Construction Procurement

Module Provider: School of Construction Management and Engineering, School of Built Environment
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites: CE1CMP Principles of Management EC103 Economics for Construction and Engineering LW1A05 General Introduction to Law
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites: CE2CCE Construction Economics CE2CMB Management in the Built Environment
Modules excluded:
Module version for: 2016/7

Summary module description:
Construction procurement is complex for four reasons. The purchase of construction occupies a considerable effort in pre-planning; it takes place over a protracted period; single projects typically constitutes a large proportion of suppliers? and buyers? annual turnover; construction involves fragmented, specialized supply chains involving a large number of separate companies. Procurement of construction is a multi-disciplinary study encompasses organization, economics of market and firms, law and business economics. Issues of particular importance are high numbers of specialist trade contractors, the separation of design from construction, complex interactions between off-site and on-site fabrication and the role of professionals in the process. This is the context within which we need to understand the commercial processes of structuring, negotiating, recording and enforcing business deals in construction.

Aims:
To enable the student to provide guidance and recommendations on the development within a public or private sector organization of policies, strategies and procedures for the procurement of construction in the built environment, nationally and internationally.

Assessable learning outcomes:
It is expected that the student should be able to know, understand and evaluate:
?The legal, economic and organizational considerations governing procurement and tendering.
?Principles and strategies of construction procurement and tendering.
?Local and international frameworks for procurement and tendering of construction projects.
?The appropriate procurement and tendering strategy to specify for different projects.
?Variations in practice in different parts of the world.

Additional outcomes:
Outline content:
?The legal, economic and organizational contexts of procurement of goods and services.
?Principles and strategies of construction procurement and tendering.
?Decisions and responsibilities in construction procurement and tendering.
?Relationships between procurement, tendering, contracts, funding, performance of projects.
?Commercial processes of structuring, negotiating and recording price and scope in contracts.
?Effective management of project risk using procurement and tendering mechanisms.
?Procuring for environmental sustainability.
?E-procurement and e-tendering of construction projects.
?Frameworks for international construction procurement (procurement and tendering guidelines of major international organisations like the World Bank, IMF, EU, UN, WTO, etc).
Global context:
Variations in procurement practice in different parts of the world will provide useful context in two ways. First, for understanding better the distinctive features of British practice. Second, to enable students to understand the nature of variability in procurement practice in different regions of the world, with explicit reference to practice particular countries

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
Lectures, seminars, private study and interactive assessments in Blackboard.

Contact hours:
Lectures- 10
Guided independent study- 90
Total hours by term- 100
Total hours for module- 100

Summative Assessment Methods:
Written assignment including essay- 80%
Class test administered by School- 20%

Other information on summative assessment:
Formative assessment methods:
On-line tests in Blackboard for reinforcing learning
Class discussions in seminars

Length of examination:
No final examination

Requirements for a pass:
An average mark of 40%

Reassessment arrangements:
Same as for main assessment, but a pass mark in either the total written assignments or the total class tests may be carried forward to the reassessment at the discretion of the module convenor