Quality management is a must to institutionalize the quality control mechanism in view of better output. It is a part of capacity development of an institution and organization. Quality management is essential in planning, design, implementation and operation and maintenance of all works to be carried out to meet the prime objective of providing safe, reliable, efficient and cost-effective road transport to reduce the poverty and support socio-economic development of the country. There should be a policy and strategy, including action plan of institution or organization, as its effort for the implementation of activities as envisaged in the strategy.

In Nepal, about 90% of the people use road transport for movement of goods and services. Road transport plays a vital role in overall social and economic development of the nation. Whenever the people from remote areas make any demand related to their basic needs, a road is the first priority. As a result thousands of kilometres of roads have already been constructed in the country in the last sixty years. With the expansion of road network, the main concern regarding the road infrastructure now is on the reliability, safety and sustainability.

The prime agency should be responsible for planning, construction and maintenance of major road network, including Strategic Road Network (SRN). It needs to develop sufficient capacity to cope with the demand of the country. However, the stakeholders have occasionally raised questions on the quality of the service delivered by this agency. An effective policy on quality management is required for the desired standards or specified quality in road works.

The main perception of quality is the fulfillment of specified needs related to the material specifications, process specifications, equipment specifications and end product specifications. It is primarily dependent on the desired specifications as specified by the client and quality assurance plan provided by the contractor. Quality is an integral part of any project or work, which has to be achieved by the executing agency like DOR for strategic roadworks in Nepal. In order to achieve the desired quality in the service delivery, every agency has to define and validate its policy and objectives on quality management and express commitment for quality achievement and ensure that the policy is implemented and maintained by all employees.