Enhanced Risk-Based Quality Control for Hydraulic Engineering Construction Projects Considering the Risk-Influencing Mechanism

Construction inspection is essential for maintaining the quality of hydraulic engineering projects. Due to the inefficiency and inaccuracy of existing inspection methods, a risk-based approach has been explored to identify critical inspection items and allocate inspection resources efficiently during construction. However, misalignment with the construction schedule and insufficient analysis of risk-influencing mechanisms at the inspection item level are the main limitations. Therefore, this study proposes an enhanced risk-based framework that combines the risk breakdown matrix with the construction schedule and employs the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory-interpretative structural modeling (DEMATEL-ISM) method to analyze risk-influencing mechanisms at the inspection item level. A case study of a pumping station is used to evaluate the framework. Results demonstrate that the framework effectively identifies critical inspection items and offers valuable insights into quality risks, including a detailed analysis of the influencing mechanisms at the inspection item level. The main contribution of this research is that the proposed framework enables quality inspectors to allocate resources more efficiently and improve overall construction quality by targeting critical inspection items.