this same statement if pressed about his own company's ability to provide quality results.

This article isn't about whether you have quality or not. If you are reading this article you are probably committed to bringing the best quality possible. No, this article is about the dollar value of delivering quality.

There was a great book published many years ago entitled Quality is Free. The author, Phillip Crosby, was one of the true modern day educators and "gurus" of the quality movement. In this revealing book Crosby made the statement that if work is executed correctly the first time, the cost of delivering quality is actually free.

To determine what quality is, one has to assess what the cost might be if the work is not executed correctly the first time. Developing a general formula for this assessment, Crosby estimated that to correct a mistake might cost three times the original amount of the initial cost associated with doing a project or task. Let me briefly translate for our pavement maintenance industry.