MSc in Applied Construction Cost Management
Full time - DT164
Programme co-ordinator
Dr. Roisin Murphy
School of Real Estate & Construction Economics
College of Engineering & Built Environment
DIT Bolton Street Dublin 1
T: 01 402 2925 F: (01) 402 3994
E: roisin.murphy@dit.ie
Dr Alan Hore - Acting Assistant Head of School
T: 01 402 3873 F: (01) 402 3994
E: alan.hore@dit.ie
Duration
Full Time - 1½ Years (3 semesters)
Closing date
Friday, 30th August 2013
Start date
September 2013
Introduction
Please note due to the great demand for our programmes early applications are assessed when received and dealt with promptly. Therefore it is advisable to make early applications for an early response. If you do not yet have your final degree results this will not hinder your application as we are happy to issue conditional offer letters in such circumstances.
This exciting new full-time programme has been designed to provide an opportunity for quantity surveying graduates to become educated in specialised areas of their profession that are not generally covered in great detail in their undergraduate degrees.It has been developed in response to considerable demand for an additional qualification and specialisation in the discipline. The primary emphasis of the programme is on developing the knowledge and skills of construction cost management of building services installations and civil engineering works.The programme is presented within the School of Real Estate and Construction Economics in the Faculty of the Built Environment in DIT. The total intake of students each year will be approx. 20-25 students. Because of the applied nature of the programme, it is expected that, initially at least, the students will come with undergraduate qualifications in quantity surveying, construction economics, construction economics & management, or equivalent.The content of the programme, delivered over 1½ years (3 Semesters) full-time includes subjects pertinent to the practice of quantity surveyors and construction economics professionals, but of a more specialised nature than those normally covered in their undergraduate degrees. The programme’s focus is strongly oriented towards the development of the underlying knowledge and the skills involved in construction cost management, especially of the building services and civil engineering work. This programme should be of particular interest to international students who want to study on a full-time basis in Ireland. See Programme Content for further details.
Course Content
YEAR 1
Semester 1: Civil Engineering Technology; Civil Engineering Administration; Civil Engineering Measurement; Project Cost and Financial Control; Commercial Management; Strategic & Project Management Integration for Construction
Semester 2: M&E Services Technology; M&E Measurement and Cost Management; Construction Cost Informatics; Research Studies; Sustainability in Construction; Professional Practice or Corporate Real Estate Management
YEAR 2
Semester 3: Dissertation
Assessment
The programme is assessed through a range of techniques including: project work; group work, assignments; presentations and examinations. Assessments in the form of examinations will normally take place at the end of the respective semesters in January and May, with supplemental examinations in September. In addition, students will be expected to complete a dissertation.
Students can only progress from one academic year to the next providing all the required assessments in the pre-requisite modules have been passed.
Location
School of Real Estate & Constructions Economics, College of Engineering and Built Environment, DIT Bolton Street, Dublin 1
Timetable / Hours
It is expected that there will normally be between 12 and 15 contact hours per week in Semester 1 and 2. Given the intensive nature of a taught Masters' programme, which involves a considerable amount of self study and self-directed learning and the fact that subjects are new, students are advised to keep a clear working week, and to minimize other commitments in order to participate in the course.
Entry Requirements
In order to be admitted to the course, students should have an honours (2.2 grade or higher) undergraduate degree or equivalent. Given the applied nature of the programme, it is expected that students will come with undergraduate qualifications in quantity surveying, construction economics, construction economics & management, or equivalent. Selection will be made, following interview, using the following criteria.
- Academic achievement
- Relevance of undergraduate qualification
- Interest in and critical awareness of role of the Quantity Surveyor in cost management of building services installations and/or civil engineering work; and
- Evidence of interest in and commitment to postgraduate construction research
Note: Due to the considerable competition for our postgraduate programmes satisfying the minimum entry requirement is not a guarantee of a place. Depending on the programme of study applications will be assessed based on your academic grades and may also take into account your work/life experience. Applicants may also be required to attend for interview for specific programmes.
Award
The Dublin Institute of Technology’s degree of MSc in Applied Construction Cost Management will be awarded to participants who successfully pass the formal examinations and assessments of the programme including the dissertation.
Career Opportunities
The programme aims to provide graduates with knowledge and skills in more specialised areas of quantity surveying/construction cost management, additional to those normally covered in undergraduate degrees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What subjects are covered in the programme?
The first semester of the programme is designed around the development of student learning in a number of key specialisms in associated areas. These are the cost management of civil engineering and infrastructure work, commercial management, project cost and financial control and the integration of strategic and project management. To provide the knowledge base for the development of the skills learned in those specialisms, the semester also seeks to develop an understanding of civil engineering technology and of the administrative systems associated with civil engineering works and other major infrastructure projects. The key focus of the learning in the module is directed towards the development of cost management skills in these areas. Much of the learning in the individual modules in the semester is integrated by means of a common scenario that will form the basis for the continuous formative assessment project work in each module.
The second semester continues the theme of specialist cost management, but the focus changes to cost management of building services installations. As with the first semester, the underlying knowledge base of the student is developed, for example in the module Mechanical & Electrical Services Technology, and the cost management skill base is developed in the module Construction Cost Informatics. The semester also examines another particular issues that contributes towards the overall cost management discipline, namely sustainable construction. This has particular relevance to design and cost management of the building services installations. Additionally, the student is given the option between two modules. One module, Professional Practice, seeks to put the cost management function into the context of the professional office. It develops an understanding of the organisation of professional practices and how they can best contribute to improved cost management. The other optional module, Corporate Real Estate Management, looks at the strategies and needs of large business organisations in managing their real estate requirements and seeks to relate the cost management function to those requirements.
The second semester also contains a very important module, Research Studies, which seeks to build on the research skills and techniques that a student will have learned in their honours undergraduate degree and will have developed to some extent elsewhere in the programme. It aims to give the student a thorough understanding of different research techniques and methods, and seeks to aid the student towards the formulation of a research question and the development of this into a research proposal.
The project assessment in this Research Studies module requires the student to submit a fully developed research proposal, which is to form the basis of the Dissertation undertaken in the third semester.
What is the duration of the course?
The course runs on a full-time basis over 1½ years. The 3rd semester involves independent learning in the completion of a dissertation.
Is it possible to complete the programme on a part-time basis?
Not at present. The course currently will run on a full-time basis only. However, depending on the demand the School might develop the programme so that it will be run on both a full and a part-time basis.
Is the programme accredited by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and/or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)?
The programme is not accredited by the SCSI and the RICS. Nor is it intended to seek full accreditation for the Masters in Applied Construction Cost Management, because it has not been designed to that end. Its aim is not to educate across the broad spectrum of skills required of the quantity surveyor. Rather it aims to concentrate on a number of them, and presupposes that its students will most likely possess those very skills before joining the programme. The programme is intended to give already qualified quantity surveyors (i.e. those already holding an honours degree in quantity surveying or equivalent) an education to greater depth and specialisation in certain areas of quantity surveying.
However, the Department would aim to maintain the links with the SCSI through this programme. One of the aims of the Department is to seek to have study in this Masters programme accredited as satisfying a proportion of the requirements for the Pre-Qualification Structured Learning (PQSL) component of the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) of the SCSI. Probationers of the SCSI are required to undertake and complete a minimum of 96 hours of PQSL over a 24 month period after obtaining their undergraduate qualification.
The Programme Committee have designed the programme in such a way that the learning outcomes from considerable elements of it would equate to the outcomes expected by the SCSI from a probationer’s PQSL, and they intend to apply for this accreditation from the SCSI at the earliest opportunity.
How often does the programme run and when does the next programme begin?
It is intended to run this programme annually, commencing in September each year.
EU Fees for 2012/2013*
*The fees outlined for each course are provisional and are subject to change
For information on fees for 2012/13 please click here
For information on funding please see the following link: Fees and Funding
Non EU fees for 2012 / 2013
For a full list of non EU postgraduate fees for 2012/13 please click here.
