Commitment to quality
This page outlines our commitment to quality and why it is essential to delivering safer, longer-lasting assets and better outcomes for our customers.
We believe quality is more than a standard - it’s a shared commitment to designing, building and renewing our network to rigorous standards. It underpins everything we do, ensuring safety, meeting customer needs and delivering assets that stand the test of time.
Why we need a quality division
Ensuring high standards of quality is an integral part of how we manage, maintain, and improve the strategic road network to make our customers' journeys safer, smoother, and more reliable.
Industry-led research shows that the cost of poor quality for the construction sector is around 20% - and we hope to tackle that cost by driving quality and improving processes right across our planning, design and construction work. A cross-company team, we're working with directorates and our suppliers to make sure we deliver our best - saving carbon, time and money in the process.
What do we mean by Quality in Construction?
'Quality means doing the right thing, the right way, every time’. If we can get our approach right it will open more opportunities for efficiencies, safety improvements, and better customer experience. If we can do the work right first time, we won’t need to go back to correct things; if we can design and construct assets that last longer, we won’t need to renew them as often – this offers potential for huge savings, reduced disruption to those who use our network and, of course, the associated carbon reductions. Find out more from our Quality Charter.
What we're hoping to achieve
We aim to always to do ‘the right thing, the right way, every time’ to reduce roadworks and build assets that last longer and require less intervention. To achieve this, we must:
- establish clear measures to improve quality
- build the right structure and skills
- understand why assets may not be lasting as expected
- embed a strong quality culture
- implement end-to-end quality processes
Pause for Quality
We’re backing the Pause for Quality campaign – a sector-wide initiative launched in June at our Collaboration Board and Engagement Council. It’s aimed at everyone working on our sites, encouraging teams to take a moment before starting work to ask:
- Do I know how to do the job?
- Do I have the right equipment?
- Are the conditions right?
This simple pause can make a big difference – helping us all deliver work that’s right first time. The toolbox talk designed to support the campaign has already reached over 1,600 members of the supply chain workforce, with participation continuing to grow as delivery progresses.
Campaign materials
Campaign programme (PDF)
Question the status quo - Senior leadership quality site visit template (DOCX)
Understand documents and processes before starting work (PDF)
Assess your work and that of any subcontractors (PDF)
Learn from previous experience and apply (PDF)
Implement the plan (PDF)
Timely completion of your work - coming in October
You’re an important part of the team - an ambassador - coming Work Quality week in November
Supplier Quality Maturity Assessment
In March 2025 National Highways launched its Supplier Quality Maturity Assessment.
This was developed to help us gain an understanding of the quality maturity of our supply chain and provide insights into opportunities to improve the quality of design and construction.
We've now completed the first full programme of assessments, covering 21 key strategic tier 1 suppliers.
Assessment approach
Each supplier provided a self-assessment against the model’s criteria, and these scores were then independently moderated to assure consistency.
| Assessment topics | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 Culture of quality | The collective mindset and behaviours within an organisation that prioritise and consistently deliver high-quality products and services |
| 2 Leadership and strategy | A commitment to delivering high-quality products and services while maintaining a clear and forward-looking direction for the organsation |
| 3 Quality by design | The systematic and effective management of the design process to ensure that the final product or service meets or exceeds the specified quality standards |
| 4 Quality, structure, processes and systems | The implementation of robust processes, systems and organisational structures to ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality products or services |
| 5 Measurement, analysis and benefits | The systematic, data-driven and analytic approach to monitoring and improving processes, products or services within an organisation |
| 6 Supply chain | Establishing and maintaining consistently high standards for the products or services provided by the supply chain, and ensuring alignment of process and ethos through the length of the end-to-end value stream |
| 7 Quality assurance | The pursuit of the highest standards and continuous improvement in the processes, products and services of an organisation |
| 8 Quality, data and records | The tools and systems used to record, report on and transfer data about the products and services being delivered. These systems will cover all testing, certification, records of compliance and as-built details |
Opportunities
The overall findings were that our supply chain is developing and delivering good practice in specific areas, but with scope to widen out and better embed these more broadly.
Several sector-wide improvement opportunities emerged from the assessment programme:
Clearer business quality strategies and quality goals for schemes, to create the 'golden thread' between business imperatives and improvements on the ground
Improved measurement and assurance of the entire end-to-end supply chain performance regarding delivered quantity
Systematic and structured approach to identification, implementation and evaluation of corrective actions. Stronger links to established continuous improvement methodologies
Better measurement of delivered quality performance, including quantifying cost of poor quality
What next?
Over the next 12 months, we'll reassess the 21 suppliers to see what progress has been made and identify further opportunities.
We're developing a streamlined version of the assessment for use across our wider supply chain. This will be launched in the autumn and will be available for any organisation to use to assess their own quality maturity against the eight themes.
We'll use the learning from assessments to identify key areas for improvement and develop support to drive improvement.
We'll identify the highest performers and connect organisations across the whole supply chain to share their best practice.
