Advanced Construction Management, Cost Estimation and Cost Budgeting

As a project manager, you will oversee the entire construction project lifecycle, from inception to completion. This involves collaborating with clients to understand their needs, followed by the design, procurement, and construction phases, culminating in the final handover. Mastering these competencies will enhance your skills as a construction professional and ensure successful project delivery.

This course will guide you through each phase and its critical steps. You will learn how to plan, organize, and control construction operations, covering everything from initial feasibility studies to design, construction, maintenance, refurbishment, and demolition. The curriculum is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of construction project management and the essential skills needed for success.

You will also explore various types of cost estimation, starting from the conceptual design phase through to detailed design in a construction project. The course emphasizes the significance of cost control and how to effectively monitor project cash flow.

Additionally, you will gain skills in preparing and managing budgets confidently, all within your project's commercial framework. Throughout the course, you will address three key themes:

• The project budget: Understanding the project budget and its relation to the final cost.
• Cost estimating: Learning how to develop cost estimates and recognizing differences among clients, designers, and contractors.
• Risk and value: Understanding how risk and value are integrated into the budget.

By examining the foundations of cost estimation in the construction industry, you will learn how project costs are structured, develop cost build-ups, and create bills of quantities through practical case studies. The course will also cover contractor tender pricing processes and the impact of risk, value, and decision-making on project costs.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Who should attend? 

• Programme Managers and other Senior Personnel responsible for the governance of projects
• Finance Personnel that are interested in expanding their understanding of how project cost data is used to manage the entire life-cycle of projects.
• Project Managers and Project Team Leaders who wish to build upon and consolidate their project management skills.
• Project Planning Engineers and Heads who need to develop their project management skills.
• Senior Project Control and Business Services Professionals who have the responsibility for planning, monitoring and controlling, and reporting on project budget and cost performance.
• Project Management Professionals.
• Graduate civil engineers from designer, contractor and client organizations.
• Construction graduates and assistant project managers.
• Junior site engineers and site managers.
• Project engineers, owners/managers.
• Project controller, planners, scheduler, consultant and specialists.
• Programme executive, controller, and managers.
• Cost controller, engineers and managers.
• Construction managers, administrators.
• Procurement & contract managers, administrators.
• EPC contractors, subcontractors and equipment/material suppliers.
• Quantity surveyors.
• Technical directors.

 How attendees will benefit? 

After completion of the course, delegates will be able to: 

• Understand the needs of, report to and manage your clients and stakeholders.
• Recognise the legal and contractual constraints of a project.
• Recognise the challenges faced and requirements of a Project Manager at all stages of a construction project.
• Apply effective cost control and reporting measures during the construction phase of a project.
• Perform risk management and analysis techniques to a project.
• Construction management preparation, planning, design, engineering, business, and technical practices used in the construction industry.
• Examines the construction project management industry and the profession by looking at the nature of the industry, future trends, and opportunities.
• Sustainable methods and construction materials, building systems, and controls in the construction industry, and the future trends in sustainable construction management.
• Explain the project cost management process and develop project cost management plans.
• Develop a business case and utilize capital budgeting techniques to evaluate long-term investments used in a project.
• Develop accurate estimates and identify different methods for estimating a project’s overall costs.
• Develop a project cost baseline and project budget and explain contingency and management reserves allocated for the project.
• Identify project variance and calculate project performance metrics using earned value analysis.
• Identify different cost-saving strategies for projects and apply continuous improvement concepts on project overall finances.
• How to prepare a project budget and relate the budget to a Bill of Quantities.
• How to prepare feasibility cost estimate.
• How to control costs.
• How to accommodate risk in cost estimating.
• Broad principles and processes of construction cost estimating.
• Elements of price and build-up of cost from first principles.
• The difference between cost, value and waste.
• The financial consequences of construction cost decision making.
• The interaction between project, client and project governance.
• Understand the benefits of good project cost control for successful project outcomes.
• Use best practice to minimise costs and negative impacts.
• Describe a typical project cost management life cycle.
• Explain the action required at each phase of the project cost management life cycle and understand the significance of each phase.
• List the key attributes of cost necessary to understand and manage cost effectively.
• Explain the key steps required to improve project estimates, budget and cost base lining, performance measurement and analysis, cost monitoring and control during project execution and interpreting and reporting project performance throughout a technical project life cycle.
• Specify key quantitative measures for determining the project performance using Earned Value Management (EVM).
• Provide meaningful project progress reports using EVM together with forecasts of likely outcomes and management options to correct where necessary.