Course Title: Monitor costing systems on complex building and construction projects

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term1 2023

Course Code: BUIL6430C

Course Title: Monitor costing systems on complex building and construction projects

Important Information:

Please note that this course may have compulsory in-person attendance requirements for some teaching activities.

To participate in any RMIT course in-person activities or assessment, you will need to comply with RMIT vaccination requirements which are applicable during the duration of the course. This RMIT requirement includes being vaccinated against COVID-19 or holding a valid medical exemption.

Please read this RMIT Enrolment Procedure as it has important information regarding COVID vaccination and your study at RMIT: https://policies.rmit.edu.au/document/view.php?id=209.

Please read the Student website for additional requirements of in-person attendance: https://www.rmit.edu.au/covid/coming-to-campus

 

Please check your Canvas course shell closer to when the course starts to see if this course requires mandatory in-person attendance. The delivery method of the course might have to change quickly in response to changes in the local state/national directive regarding in-person course attendance.

School: 530T Built Environment and Sustainability

Campus: City Campus

Program: C5415 - Diploma of Building and Construction (Building)

Course Contact: Matthew Sweeney

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 4105

Course Contact Email: matthew.sweeney@rmit.edu.au

Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

• Partha Halder
• Program Coordinator, Building, Surveying & Land Management
• Email: partha.halder@rmit.edu.au
• Phone: +613 9925 4503

Nominal Hours: 60

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

None

Course Description

In this course you will develop the skills and knowledge required to monitor costing systems for building and construction projects. This includes processes and practices involved in controlling costs, and the production and maintenance of expenditure schedules and other arrangements, to ensure contracts or projects remain on budget.

This course applies to builders, senior managers in building and construction firms, and other construction industry personnel who work independently and in groups to investigate, evaluate and report project costing.

 

National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:	CPCCBC5002 Monitor costing systems on complex building and construction projects
Element:	1. Identify and classify project costs
Performance Criteria:	1.1 Access, read and interpret current building codes of practice, standards, legislation and specifications. 1.2 Identify construction costs and produce accurate estimations from project schedules. 1.3 Define cost estimates appropriate to contract requirements and accurately translate into the correct cost centres. 1.4 Identify cost centres and correctly incorporate into a planned project cost network. 1.5 Undertake risk assessment and compare estimated cost with estimated risk.
Element:	2. Prepare schedules for project expenditure
Performance Criteria:	2.1 Identify project critical points and prepare draft schedules of project expenditure. 2.2 Produce hard copies of prepared expenditure schedules in line with organisational processes. 2.3 Identify critical financial phases of the project and match cash flows to expenditure.
Element:	3. Create curves for projected cash flow and payments
Performance Criteria:	3.1 Prepare interim payment claims and rise and fall calculations for contractors and subcontractors. 3.2 Prepare projected S curve to show cash flow and resource control. 3.3 Prepare and compare projected cash flow and payments using time risk and cost risk. 3.4 Compare cash flows using early start and late finish for pessimistic or optimistic outcomes. 3.5 Calculate pessimistic overdraft requirements.
Element:	4. Monitor and maintain expenditure
Performance Criteria:	4.1 Monitor cash flow and creditor payments daily. 4.2 Compare network budget cost to actual costs in the tender calculations. 4.3 Calculate rise and fall expenditure and advise financial controller of variations. 4.4 Identify and analyse reasons for any cost variations. 4.5 Take necessary remedial action and record to retain contract financial compliance.
Element:	5. Prepare final cost report
Performance Criteria:	5.1 Compare actual costs with estimates at the completion of the job and compile a report detailing future actions. 5.2 Adjust organisational rates as required, based on the final cost report and current movements in prices and rates.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course you will have developed and applied the skills and knowledge required to demonstrate competency in the above elements. 

Details of Learning Activities

Students will be involved in the following learning activities to meet requirements for this competency:

• Face to Face classes

• Simulated Workplace Learning

• Online learning via CANVAS

• Other forms of structured teaching and learning

Students will be observed and assessed through their planned activities throughout the duration of the course

The total number of scheduled hours of teaching, learning and assessment involved in this course includes all planned activities (face to face classes, lectures, workshops and seminars; workplace visits, online learning and other forms of structured teaching and learning). It also covers the amount of effort necessary to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, observation of work performance, discussions with supervisors and others providing third party evidence and one on one and group assessment sessions with students.

Students will be able to access course information and learning materials through the Learning Hub and may be provided with additional materials in class. Lists of relevant reference books, resources in the library and accessible Internet sites will be provided where possible. You will also use equipment and software packages in the laboratory for the project work. During the course, you will be directed to websites to enhance your knowledge and understanding of difficult concepts.

Teaching Schedule

Session/Date

Theme

Assessments

Session One	Course Introduction Introduction to Cost estimation, Monitor Costings and Business finances Common terminologies and competency requirements Assessment’s introduction	Assessment 1 Assessment 2 Assessment 3 Assessment 4 All assessment tasks will be available from week 1. Some assessments might remain password protected.
Session Two	Cost centres and Estimation Cost estimate general discussion Assessment-1 (AT1-T1, 2a) Cost centre discussion	Assessment task 1 - AT1 in-class demo starts from this week
Session Three	Estimating ground slab Assessment 1 -continue Discussion on ground slab and window schedule	AT1- Activity 2a, 2b
Session Four	Carpentry and Masonry estimation Assessment 1 -continue Discussion on carpentry and masonry works	AT1- Activity 3
Session Five	Labour and plant hire estimation Assessment 1 -continue Discussion on labour (direct employee/subcontractors) and plant hire	Activity 4, 5a, 5b
Session Six	Profit and GST calculation Assessment 1 - finishing in class Discussion on GST and overall revision	Activity 6
Session Seven	Introduction to Monitor costing and business finances Assessment task 2 - AT2 starting in class Introduction to Monitor costing and business finances Risk assessment discussion	Assessment task 2 - AT2 in-class demo starts from this week– task 1a
Session Eight	Financial schedule Introduction of Financial schedule (FS) Detail discussion on business finances	AT2 – task 1b, 1c, 2a Submission AT1 by the end of week 8
Session Nine	Critical financial phases Discussion on FS summary table Discussion on critical financial phases	AT2 – task 2a, 2b
Session Ten	Mid-term Revision  Completion of Assessment task 2-AT2 Overall revision of AT2
Session Eleven	Progress claim and rise and fall clause AT3 starting in class Progress claim and rise and fall clause	Assessment task 3 - AT3 in-class demo starts from this week AT3 – task 1a, 1b
Session Twelve	S-curves and cashflow S-curves and cashflow discussion Overdraft calculation	Submission AT2 by the end of week 12 AT3 – task 2a-e
Session Thirteen	Business financial statements (BAS) Business financial statement preparation	AT3 – task 3a-d
Session Fourteen	ATO obligations ATO obligations and BAS discussion	AT3 – task 4a-c
Session Fifteen	Semester-end revision Revision Class for Assessment task 3	AT4 knowledge test starting this week
Session Sixteen	Final knowledge test Assessment task 4 - AT4 finishing and final submission Getting in-class feedback on all assessments	AT3 assignment and AT4 knowledge test are due by this week

Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts

References

Other Resources

Special consideration: 

Please Refer http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/specialconsideration to find more information about special consideration 

Plagiarism: 

Plagiarism is a form of cheating and it is very serious academic offence that may lead to expulsion from the University. 

Please Refer: www.rmit.edu.au/academicintegrity to find more information about plagiarism. 

Other Information: 

All email communications will be sent to your RMIT email address, and you must regularly check your RMIT emails.

Overview of Assessment

Assessment for this course is ongoing throughout the semester. Your knowledge and understanding of course content is assessed through participation in class exercises, oral presentations and through the application of learned skills and insights to your written tasks. Full assessment briefs will be provided and can be found on CANVAS. 

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Name

Description

Release Date

Due Date

Assessment Task 1	Project-based Assignment All six activities must be completed	Session 1 (Week 1)	Session 8
Assessment Task 2	Project-based Assignment All six activities must be completed	Session 1 (Week 1)	Session 12
Assessment Task 3	Project-based Assignment All four activities must be completed	Session 1 (Week 1)	Session 16
Assessment Task 4	Final Knowledge Questions test All questions must be answered correctly	Session 1 (Week 1)	Session 16

 

Assessment Matrix

Element		Performance criteria
		Assessment Task 1: Product	Assessment Task 2: Product	Assessment Task 3: Product	Assessment Task 4: Knowledge
1. Identify and classify project costs.	1.1. Access, read and interpret current building codes of practice, standards, legislation and specifications.	5b	1a		Q1, Q2, Q23, Q29
1.2. Identify construction costs and produce accurate estimations from project schedules.	1	1a		Q25
1.3. Define cost estimates appropriate to contract requirements and accurately translate into the correct cost centres.	2a, 3, 4	1a		Q24
1.4. Identify cost centres and correctly incorporate into a planned project cost network.	4	2a
1.5. Undertake risk assessment and compare estimated cost with estimated risk.	6	1a
2. Prepare schedules for project expenditure.	2.1. Identify project critical points and prepare draft schedules of project expenditure.		2a, 2b		Q13, Q27
2.2. Produce hard copies of prepared expenditure schedules in line with organisational processes.		2a
2.3. Identify critical financial phases of the project and match cash flows to expenditure.		2b		Q27
3. Create curves for projected cash flow and payments.	3.1. Prepare interim payment claims and rise and fall calculations for contractors and subcontractors.			T1	Q18, Q20, Q30
3.2. Prepare projected S curve to show cash flow and resource control.			2a	Q14
3.3. Prepare and compare projected cash flow and payments using time risk and cost risk.			2b
3.4. Compare cash flows using early start and late finish for pessimistic or optimistic outcomes.			2c, 2d
3.5. Calculate pessimistic overdraft requirements.			2d
4. Monitor and maintain expenditure.	4.1. Monitor cash flow and creditor payments daily.		T3
4.2. Compare network budget cost to actual costs in the tender calculations.			3b, 4c
4.3. Calculate rise and fall expenditure and advise financial controller of variations.			3c	Q18
4.4. Identify and analyse reasons for any cost variations.			3b,3c	Q19
4.5. Take necessary remedial action and record to retain contract financial compliance.			3d	Q26
5. Prepare final cost report.	5.1. Compare actual costs with estimates at the completion of the job and compile a report detailing future actions.			3b, 4c
5.2. Adjust organisational rates as required, based on the final cost report and current movements in prices and rates.			4c	Q30

Other Information

Credit Transfer and/or Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL):

You may be eligible for credit towards courses in your program if you have already met the learning/competency outcomes through previous learning and/or industry experience. To be eligible for credit towards a course, you must demonstrate that you have already completed learning and/or gained industry experience that is:

• Relevant
• Current
• Satisfies the learning/competency outcomes of the course

Please refer to http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/enrolment/credit to find more information about credit transfer and RPL.
 

Study and learning Support: 

Study and Learning Centre (SLC) provides free learning and academic development advice to you. 
Services offered by SLC to support your numeracy and literacy skills are: 

assignment writing, thesis writing and study skills advice 
maths and science developmental support and advice 
English language development 

Please Refer http://www.rmit.edu.au/studyandlearningcentre to find more information about Study and learning Support 

Equitable Learning Services (ELS):

If you are suffering from long-term medical condition or disability, you should contact Equitable Learning Services (ELS) to seek advice and support to complete your studies.
Please refer to https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services to find more information about services offered by Equitable Learning Services (ELS).

Course Overview: Access Course Overview