You maintain quality by documenting inspections rather than relying on experience alone. Use fixed inspection points for each construction phase, link each inspection point to a photo, location, and responsible person, and make the status visible to everyone. This way, even a new site supervisor knows exactly what needs to be checked.
Why is the labor shortage putting pressure on quality at the construction site?
The shortage primarily affects the level of experience on the construction site. According to the EIB, approximately 75,000 full-time workers will be needed between 2026 and 2029, of whom about 25,000 will have to come from other sectors. At the same time, experienced tradespeople are retiring. As a result, there are more people on construction sites who haven’t yet mastered the standards.
This is a quality issue, not an HR issue. Knowledge that exists only in the mind of an experienced foreman disappears from the project when he leaves. Newcomers then don’t know which details are always checked on this particular project.
On top of that, construction output continues to grow. The EIB forecasts 2.5 percent growth in 2026 and 4.5 percent in 2027. More work with a smaller team means that inspections continue to be put off.
The five areas where things go wrong in practice:
- Inspections are done based on gut feeling, not according to a set checklist
- Agreements with subcontractors are made verbally and not documented
- Defects are identified but not assigned to anyone with a deadline
- Evidence (photos, inspections, certificates) isn’t gathered until project completion
- New employees aren’t given a structured onboarding process; they just get a tour of the construction site
What is the cost when quality suffers due to time constraints?
Failure costs are the price paid for quality issues that are detected too late. Estimates in the Dutch construction industry range from 5 to over 10 percent of project costs, according to research by ABN AMRO, among others. A large portion of this stems not from technical issues, but from unclear agreements and a lack of documentation.
With a understaffed team, those costs rise even faster. That’s because corrective work requires exactly what you don’t have: people and time. A wall that needs to be redone costs twice the labor in a market where labor is in short supply.
Do the math for a single project. With a contract value of 4 million euros, a 7 percent failure rate amounts to 280,000 euros. A defect identified during the structural work phase costs a fraction of what the same defect would cost if discovered at project completion.
How do you ensure that a new site supervisor doesn’t overlook any quality issues?
By taking the inspection process out of people’s heads and putting it into a fixed checklist. A new site supervisor or someone coming from another field may be a skilled professional but still not know what is routinely checked on this specific project. A digital checklist for each construction phase makes this explicit: what to check, where, and with what evidence.
Ed Controls, project management and quality control software for the construction industry, bases its process on the construction drawings. You mark a handover point at the exact location where the issue occurs, add a photo, and assign it to the person in charge. The new worker can see on their phone which items are still open in their section of the construction site.
Here’s how it works in practice:
- Create a standard checklist for each construction phase with the items that always come up
- Document each defect with a photo and its location on the drawing, not in a separate email
- Assign each handover item to a single person in charge with a due date
- Let the status update automatically, so no one has to follow up by phone
- Review only the open items weekly, not the entire list
- Build the project file as work progresses, not in the final week
This approach saves on training time. New employees see the work as it’s intended, rather than having someone explain it all over again every time.
What is the difference between checking for experience and checking for documentation?
Checking for experience works as long as the experienced people stay. Documentation works even when the team changes. The comparison below shows where that difference lies in practice.
| Checking based on experience (paper and loose lists) | Checking against documentation (Ed Controls) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is being checked | What the contractor is used to | Standard checklist for each construction phase |
| Documenting defects | Note or separate email | Photo and location on the drawing |
| Assign | By phone or during the walk-through | Assign directly to one person in charge, with a date |
| Training new employees | Shadowing an experienced colleague | Outstanding items visible on the phone |
| Track status | Follow up and keep track yourself | Automatic status update |
| Delivery file | Compile at the end | Evolves during implementation |
| Knowledge transfer when a colleague leaves | Disappears when the person leaves | Remains with the project |
How do you maintain control over subcontractors when you have fewer people on your own team?
By letting subcontractors view and check off their own items, rather than checking everything yourself. If a general contractor can’t provide as much oversight, the information needs to be directed to the subcontractor. Everyone then works from the same list and the same drawing.
In Ed Controls, each subcontractor sees only their own acceptance items. They resolve the item, add a photo, and mark it as completed. The site supervisor checks and approves it. This saves phone calls and prevents discussions about what was agreed upon.
Important to note: keep the barrier to entry low. A subcontractor who has to go through three screens to check off a single item won’t do it. If it takes just two taps on the phone, they will. See also our guide on collaborating with subcontractors.
What is Ed Controls intended for—and what isn’t it intended for?
A clear distinction, so you know if this fits your needs.
Suitable for:
- General contractors and subcontractors who are digitizing project acceptance and quality control
- Projects with many acceptance points and checklists involving multiple parties
- Teams that want to document inspections and audits on the construction site with photos and location data
- Companies that want to build documentation as the project progresses
- Organizations that want to bring new or less experienced employees up to speed more quickly
Less suitable for:
- Financial project administration, cost estimation, or time tracking
- BIM modeling or managing 3D models
- Complex scheduling software with critical paths
- Companies that only want to store documents without a review process
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly can a new project manager get up to speed with digital quality control?
Most contractors resolve their first acceptance issues within a day. It helps to start with one project and one fixed checklist. Once someone realizes they no longer need to follow up on outstanding issues, the rest falls into place. Extensive training is not necessary.
Doesn’t digital quality control actually create more paperwork?
No, you’re simply shifting administrative tasks to the time you’re already on the job site. You record the issue with a photo right away instead of typing it up in the evening. As a result, the file grows as the project progresses and no longer needs to be compiled at the end.
Does this work even if part of the team doesn’t speak the language well?
Yes. Because an acceptance point consists of a photo, a location on the drawing, and a person responsible, it’s clear what needs to be done even without lengthy text. That’s one of the reasons visual documentation works well for teams with varying compositions.
By how much can failure costs be reduced through better documentation?
That varies by project and can’t be expressed as a single figure. What we do know is that a large portion of failure costs stems from unclear agreements and missing documentation, not from technical issues. Errors identified during the structural work phase cost significantly less than the same errors discovered at project completion.
Where do I start if I’m already short-staffed?
Start with one project and one construction phase. Create a checklist of the ten points that always come up there and record them in Ed Controls. Only expand once that’s up and running. A small, well-used checklist yields more results than a complete system that no one fills out.
Does this also help demonstrate quality under the Wkb?
Yes, indirectly. If you document photos, inspections, and resolved completion issues during construction, you’ll already have the evidence ready when you submit the completion report. Read more about quality assurance and the Wkb, as well as reducing failure costs in construction.
In a nutshell
The labor shortage in construction is structural. You can’t solve it by working harder, but you can by working more efficiently. Document checks in checklists, record defects with photos and locations, and assign each item to a single person. Then quality is no longer dependent on who happens to be on-site that day.
Want to see how this works for your project? Check out how Ed Controls works.
Last updated: August 24, 2026
