Construction Management
Offered By: University System of Maryland via edX
Course Description
Overview
In this program you will learn to successfully manage construction projects and deliver with the skills of a modern Construction Manager. During the past several years, the construction industry and the built environment has been through enormous changes. From general contracting to construction management to project management and program management.
Construction Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to the many activities required to complete a project successfully. This requires both practitioners and students to understand the many aspects of the world of owners, designers, developers, local, state, & federal government agencies, tenants, regulatory agencies, community groups & stakeholders, contracting lawyers, zoning attorneys, environmental lawyers, insurance providers, financial agencies, bonding companies, and subcontractors.
The successful Construction Manager must recognize the role of each participant, understand the nature of the project, and utilize modern management tools to bring the project forward in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition, the Construction Manager also has his or her own organization and staffing to navigate including those of the owner and the designer. The recipe for success is indeed a complicated one.
Core concepts include:
- Cost estimating and schedule controls necessary for project productivity and quality control.
- How to manage the sustainable civil engineering infrastructure process.
- Role of construction management in civil engineering, and how a construction management program benefits all parties in the industry.
- The most critical construction methods and construction materials needed to deliver.
- The characteristics that a successful construction project manager needs to understand and utilize, including problem solving.
- The roles of the people involved in the planning, design, and construction process, and the tools required to manage and lead the people in the project.
- How modern CM practice emphasizes an expanded role for the construction management professional during the planning, design, and early construction process.
- Cost engineering and cost control, and how those will ensure an effective feedback system.
- Project administration procedures, communication protocols, and project planning.
- How the construction project manager is key to creating an atmosphere where the owner and designer support is established.
- Sustainable construction management and sustainable design best practices.
- Integrating safety programs and disaster prevention into sustainable construction practices.
- Sustainable facility management, energy management and renewable energy.
- Green building construction.
- Strategic planning and project financial analysis.
- Explores the legal and administrative world of projects.
Syllabus
Course 1: The Industry and Profession in Construction Management
Learn the different sectors of the industry and the profession by looking at the nature of the industry, future trends, and opportunities. Understand the different sectors of the industry and the role of each participant, specifically the Owner, Designer, and Construction Manager.
Course 2: Project Delivery Methods and Contracts in Construction Management
Learn how to deliver across the lifecycle from first concept to occupancy, including the role of the Construction Management professional during the design process and review of the different project delivery methods.
Course 3: Field Operations and Administrative Tools in Construction Management
Learn the Construction Management tools needed to manage the people and the project, including estimating and scheduling. These tools combined with methods of control will ensure effective feedback and create a powerful system for delivery on-schedule and under budget.
Course 4: Sustainable Construction Management
Learn Sustainable Construction Management practices, and how to implement a sustainable green project. Sustainability has become essential for private and public owners who want to incorporate the economic, social, and environmental aspects of their project to improve the triple bottom line.
Courses
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In this course we will review the owner’s primary goal in choosing a project delivery method to ensure that the planned project will meet the project goals and objectives, fit within the culture of their organization, and at the same time allow the project to be delivered on time, within budget, and achieve good quality.
We will review the primary project delivery method arrangements with their advantages and disadvantages, and cover the three major types of contracts. It is the owner’s requirement to analyze the project delivery method advantages and disadvantages. The best way to do this is to examine the project risks and major categories of project risk.
Next, we’ll address design. Good design is a result of collaboration among many different people, including the construction manager, architect, engineers, and owner. Although there is always a lead designer, the project is a combination of the collaborative process and consultation with other experts.
In this course we describe the roles and responsibilities of the construction management professional during the design phase:
- Understanding value engineering.
- Tasks that fall outside the design activities. These include investigations of local conditions, construction practices, labor markets, and the site conditions.
- Knowing when to bid a project. Significant time and costs are incurred in preparing a bid. To bid or not to bid.
- Know the construction phase, and how the work is the same no matter what contract form or project delivery method was chosen.
- Summarize the activities necessary to properly organize and prepare a project for construction.
The construction phase can be the most exciting part of the project cycle. Every day the job conditions change. There will always be problems to solve, logistical challenges to meet, and new people to work with. This is the job of the construction manager.
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The industry and profession in construction management is big business. The construction industry will continue to play a key role in society.
Opportunities in construction management are endless. The course covers some of the following topics:
- Characteristics that define the construction industry.
- Four major sectors of construction management projects.
- Current trends within the construction industry and role in society.
- Skills to lead construction, specifically the Owner, Designer, and Construction Manager, and key stakeholders.
This course concentrates on the people who fill the roles of owner, designer, and construction manager, and must understand the following:
- Responsibility and authority of the key construction management participants.
- How is the construction industry changing?
- Construction companies need leaders.
- Continuous quality improvement.
- The three forms of business organizations.
- Characteristics of an effective construction management leader.
- The art and science of organizing and leading a construction management project.
- How the life of a facility goes through phases starting out as an idea combined with money and a project is born.
- Understand planning, design, and construction tasks and how people are involved in the lifecycle of a building.
- Analyze the need for the facility and whether it is economically feasible. This is life-cycle cost analysis.
- Differentiate construction workers , their construction trade , and work experience.
- What is the employment growth in the construction industry?
- Differences in building construction projects and infrastructure projects.
- How to use project management techniques in construction management.
- Best practices in communication skills and field operations.
- Construction methods and materials.
- The role of civil engineering and other engineering disciplines.
- Improving your construction experience and benefiting from real world lessons learned.
Architects design the project. Construction management professionals build the project at the construction site. All parties need to work in harmony to fulfill the functions that must be performed.
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Can building structures be sustainable?
This course aims to answer that question. It covers sustainable construction management project elements from conception to completion. We discuss the important contributions facility managers and property managers make to sustainable construction projects by acting as the owner’s representatives. And we show how the construction contract and project delivery method greatly influences how the project will be performed sustainably.
Sustainable construction methods and processes are highlighted, along with newer construction document production systems such as building information modeling (BIM), laser scanning, and drones. This course also gives an example of a scheduling method known as the critical path method (CPM).
We discuss methods, materials, and the equipment used to mitigate damage to buildings due to environmental conditions, and the different types of building systems. Current technologies and green innovations also reviewed include exterior wall systems, green roofs, elevators, HVAC systems, and new methods of sustainable building choices for green construction best practices.
Other topics include sustainable maintenance operations, energy management, green building certifications, renewable energy, sustainability construction trends and the use of best practices in sustainable planning, design, and construction, including the steps needed to develop a high-performance project.
Core concepts include:
- Frameworks for implementing a sustainable green project or a high-performance project.
- Role of the facility manager.
- Sustainable building design, construction, remodeling, and building improvements.
- Disaster management procedures.
- Sustainable Infrastructure.
- Decision making techniques in sustainable project development
- How to reduce emissions during construction
- How to control energy consumption and maximize sustainable efficiency
- Climate control.
- Greenhouse gas emissions.
- Stormwater management controls.
- Sediment and erosion controls.
- Renewable energy use
- Involvement of stakeholders in the planning, design, and construction process.
- Green building certifications, such as LEED and Green Globes.
- Latest trends and future in sustainable construction management.
- The best sustainable practices in design and construction.
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There are many costs associated with construction projects. Some costs are not directly associated with the construction itself but are important to quantify because they can be a significant factor in whether or not the project goes forward.
In this course we Illustrate how an estimate evolves over the life of the project. Some topics covered include:
- Design. Differentiate the different estimate types used in small and large projects during planning and design.
- Scheduling. In project construction management the schedule is most commonly used to track the project. By systematically analyzing each activity and its relationship to the activities that come before and after it, the construction manager can build a project on paper before committing resources to it.
- The uses of schedules and types of scheduling methods.
- How the schedule is a powerful construction management and communication tool.
- Controls. Project control begins with the identification of the owner’s objectives and ends when those objectives have been met. Project control is a continuous cycle in which construction managers identify a goal, measure results, analyze and make adjustments, and report results. After a construction project has been completed the team responsible for carrying out the work usually split up and go to various other jobs.
- Tools. The administrative tools used to manage, control, and document the construction management process. Jobsite administration requires diligence for clear procedures and understanding of the importance of recordkeeping.
- Law. The legal rules that govern the design and construction management processes. Construction law is made up of specialized rules and regulations that govern how people behave in the context of a construction project. Many disputes are moving to alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration and mediation to solve construction management disputes. Important safety procedures are also reviewed.
Taught by
Neil Schulman
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