BLCN13038 - Cost Planning and Control

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides an understanding of cost planning and cost control procedures in the building and construction industry including: Cost effectiveness and cost control of construction projects; Cost management, cost monitoring, control systems, cost reporting and forecasting, variation control, cash flow co-ordination, work packaging, scoping, projections, and budgets throughout the design and construction phases of a project; Principles of construction cost control systems; budget maintenance; analysis of performance; cost reports; contract cost administration; Cost Planning: Objectives and parameters, Data gathering, data analysis, analysis of design, project implementation plans, procurement plans, financial analysis, scope audits. It will also provide you with an introduction to the project value management process and the establishment of client cost targets, time targets, risk allocation, cost breakdowns, end cost, and project alternatives for construction projects.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 3 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 30%
2. Written Assessment 30%
3. Written Assessment 30%
4. Written Assessment 10%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 75% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE Student feedback
Feedback
Expectations for the assessment were clear and assistance was provided to students when needed.
Recommendation
Assessment requirements will continue to be clearly formulated and explained and support will be provided to students.
Action Taken
Assessment requirements were clearly formulated in the assessment brief. The students were given clear instructions explaining the assessment instructions. Assistance was provided to students in explaining the assessment requirements in various ways, such as, through Forums in Moodle, through MS Teams, and in class.
Source: SUTE Student feedback
Feedback
The lectures were interesting and supported learning of the topic material.
Recommendation
The lecture conetent will continue to be relevant to the topic material to support student learning.
Action Taken
The lectures were offered to support student learning of the topic material.
Source: Student Unit Teaching Evaluation (SUTE)
Feedback
The lecturer led the way for better conceptual understanding during the classes.
Recommendation
The same strategy is recommended to be adopted for next and future deliveries. Furthermore, learning and assessment materials will be designed giving more focus on cost planning applications in the context of construction management.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit Teaching Evaluation (SUTE)
Feedback
The unit was very well run and was easy to digest the learning materials.
Recommendation
The same strategy is recommended to be adopted for next and future deliveries. Furthermore, learning and assessment materials will be designed giving more focus on cost planning applications in the context of construction management.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. understand how site, market, design and construction choices impact on the project cost
  2. apply cost planning and control techniques to all phases of the project procurement
  3. understand project cashflow and ways to correct variances
  4. understand trends in cost data analyses
  5. demonstrate communication skills

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • •
4 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
4 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •