Drawing together in a unique and practical way much tried-and-tested information, the Guide to Defect Avoidance is essential reading for busy designers and contractors, those engaged in the investigation of building failures, and anyone involved in the procurement and management of low-rise housing of predominantly traditional construction. Using full colour illustrations, the Guide lists and describes a wide range of construction defects, selected and rated by Construction Audit Ltd. on the basis of a decade of experience gained in auditing the construction of over 4,000 newbuild housing schemes. Each defect is clearly related to its potential consequences before being presented in the context of a `problem' and how it may be avoided. Common mistakes are highlighted and the reader directed to an extensive range of further reading.

Provides information for software engineers on ways to prevent software defects.

This book describes an approach to software management based on establishing an infrastructure that serves as the foundation for the project. This infrastructure defines people roles, necessary technology, and interactions between people and technology. This infrastructure automates repetitive tasks, organizes project activities, tracks project status, and seamlessly collects project data to provide measures necessary for decision making. Most importantly, this infrastructure sustains and facilitates the improvement of human-defined processes. The methodology described in the book, which is called Automated Defect Prevention (ADP) stands out from the current software landscape as a result of two unique features: its comprehensive approach to defect prevention, and its far-reaching emphasis on automation. ADP is a practical and thorough guide to implementing and managing software projects and processes. It is a set of best practices for software management through process improvement, which is achieved by the gradual automation of repetitive tasks supported and sustained by this flexible and adaptable infrastructure, an infrastructure that essentially forms a software production line. In defining the technology infrastructure, ADP describes necessary features rather than specific tools, thus remaining vendor neutral. Only a basic subset of features that are essential for building an effective infrastructure has been selected. Many existing commercial and non-commercial tools support these, as well as more advanced features. Appendix E contains such a list.

This third edition of Bill Ransom's classic short textbook provides a solid introduction to the study of defects in buildings and, in consequence, to good practice in conservation and repair. Building failures continue to occur despite continuing experience and growing knowledge in the industry; they may even be on the increase due to cost-cutting measures, the inadequate testing of innovative products and techniques, a lack of maintenance, and user abuse and misuse. New material includes an outline of the principles of building pathology; new sections on deterioration mechanisms, service life prediction and dampness investigation. Complete with a handy glossary and bibliography, practitioners and students will find this an excellent source of guidance and information for investigating and avoiding building failures.

A professional reference designed to assist surveyors, engineers, architects and contractors in diagnosing existing problems and avoiding them in new buildings. Fully revised and updated, this edition, in new clearer format, covers developments in building defects, and problems such as sick building syndrome. Well liked for its mixture of theory and practice the new edition will complement Hinks and Cook's student textbook on defects at the practitioner level.

"The Zero Defects Option" was written to explain the leader's role in producing error-free products and services. It is the only book that correctly explains the Zero Defects (ZD) concept and contains the Seven Principles of Defect Prevention that make ZD work.

Poor quality continues to bedevil large-scale development projects, but few software leaders and practitioners know how to measure quality, select quality best practices, or cost-justify their usage. In The Economics of Software Quality, leading software quality experts Capers Jones and Jitendra Subramanyam show how to systematically measure the economic impact of quality and how to use this information to deliver far more business value. Using empirical data from hundreds of software organizations, Jones and Subramanyam show how integrated inspection, static analysis, and testing can achieve defect removal rates exceeding 95 percent. They offer innovative guidance for predicting and measuring defects and quality; choosing defect prevention, pre-test defect removal, and testing methods; and optimizing post-release defect reporting and repair. This book will help you Prove that improved software quality translates into strongly positive ROI and greatly reduced TCO Drive better results from current investments in debugging and prevention Use quality techniques to stay on schedule and on budget Avoid "hazardous" metrics that lead to poor decisions Important note: The audio and video content included with this enhanced eBook can be viewed only using iBooks on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.