Assignment 1: Construction Management Scenario
Assignment 1 is a research write-up on factors affecting accuracy of early stage building cost estimates and a comparison of early stage building cost estimating methods.
Scenario:
Accurate estimation of the construction cost of a project is important from an early-stage. Various studies have focused on identifying the factors that have some influence on the accuracy of early-stage building cost estimating. Below is a table that identify key factors under six groups.
| Group 1: Project characteristics
Examples: Project location, Project duration, Project complexity |
Group 2: Client and Consultants
Examples: Client type and his experience, Experience of consultants, Completeness of project documents |
| Group 3: Material Market
Examples: Material prices, Material quality, Material availability |
Group 4: Labour Market
Examples: Labour prices, Labour performance, Labour availability |
| Group 5: Financial Market
Examples: Economic climate, Competitors, Contract methods |
Group 6: Other external factors
Examples: Government regulations, Industrial relations, Weather effects |
Task:
Part 1: From the table given above, you are required to select ONE group and explain how the factors in the chosen group generally affect accuracy of building cost estimating. You are required to bring examples from industry cases; and, research findings from relevant journal articles and books to support your discussion. Refer to FAQs given in vUWS.
Part 2: Compare and contrast in a table commonly used preliminary estimating techniques including elemental estimating in the construction industry, covering criteria such as description of the method, accuracy levels, level of information required, popularity in the industry and convenience to use.
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All sources of information, including any interviews undertaken with building firms, which contributed to your assignment, must be acknowledged and referenced using UWS Harvard referencing http://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/cite_Harvard.pdf .
Word limit: Total of 1000 words (+/-10%) excluding references and appendices.
Formatting Guide:
- Include a title page, a small introduction and conclusion.
- The body could be arranged in main and sub headings.
- The arguments should be supported with in-text references and analysed using appropriate tables and diagrams.
- Add a list of references following Harvard UWS referencing system after the conclusions. Please note that these references should match with the in-text citations.
- Also, add any appendices that show evidence of industry data collection e.g. interview notes, construction project details
- Please include the word count excluding references and appendices at the bottom of the title page.
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Late Submissions: A late submission without approval for an extension will be penalised by 10 per cent per calendar day up to 10 days (see Learning Guide for further details). Extensions will only be considered under approved Special Considerations.
Marking Criteria: Marks will be assigned following the marking distribution and assignment standards set out in the table.