BSc (Hons) Construction Management

Course summary

This is a two-year, part-time course for students who are employed within the Construction industry and whose employers are willing to support them throughout stheir studies. The emphasis of the course is on the development of the high levels of professional managerial skills and technical knowledge required by students in order to solve a wide range of complex management problems which may be encountered during procurement and maintenance of buildings and structures within the built environment. The course is delivered through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, workshops, discussions and presentations and students will be expected to develop their professional communication skills across a wide range of applications, some of which will be outside of their immediate, current sphere of professional practice. The modules you will cover are:

  • Project Control
  • Production Technology
  • Construction Finance & Economics
  • Contract Law & Administration
  • Dissertation

Attendance will be over two semesters in each year and assessment will be through assignments and exams.

In the first year you will study the modules in Project Control, Production Technology and Construction Finance & Economics; and in the second year you will study Contract Law & Administration and produce a Dissertation.

On successful completion of the programme, you will have gained a BSc Honours Degree in Construction Management and, subject to accreditation, this will satisfy the academic requirements for membership of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

Throughout this course, you will be expected to develop and apply high level academic skills to the solution of a wide range of construction related problems. This course places considerable importance on the links between the academic world of study and the industrial world of professional practice and you will be expected to show progression and development in both of these.

 

Entry requirements

This programme is a progression course for students who have successfully completed their studies at Intermediate level. Consequently, students will have already attained a Foundation Degree in Construction / Construction Management or a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Diploma (HND) in Construction together with sufficient additional credits to reach 120 credits at Certificate and 120 credits at Intermediate level.

 

Course aims

To enable students to achieve a nationally recognised qualification appropriate to the requirements of employers; To enable students to gain subject skills and knowledge appropriate to their chosen profession; To provide students with a range of key transferable skills appropriate to the workplace and for further study; and to enable students to gain an academic qualification in support of their progress towards membership of an appropriate professional institute. 

 

Learning outcomes

These course aims are broken down into sets of related skills, which are known as learning outcomes.

A. Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the course you should be able to:

Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of Construction Management in relation to a wide range of construction situations; demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the different aspects of the Construction Management profession, your relationship to the wider issues of the built environment professions and their underlying principles; and demonstrate a critical understanding of the social, environmental, ethical, economic and commercial implications of the work of the Construction industry.

B. Mental or Cognitive Skills

By the end of the course you should be able to:

Integrate the knowledge acquired from the study of a range of subjects and formulate solutions to relevant problems; understand and apply appropriate levels of numeracy, communications and ICT competence; plan, implement and conduct a programme of research; demonstrate and understanding of innovation in practice.

C. Subject Specific and Practical Skills

By the end of the course you should be able to:

Demonstrate and apply a sound knowledge of the key theories, concepts and principles of the development and management of construction projects; demonstrate and apply your knowledge and understanding of the qualities of good design using appropriate technology, including the management of innovation, and how to ensure high quality construction on site; demonstrate an understanding of the economic context in which the Construction Industry operates and in the financial administration of construction projects; and demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the law as it applies to the management of the construction process.

 

Module framework

You will take the following modules, all of which are mandatory:

Year 1

Project Control (20 credits)

Production Technology (20 credits)

Construction Finance & Economics (20 credits)

Year 2

Contract Law & Administration (20 credits)

Dissertation (40 credits)

 

Teaching, learning and assessment

In keeping with the requirements of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), teaching and learning methods will be varied and aimed at encouraging students to develop their knowledge and understanding in a range of group and individual projects, classroom sessions, workshop experiments and computer based study. Students will be expected to taker part in a range of set tasks and tasks which are more open ended in nature and which place a greater emphasis on the need for students to develop their own research and study skills.

Throughout the programme, students will be expected to develop and demonstrate a high level of written and oral communication skills and these will play a significant part in grading students’ work. Assessment will be through a combination of projects reports, assignments and examinations.

 

Timetable

The teaching is divided into two semesters, Semester One runs from September to January and Semester Two from February to June. Students will be attending on a day-release basis for twelve taught weeks each semester plus an additional two weeks per semester for assessment as required. Students will gain 60 credits in each of the two years of the programme and this will typically require 450 hours of study per year. Students will be provided with timetables when they join the course.

 

Course delivery 

The programme will be delivered at the Suffolk New College campus on Rope Walk (in the Education Quarter of Ipswich, adjacent to the UCS Ipswich campus) and at West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds.

At Suffolk New College the course is timetabled over afternoon and evening classes.


Work experience

Students do not have to be in employment in the construction industry to study on this programme but industrial experience is essential if students are to fully develop as professional people. Consequently, students are encouraged to gain appropriate work experience to support their studies and to gain the professional experience that they will need in order to fully develop their professional skills expertise.

 

Tutorial and study support

University Campus Suffolk has an agreed tutorial policy. Each module incorporates subject tutorial time, which may be of an individual or group nature and each student will have a personal tutor.

 

Opportunities on completion of the course

Upon completion of year one, students will have satisfied the academic requirements for membership of the CIOB (subject to accreditation). They will then need to satisfy the professional practice elements of the membership process.

Students who complete the BSc Honours Construction Management programme will be able to progress towards post-graduate study.