Quality at CDM Smith

Quality is meeting requirements. This is achieved through CDM Smith's culture of high expectations, entrenched quality management in our project delivery system, leadership commitment, rigorous processes and training.

Leadership

Responsible for leading quality management at CDM Smith, Chief Quality Officer Douglas Updike reports directly to the President. He leads a network of quality managers in all business units who inspire, manage, oversee, and audit quality and client satisfaction in all our work.

quality-certified employees

100+

quality-certified employees

of clients tell us we’ve met or exceeded expectations

95%+

of clients tell us we’ve met or exceeded expectations

Quality in Action

Project

Cleanup Innovation at U.S. Air Force Academy

Project

Cleanup Innovation at U.S. Air Force Academy

CDM Smith successfully delivered the first phase of this waste consolidation project on-time and within budget. A Project Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commended the team, noting: “I was very impressed with the quality of CDM Smith's design. Projects like this are very complex and are ripe for having unidentified site conditions."

Project

Improving Air Quality in Buncombe County

Project

Improving Air Quality in Buncombe County

Sewage sludge incinerator improvements are enabling Asheville’s regional water reclamation authority to meet regulations in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, protecting the environment and providing superior air quality for the region.

Project

Award-Winning Clean Water 2020 Program

Project

Award-Winning Clean Water 2020 Program

Working with CDM Smith, the city of Columbia, South Carolina, developed the Clean Water 2020 program, which will provide the people and businesses of Columbia with a sustainable, well-maintained and reliable wastewater system. This project took home the 2016 AAEES Honor Award - Operations and Maintenance from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Project

Setting a Higher Bar for Biosolids in Texas

Project

Setting a Higher Bar for Biosolids in Texas

To capitalize upon the success of Trinity River Authority's previous project and to build on the lessons learned from its implementation, CDM Smith was retained to design a cutting-edge thermal hydrolysis system at their largest plant—helping them move beyond biosolids disposal to a new era of resource recovery.

Project

Complex Conversion to All-Electronic Tolling

Project

Complex Conversion to All-Electronic Tolling

CDM Smith helped deliver America’s largest, most complex all-electronic tolling system design-build project on the Mass Pike. CDM Smith administered overall quality control on this award-winning project, reviewing and approving more than 250 civil design plans and specifications, toll system design documentation, toll system and equipment testing scripts and construction plans.

Processes

CDM Smith adheres to a rigorous and comprehensive quality management system, with detailed quality manuals, quality monitoring and integrated quality processes over the life of the project. We gather feedback through client audits and feedback requests, and share lessons learned as a process for continuous improvement.

The high quality design coupled with the teamwork and leadership with everyone involved has allowed [our] project to be executed with only minimal/minor changes.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Engineer, Couer d’Alene Trust

Training and Certification

Through CDM Smith University (accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training), we provide rigorous training and certification for our client sales leaders, project managers, technical professionals, and administrative staff. Our technical professionals also collaborate through a discipline-based network, conducting research and development and sharing knowledge and best practices across the firm.