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 used for classes. Depending on your computer needs, we recommend your computer meet or exceed the following minimum specifications below.

PCs must have an Intel-compatible 800 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 8 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 800x600 (min.) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system should be Windows 2000 or XP. Real One Player Basic (available free online) and high speed Internet connection such as cable, DSL, T1 or LAN will be required for EOL courses.

MAC users must have a G3 processor with firewire and USB factory built-in, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB with 1GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 800x600 (min) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system must be MacOS 10.3 (minimum) along with the above RealOne and Internet specifications above .

For more detailed information on computer specifications and recommendations, please refer to our website at: http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/currentstudents/computeraccess.htm

 

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/