Risk Management in Construction

Module Description

Risk management in the Construction industry has evolved significantly over the past years. This module provides an in-depth understanding of the best practices based on different views and practitioners’ experiences.

The module provides the knowledge and skills required to analyse and mitigate against any risk that arises over the life cycle of a construction project to keep the project on track and in line with pre-determined goals.

Managing risk should be primarily a proactive exercise, it should take part of the planning process to identify and quantify risks and put in place safeguards taking into account the severity and probability of the risks.

Risk management module covers different types of risks applicable to various types of construction projects. On large-scale construction projects, risk management strategies include extensively detailed plans to ensure mitigation strategies are in place.

For smaller projects, risk management might mean a simple, prioritised list of high, medium and low risks and associated action plans.

Entry Requirements

Candidates who apply for this course must possess one of the following: 

• a Level 6 degree in a related field; 

 OR  

• a Level 5 diploma or higher diploma and 5 years’ work experience in a managerial role.  

Preference is given to applicants having a Level 6 degree in a discipline related to construction, and a minimum of 3 years’ work experience in management within the industry. 

Target Audience

This course is targeted at professionals with supervisory and/or middle management experience in the construction industry who wish to have a more thorough background in the subject in order to further advance their careers , namely:  

• Architects and Civil Engineers 
• Mechanical and Electrical Building Services Engineers  
• Project Managers and Coordinators 
• Project Owners 

The target group can be extended to groups working within the construction industry, such as logistics managers, maintenance managers and facilities managers. 

Module / Unit Instructions

The proposed structure comprises a blended approach promoting the building of a community of practice via peer-to-peer learning.

The structure uses primarily two dimensions of teaching-learning modes:

1. Face-to-face sessions: 18 hours.
2. Online Learning Activities: 12 hours.

Face to Face sessions

• Face-to-face sessions include lectures, tutorials, discussions, presentations and workshop activities promoting peer-to-peer learning.

Online Learning Activities

Online learning activities incorporate tutorials and asynchronous discussions. These may consist of active interaction, participation and contributions in fora discussions, sharing resources and self-reflection exercises.

Learners also contribute to the building of the community of practice by providing feedback to their peers as critical friends, enhancing the learner’s critical engagement throughout the study period.

The tutor provides continual support during both teaching -learning modes by providing information, readings and tasks relevant to the module in question.

The tutor provides continuous formative feedback as an on-going guidance during the student’s learning experience in preparation for their summative assessment.

How you’ll be assessed

Assessment of each module consists of two assignments, each carrying a weighting as below:

a) One Formative assignment carries 20% of total module mark achieved. b) One Summative assignment carries 80% of total module mark achieved.

For successful completion of a study module the student is required to achieve a minimum of 41% pass mark in both the formative and the summative assignment.

The overall grade achieved for each module is calculated as the sum of:  20% of the mark achieved for formative assignment; and  80% of the mark achieved for the summative assignment.

All assignment tasks of both formative and summative assessment aim to provide the learner an opportunity to produce evidence of his/her competences aligned to the learning outcomes of each individual Module.

Assessment

a) Formative assessment tasks are provided in the form of structured online discussions that support learners in their development throughout all of the modules studied.

Such discussions are facilitated and monitored by lecturer who provides students with constructive feedback to help them improve and prepare for summative assignment and dissertation.

Formative assessment tasks will contribute to the student’s final mark to acknowledge their work and give chance to improve.

This method allows students to also contribute to the building of the community of practice by providing feedback to their peers as critical friends, enhancing the learner’s critical engagement throughout the study period

b) Summative assessment is done via one assignment at the end of each module.

The mode of assessment varies and may include in-class assignments, and home-based written assignments. The recommended assessment tool for this module is essay title. Other assessment tools which may be used are case studies and reports.

Word count range: 3000 ± 10%. For successful completion of a study module the student is required to achieve a minimum of 41% pass mark in summative assignment.