Subject Overview

Construction Planning Management covers the systematic planning, scheduling, resourcing, coordination, monitoring and control of construction projects. It integrates traditional site-management practices with cost, quality, safety, risk, sustainability and digital project-delivery requirements.

Learning Goal

Students will be able to prepare and manage practical construction plans; develop schedules and budgets; allocate resources; control time, cost, quality and risk; coordinate stakeholders; use contemporary digital tools; and make ethical, evidence-based project decisions.

Syllabus

1. Foundations of Construction Planning Management

Learning Objective: Explain key terminology, management functions, project objectives, construction sectors, project life-cycle stages and the relationships among scope, time, cost, quality, safety and sustainability.

Category: foundation

2. Project Organization, Roles and Governance

Learning Objective: Describe client, consultant, contractor and regulatory roles; compare organizational structures; and apply accountability, authority, reporting, documentation, ethics and governance principles.

Category: foundation

3. Scope Definition and Work Breakdown Structures

Learning Objective: Interpret drawings, specifications and bills of quantities; define deliverables and constraints; create work breakdown structures, activity lists, responsibility matrices and project coding systems.

Category: core

4. Construction Methods and Method Statements

Learning Objective: Select suitable construction sequences and methods for common civil and building works, considering constructability, temporary works, site conditions, productivity, safety and resource requirements.

Category: core

5. Activity Planning and Network Scheduling

Learning Objective: Estimate activity durations, establish dependencies and milestones, and prepare bar charts, precedence networks and critical path schedules using CPM and introductory PERT concepts.

Category: core

6. Resource Planning and Productivity Management

Learning Objective: Plan labour, materials, plant and subcontractors; calculate productivity and resource demand; address shortages; and perform practical resource allocation, smoothing and levelling.

Category: core

7. Estimating, Budgeting and Cash-Flow Planning

Learning Objective: Apply quantity take-off, unit-rate analysis, direct and indirect cost concepts, contingencies and overheads to develop estimates, project budgets, cost baselines and cash-flow forecasts.

Category: core

8. Procurement, Tendering and Contract Administration

Learning Objective: Compare procurement routes and contract types; explain tendering, bid evaluation, subcontracting, payment certification, variations, claims, extensions of time and essential contract records.

Category: application

9. Site Establishment, Logistics and Supply-Chain Planning

Learning Objective: Prepare site-layout and logistics plans covering access, storage, utilities, lifting, traffic, security, equipment utilization, material handling, inventory and supplier coordination.

Category: application

10. Project Monitoring, Cost Control and Performance Analytics

Learning Objective: Collect reliable progress data; update schedules; use S-curves, variance analysis, earned value management and productivity indicators; forecast completion outcomes; and prepare management reports.

Category: application

11. Risk, Change and Decision Management

Learning Objective: Identify and assess construction risks using registers, probability-impact matrices and basic quantitative techniques; plan responses; manage changes, delays and uncertainty; and make documented decisions.

Category: application

12. Quality, Safety and Environmental Management

Learning Objective: Develop inspection and test plans, quality assurance procedures and corrective actions; apply occupational health and safety controls; and integrate environmental compliance, waste reduction and responsible practice.

Category: core

13. Leadership, Communication and Stakeholder Coordination

Learning Objective: Apply team leadership, meeting management, negotiation, conflict resolution, information control and stakeholder-engagement practices to coordinate multidisciplinary construction work.

Category: application

14. Digital Construction, BIM and Emerging Practice

Learning Objective: Use scheduling and project-management software concepts; explain BIM-based planning, common data environments, mobile reporting, drones, IoT and digital twins; evaluate AI-assisted forecasting and optimization; and recognize cybersecurity, data ethics, lean construction, modular delivery, sustainability and future skills.

Category: contemporary