Vendor quality issues

PM's don't always define quality standards, thank goodness. But to your point, this is an example of why every single detail must be included in the contract or procurement documentation, and the PM must always be across that.

I think procurement manager is responsible for dealing with vendor and all requirement are clearly mention in procurement statement of work and procurement documents and on basis of that PM and project team work. Inspection is done to check the validity of quality asked in contract and if there is any shortcomings, vendor is leagally bound to correct it or face leagal consequences. Project management is team work.

Gentlemen-
I beg to differ in your assumption a PM does not define Quality standards for Procurement Items and Vendor selection. It has been my experience:
1) the MOST successful Projects I have Managed were Projects where I defined the Quality Standards through Procurement Contracts, and selected Vendors. I typically conducted 90% of the Procurement with my team within 6 months of mobilization.
2) I find problems with Procurement "Departments" in companies I have worked for- they do not have the Technical Skills to identify Quality and Procurement Specs. Those skills are usually ONLY found within the skillset of the PM. To allow those "specialists" to perform those activities unsupervised is antithetical to Professional Project Management. The includes design professional Procurement.
3) I resolve most Quality issues by close monitoring of the manufacturing or Vendor processes during fabrication- long prior to hitting the Project. I accomplish this through the use of my staff, or 3rd Party Inspection services.
(For example-when your structural steel components come from China- The PM must receive Daily reports from the Inspectors at the Manufacturing facility to assure Steel Chemistry and Welding viability!)

My Opinion!
M

Interesting Mark, yes that's why I qualified my statement with "always", as in "PM's don't 'always' define quality standards". It is my experience that the organization or PMO's usually set the quality standards, but then most of my projects have been IT, so not too sure about construction.Yes the PM can manage quality for the project, or manage/coordinate the resources performing the quality work, but "responsibility to define the quality standards" is a whole other ball game. Perhaps Anish meant define the quality management plan, or quality metrics, or level of quality. Quality is a fickle thing.

Quality is a topic that must be defined at strategical level. All the organization strategy depends on quality. Quality is a subjective matters that organizations must transform into objective ones. From the point of view of project management what you stated is simple to manage because you have quality control and validate scope activities where the project stakeholders you assigned to those activities perform actions to cover what you stated. Quality control is over all the project deliverables. Project procurement deliverables included. So, if there are problems with project quality then there is a lack of planning. Review the plan (formal or informal plan) and you will solve it.

Anish -

Dealing with variances is part & parcel of being a PM. If you want higher levels of certainty, work in operations.

Assuming quality requirements have been clearly specified within the contract, you would follow the normal procedures defined for communicating the defects and getting them corrected. If things worsen, claims administration is a likely outcome.

Kiron