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     CE 561 Construction Project Management
 

Successful Construction Project Management is not only critical to the success of the project engineer, construction manager and the contractor, but reduces overall costs to the owner and society. Modern construction presumes an in-depth understanding of the theory and techniques associated with computer-based planning, analysis and control. This is a practice oriented, construction project-planning, management and control course emphasizing network-based tools, time-money analysis and standard quantitative and qualitative techniques. The Planning, Management, Communication, and Control skills necessary to function effectively on complex projects share a common requirement for understanding scheduling, cost control, and their inter-relationship. 3 credit hours

  
     

Prerequisite
  

BS in Engineering, preferably Civil Engineering or Construction Engineering, or permission of the instructor.

 
Course Objectives  

By the end of the course, the successful student will be able to:

  • assess construction project profitability, line of credit and max draw requirements, and the effects of brokering using cash flow analysis;
  • identify and respond to common owner and EOR/AOR interface issues, including the effects of various project delivery methods;
  • plan, schedule and monitor typical (simplified) commercial projects, including Lead/Lag techniques, linear scheduling techniques, and reverse planning techniques;
  • identify and address common control requirements and problems in construction management;
  • identify, analyze, and solve typical schedule and cost control problems;
  • professionally communicate findings, recommendations and RFI's.

 
Course Outline  
  • Introduction to Project Management, Review of Basic Concepts -approximately 20%: Owner's view of construction; Markets and bid strategies; Review of Cash Flow dynamics, schedules of values and payments; Review of risk assessment; Review of WBS and estimating; Overview of project management expectations.
  • Scheduling Theory, Tools and Techniques - approximately half (50%): Bar (Gantt) chart, Linear Scheduling tools; Network theory; Activity-on-Arrow, Activity-on-Node; Precedence with Lead-Lag; Resource Allocation; Optimization concepts.
  • Project Control Theory and Techniques; Additional Topics - approximately 30%: Earned Value; Cost Control techniques; Updating; Acceleration; Review of Contract Administration requirements; Uncertainty – Variability; Introduction to stochastic effects and analysis.

 
Course Requirements  

HOMEWORK and PROJECTS: typically about 20% of the course grade is derived from homework and project assignments (“projects” are larger and more detailed homework type problems).

EXAMINATIONS: Two (2) exams (20%, approximately 1 hour, each) and one (1) comprehensive final exam (40%, 3 hour duration); all exams are closed book and closed notes.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: See note below

 
Textbook  

Copies of selected slides will be sent to the student (in pdf (Adobe) format) during the course.


Computer and Internet Requirements  

NCSU has recommended minimum specifications for computers that are generally used for courses. Those specifications can be found here: http://www.ncsu.edu/it/compspecs/

Engineering Online recommends that your computer meets or exceeds the following minimum specifications below. A computer with greater capability (processor speed, RAM, internet bandwidth, disk capacity) will be more likely to properly display the video content of Engineering Online courses.

Windows:

  • Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2003, or Windows Vista
  • Intel-compatible 1 GHz processor
  • 512 MB RAM
  • 60 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available
  • Video display at 1024 x 768 or greater
  • Sound output and speakers
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or later, Firefox 2.0 or later, or Google Chrome 1.0
  • Windows Media Player 9.0 or later
  • Real One Player Basic (required for certain courses)
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Broadband Internet connection (256 Kbps or more)

Mac OS X:

  • Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
  • G4 processor
  • 512 MB RAM
  • 60 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available
  • Video display at 1024 x 768 or greater
  • Sound output and speakers
  • Safari 2.0.4 (or later) or Firefox 2.0 (or later)
  • Silverlight  (viewers may be prompted to install this when first viewing a presentation)
  • Real One Player Basic (required for certain courses)
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Broadband Internet connection (256 Kbps or more)
  • NOTE:  The Flip4Mac plug-in causes problems when viewing Mediasite presentations and should be disabled.

Linux:

  • Playback of Mediasite presentations on Linux is accomplished via the Moonlight Project, an open source implementation of Microsoft Silverlight. For more installation on the installation and configuration of Moonlight, please visit http://www.go-mono.com/moonlight/. The compatible operating systems and browsers are listed on this page.
  • Microsoft Media Pack for Moonlight
  • Adobe Reader for Unix
  • Broadband Internet connection (256 Kbps or more)

 
Instructor  

Dr. Michael Leming, Associate Professor
Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering
North Carolina State University
212 Mann Hall
Campus Box 7908
Raleigh, NC 27695-7908

Phone: (919) 515-7823
Fax: (919) 515-7908
E-Mail: leming@eos.ncsu.edu
Instructor Website: http://www.ce.ncsu.edu/faculty/leming/