PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Programme title:
MSc Built Environment: Construction Economics and Management
Final award (BSc, MA etc):
MSc / PG Diploma / PG Certificate
(where stopping off points exist they should be
detailed here and defined later in the document)
UCAS code:
N/A
(where applicable)
Cohort(s) to which this programme
specification is applicable:
From 2015 intake onwards
(e.g. from 2015 intake onwards)
Awarding institution/body:
University College London
Teaching institution:
University College London
Faculty:
Faculty of the Built Environment
Parent Department:
The Bartlett
(the department responsible for the administration of
the programme)
Departmental web page address:
(if applicable)
Method of study:
Full-time/Part-time/Other
Criteria for admission to the
programme:
Length of the programme:
http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/graduate/programmes/msc_be/cem_over
view.htm
1) Full-time
2) Modular/Flexible
NB:- Distance learning is NOT offered as a study mode
A second class honours degree in a relevant subject from a UK
university or equivalent overseas qualification. Relevant
subjects here include degrees in Built Environment professional
fields (such as architecture, civil engineering, building,
surveying) but also degrees in economics, business studies or
similar disciplines. Appropriate professional qualifications and
experience will also be considered.
12 months full-time; 24 months part-time; up to 60 months flexible
(please note any periods spent away from UCL, such
as study abroad or placements in industry)
Level on Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications (FHEQ)
(see Guidance notes)
Relevant subject benchmark statement
(SBS)
(see Guidance notes)
Level 7
There is no directly equivalent relevant benchmark statement
however that issued by the QAA for Business and Management at
Master’s level has been used for guidance where relevant.
Brief outline of the structure of the
programme
and
its
assessment
methods:
(see guidance notes)
The course is divided into three equal parts:
1] four compulsory core subject modules (60 credits) ;
2] four elective or option modules (60 credits) ;
3] the MSc Dissertation (60 credits).
Each student is assessed in three ways.
1] One of the Core Modules (BENVGCM2, Economic institutions of construction)
is assessed by written examination. The examination takes place at the start of
the third term.
2] The other three Core Modules (BENVGCM1, Economics of construction,
BENVGCME The management of construction enterprises, and BENVGCMF The
management of construction projects) and all the Option Modules are assessed
by term papers, one for each of the assessed Modules that a student must take,
making seven in all. Each paper is around 3,000 words long.
3] Each student presents at the end of the course a Dissertation on a research
question of their own choosing. This Dissertation will be of no more than 10,000
words.
The course offers a menu of option modules from which students choose four.
Modules are divided into strands according to their discipline base: economicsbased; enterprise management based; and project management based.
In order to be eligible for award of MSc/PGDip Construction Economics and
Management at least two of the option modules taken must be economics-based
and at least one must be enterprise management based.
For module details see:
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/course-information/coursecontent/edit/cemdocumentsandimages/cemcoremodules.pdf
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/course-information/coursecontent/edit/cemdocumentsandimages/cemeconomicbasedmodules2
013.pdf
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/course-information/coursecontent/edit/cemdocumentsandimages/cementerprisebasedmodules
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/course-information/coursecontent/edit/cemdocumentsandimages/cemprojectbasedmodules.pdf
http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/#dissertation
http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm/programmes/postgraduate/mscconstruction-economics-management/#nonassessedmodules
Board of Examiners:
Name of Board of Examiners: MSc Built Environment
School of Construction and Project Management (a sub-board of
the Faculty of the Built Environment)
Professional body accreditation
(if applicable):
Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors
Date of next scheduled
accreditation visit: n/a – there
are annual partnership visits
for the raising of any
relevant issues.
EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
The Course Notes document summarises the aims as:
1] Our aim is to prepare and equip professionals for the transition into managerial careers, and develop the
managerial competence of professionals moving into their first management position.
2] We aim to broaden the educational base of students whose previous education has taken the form of
professional training, and to do this in two directions: to establish and deepen students knowledge and
understanding of some of the social science disciplines; and to raise their awareness of the range of practical
perspectives from which the construction industry and process can be viewed.
3] We also aim to provide a specialisation in the study of the construction sector for graduates of economics,
business, finance or related subjects.
3] Our course philosophy is that the study of construction economics and management is an application of the more
general study of economics and management, and not a self-contained intellectual field. At the same time we
demonstrate ways of exploring and analysing the peculiarities of the construction industry, and of focusing and
adapting the powerful analytic tools developed in those general disciplines to this particular context.
4] The course aims to provide a rigorous and theoretically informed approach to the study of construction
economics and management which will serve the student throughout their subsequent career, and will equip
them either for a senior management position or an academic career.
5] We aim to produce students capable of building upon and extending the research base of the two subject areas.
Students successfully completing the programme will show:
1] Competence in the ability to apply a wide range of theory appropriately to a wide range of construction industry
problems and contexts.
2] Possession of high level critical and research skills.
3] The ability to potentially become future innovators, leaders, senior managers, researchers and teachers in the
fields of construction management and construction economics.
4] The ability to critically appraise and interpret the importance of trends and developments in the construction
industry of the country in which they work.
5] The ability to critically appraise continuing developments in research and in the literature of construction
economics and management.
PROGRAMME OUTCOMES:
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding,
qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
A: Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge and understanding of:
The economic and management
context at global, national and sector
levels for the operation of
construction and other project-based
firms.
2.
The impact of economic and
management factors on the
management of construction and
other project-based firms.
3. The strategic interrelationship of
enterprises in the project-working
environment, from the client through
to suppliers.
4. Project and procurement in changing
environments
5. The business context of construction
projects and clients’ perspective on
the effective management of projects
1.
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
1. Acquisition through two-hour lectures and group
seminars associated with modules BENVGCM1: The
Economics of Construction; BENVGCME: The
Management of Construction Enterprises
2 and 3. Acquisition through two-hour lectures and group
seminars associated with modules BENVGCM2: The
Economic Institutions of the Construction Industry
4 and 5. Acquisition through two-hour classes and group
seminars associated with module BENVGCMF: The
management of construction projects.
Option modules take the theoretical and conceptual
work developed in the compulsory core modules and
develop learning applied to construction and project
working environments.
Items 1-5 above relate to core modules: Students will be
required to attend all classes, study extensively on their
own and prepare assessed course work and/or unseen
examination.
Assessment:
Coursework: will include individual and group work with
tutor and peer assessment that builds towards
assessment for credit.
Unseen 2-hour Written Examination: Compulsory Core
Module BENVGCM2
3,000 word Term Papers: Compulsory Core Modules
BENVGCM1, BENVGCME and BENVGCMF; ALL option
modules
BENVGCP1 – MSc Dissertation
1,000 word outline MSc Dissertation (10%)
10,000 word MSc Dissertation
B: Skills and other attributes
Intellectual (thinking) skills:
Graduates should possess the ability to...
- produce a substantial piece of ordered
written work
- solve management and economic
problems with appropriate solutions in
theory and practice
- undertake research activity in
construction economics and management
- make critical appraisals of literature and
practice
- generate conceptual and applied
recommendations.
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Lecture/seminar: an ordered presentation of subject
material enlivened by worked example, case study,
demonstration and the encouragement of small group
discussion.
Project briefing: the delivery of application-specific
material derived from or analogous to real events and
situations, using publicly available statistical and written
documentation as well as other research. Project
briefings may also include site visits.
Studio tutorials/workshops: small team studio tutorials
with expert tutors to develop tools and techniques in
management and economic practice.
Individual tutorial: focussed guidance to address and
develop research.
Assessment:
Coursework: will include individual and group work with
tutor and peer assessment that builds towards
assessment for credit.
Unseen 2-hour Written Examination: Compulsory Core
Module BENVGCM2
3,000 word Term Papers: Compulsory Core Modules
BENVGCM1, BENVGCME and BENVGCMF; ALL option
modules
BENVGCP1 – MSc Dissertation
1,000 word outline MSc Dissertation (10%)
10,000 word MSc Dissertation
C: Skills and other attributes
Practical skills (able to):
Graduates should possess the ability to...
- interpret and employ appropriate
calculation tools for economics
applications
- interpret and apply appropriate
concepts and ideas in economics and
management
- present strategies, tactics and
technical information in a coherent
manner verbally, in written and visual
forms.
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Project briefing: the delivery of application-specific
material derived from or analogous to real events and
situations, using publicly available statistical and written
documentation as well as other research. Project
briefings may also include site visits.
Studio tutorials/workshops: small studio tutorials with
expert tutors to develop tools and techniques in
management and economic practice.
Individual tutorial: focussed guidance to address and
develop research
External inputs: exposure of students to key industry
practitioners and sources.
Assessment:
Coursework: will include individual and group work with
tutor and peer assessment that builds towards
assessment for credit.
Unseen 2-hour Written Examination: Compulsory Core
Module BENVGCM2
3,000 word Term Papers: Compulsory Core Modules
BENVGCM1, BENVGCME and BENVGCMF; ALL option
modules
BENVGCP1 – MSc Dissertation
1,000 word outline MSc Dissertation (10%)
10,000 word MSc Dissertation
D: Skills and other attributes
Transferable skills (able to):
1. Write good essays and Report
2. Use computer resources and
information technology
3. Present material orally
4. Listen and contribute in class
5. Understanding new and complex ideas
6. Study a variety of written and digital
materials, in libraries and research
institutes of a kind that they will not
normally have used as undergraduates
7. Reflect on their own ideas by becoming
acquainted with ideas and practices new
to them
8. Make original contributions to
economics and enterprise management
scholarship
9. Assess and analyse evidence for
themselves
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Course work and dissertation – Option modules and
Dissertation, and Compulsory Core Modules: 1, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8 and 9.
Submitting computer-based written work; using data
bases, consulting on-line library catalogues, using website material – Compulsory Core Modules, Option
modules and Dissertation: 1., 2., 6., 8 and 9.
Seminar and workshop presentations – Core and Option
modules apply, plus Outline for Dissertation: 1., 2., 4., 5.
and 9.
Seminars, library visits, ‘hands-on’ instruction – Option
Modules and Dissertation: 2., 3., 4., 6. and 9.
Term Papers – Option Modules and three Compulsory
Core Modules
Seminar papers – Option Modules 3., 4., 5., 6., 7. and 9.
Reading, class discussion – Compulsory Core and
Option Modules: 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8.and 9.
Assessment:
Coursework: will include individual and group work with
tutor and peer assessment that builds towards
assessment for credit.
Unseen 2-hour Written Examination: Compulsory Core
Module BENVGCM2
3,000 word Term Papers: Compulsory Core Modules
BENVGCM1, BENVGCME and BENVGCMF; ALL option
modules
BENVGCP1 – MSc Dissertation
1,000 word outline MSc Dissertation (10%)
10,000 word MSc Dissertation (90%)
The following reference points were used in designing the programme:
 the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-frameworks.pdf);
 the relevant Subject Benchmark Statements:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements);
 the programme specifications for UCL degree programmes in relevant subjects (where applicable);
 UCL teaching and learning policies;
 staff research.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the
learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes
full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided. More detailed information on the learning outcomes,
content and teaching, learning and assessment methods of each course unit/module can be found in the
departmental course handbook. The accuracy of the information contained in this document is reviewed annually
by UCL and may be checked by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Programme Organiser(s) Name(s):
John Kelsey
Date of Production:
September 2008 (by Graham Ive)
Date of Review:
October 2015
Date approved by Chair of Departmental
October 2015
Teaching Committee:
Date approved by Faculty Teaching
October 2015
Committee