Course overview

Technological and managerial evolution of the construction industry during the last two decades demands a new generation of construction professionals. To compete successfully in national and international arenas, during all phases of a project, construction organisations need managers with strong leadership and interpersonal skills that blend technical and management skills, understand the financial and legal issues involved in a project and are sensitive to technological issues.

The discipline of construction engineering and management (CEM) is structured to develop this type of professional. Our degree includes a set of technical core subjects, supplemented by options that can be used to customise a plan of study to suit your specific career interests. You will also be encouraged to take courses from other areas of civil engineering and various other academic units at the University of Portsmouth.

The course aims to equip you with the technical knowledge and skills you will need to undertake construction project processes such as design, construction management and contract management. It seeks to produce graduates who can:

• Use a combination of general and specialist civil engineering knowledge and understanding to apply existing and emerging technology.
• Apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to design, develop, construct, commission, operate and maintain civil engineering products, processes, systems and services.
• Provide technical and commercial management in the construction industry.
• Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills and a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment.

Professional accreditation

The BEng (Hons) Construction Engineering Management course is appropriate for those seeking a first degree leading to a recognised professional qualification in civil engineering. It is accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE). The course fully satisfies the educational base for Incorporated Engineer (I Eng) under the United Kingdom Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UKSPEC). The School maintains excellent links with these professional bodies and regularly updates and advises students on matters relating to their progress to professional status.

Placement and field work

The course can be taken in sandwich mode, enabling you to take a year in industry to gain experience, and is usually taken between years two and three of the degree programme. We maintain close links with a wide range of organisations in the civil engineering industry and the School has an excellent record of obtaining suitable industrial training. In addition to the experience gained on a placement, you will also gain valuable experience during field trips. All students undertake field studies in surveying, soil mechanics, environmental hydraulics and construction. The course makes extensive use of the ‘real-world laboratory’.

Exchange opportunities

Opportunities exist for part of your studies to be undertaken in France, Germany, Spain or the Czech Republic. The School has developed educational links with a number of institutions including Grand Ecole d’Ingenieur at St Etienne in France, Ecole Superieure at Cachen in France, Fachhochschule Trier in Germany, Universidad de Granada in Spain, Universidad de A Coruna in Spain, and Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Course content

The BEng (Hons) Construction Engineering Management is completed over three years. The course may also be taken as a sandwich course, with approved year-long industrial training undertaken at the end of year one or two. The course is unitised and credit is given for each unit successfully completed. Each year is made up of a number of compulsory (core) and optional units.

Level one

In your first year you will be introduced to the key theories and principles upon which civil engineering practice is based. It comprises 120 credits.

Core units include:

• Foundations of Engineering Analysis: designed for students that have studied but failed to complete A Level mathematics (or equivalent). Those who have already completed A Level mathematics are exempt.
• Soils and Materials 1: the nature and performance of soils and major construction materials.
• Engineering Analysis: the fundamental mathematical techniques that have application in civil engineering.
• Surveying: the theory and practice of measuring angles, distances and heights in a spatial field and their application in the construction site setting out.
• Hydraulic Principles 1: the behaviour of fluids at rest and in motion.
• Construction Practice: the construction process and the implications for health, safety and welfare of project participants and the environment.
• Structures 1: behaviour and modelling of simple structural elements.
• Professional Skills: technical, practical and people skills required for effective communication in the construction industry as well as continuing professional development.

Optional units include:

• Basic Engineering Analysis: mathematics for those students who have had little or no post-GCSE mathematics experience.
• Introduction to Design : the nature of the design process and the importance of imaginative thinking, critical evaluation and communication in the process.

Level two

Your second year comprises 120 credits (100 from core units and 20 from optional units).

Core units include:

• Infrastructure Development and the Environment: the role of construction industry professionals in ensuring projects' requirements for acceptability, sustainability and minimisation of environmental impact.
• Structures 2: behaviour and modelling of complex structural elements.
• Hydraulic Principles 2: analysis and management of closed conduit and open channel flow of fluids.
• Conceptual Design Project: creative thinking in solving civil engineering problems.
• Structural Elements: the design of simple structural elements in reinforced concrete and steel.

Core units spanning the full academic year include:

• Soils and Materials 2: the nature and performance of soils and major construction materials and their subsequent impact on civil engineering structures.
• Construction Management and Economics: the financial, contractual, statutory and economic considerations relevant to construction projects.
• Mathematics with Quantitative and Numerical Methods: mathematical, probabilistic and numerical techniques relevant to civil engineering.

Optional units include:

• Legal Studies 1: the basic knowledge about the legal framework within which construction projects are undertaken.
• Legal Studies 2: advanced knowledge about the legal framework within which construction projects are undertaken.
• Diving and Underwater Engineering: the basic theory and practice of diving at work.
• Mechanisms of Environmental Pollution: the types, behaviour and impact of pollutants commonly found in water and the atmosphere.
• Environmental Assessment Methodology: the legal framework, content, procedures and post-construction auditing required to produce a project environmental statement.

Optional units spanning the full academic include:

• Institution-Wide Language Programme: the basics of a variety of languages from Arabic, British Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
• Industrial Placement: application of civil engineering knowledge in a professional work environment over a period of one year.

Level three

Your third year will build on all the knowledge you have acquired throughout the course so you are able to analyse, design and manage civil engineering systems in an integrated manner. It comprises 120 credits (100 from core units and 20 from optional units).

Core units include:

• Environmental Engineering (10 credits): the application of knowledge and techniques to the design and management of water and wastewater treatment systems.
• Contract Management (10 credits): the design and management of contractual relationships in construction projects.
• Introduction to Project Evaluation and Development (20 credits): this unit emphasises managing the close relationship among activities. throughout the life-cycle of a project, from initial planning to ultimate disposal, decommissioning and/or rehabilitation.
• Corporate Management (10 credits): the design and management of operations in a construction organisation.
• Project Evaluation and Development (20 credits): this unit continues the work done in the introductory unit above.

Core units spanning the full academic year include:

• Research Methods and Individual Project (40 credits): this unit covers the application of knowledge, techniques and skills to solve a civil engineering problem and/or create new knowledge through a systematic research process.

Optional units include:

• Geotechnical Engineering: the application of soil mechanics to the design and management of embankments, retaining walls and foundations according to British Standards.
• Structures 3: the application of plastic analysis to civil engineering structures.
• Structural Frames: application of structural analysis to design and manage reinforced concrete, steel and composite civil engineering structures.
• Highway Engineering: the design and management of highway route location, vertical and horizontal alignment as well as road pavements, drainage and lighting.
• Pre-stressed and Post-tensioned Concrete: the design and management of pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete elements and structures.
• Civil Engineering Heritage and History: management of historical civil engineering infrastructure.
• Surveying 3: the application of Global Positioning System, Geographic Information System, photogrammetry and Ground-Probing Radar in the construction industry.
• Professional Diving Skills: the design, implementation and management of scuba and commercial open water diving operations.
• Traffic Engineering : design and management of traffic movement.
• Harbour and Coastal Engineering: application of knowledge and techniques to design and manage port and harbour facilities.
• Introduction to Finite Element Methods: the application of the fine element principles to analyse and design civil engineering structural systems.

Teaching and assessment

We use a variety of teaching such as lectures, seminars, tutorials, site visits and laboratory and field exercises. Teaching is also enhanced by the extensive research, consultancy and other scholarly activities carried out by academic staff and we increasingly use the internet to support independent learning.

You will be assessed in each individual unit by either coursework or examination or by a weighted combination of both. Assessment takes place within each teaching period and your results are published after the end of each period. Feedback is provided on all assessment artefacts to show you what you did well, what you didn’t do well and how you can improve your performance.

Career prospects

Since commencing degree courses more than 30 years ago, the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying has enjoyed a sound reputation with employers. Graduates have been outstandingly successful in finding employment in the construction industry, but the qualification is designed to be equally valuable as a means of securing employment in other sectors of the economy such as business, banking, IT and local government.

What the employers say

'Having recruited three Industrial Placement students from the University of Portsmouth who performed exceptionally whilst with us, BAM Nuttall are keen to continue working closely with the University. The students demonstrated excellent standards in safety awareness, were extremely conscientious, reliable and motivated. They showed a good attitude towards supervision and all got on well with their peers on site. They were honest and punctual. As a result of their performance on site, they have now been sponsored by us for the remainder of their degree courses and will join us as graduates when they finish. Since their return to university, I have heard from the sites that they are very much missed!'

Nicola Young, Student Liaison Officer, BAM Nuttall Ltd

Facilities and features

You will have use of the University Library with learning resources including books, periodicals, journals, trade magazines, electronic databases and an interlibrary loan facility, as well as our own Learning Resources Centre, which houses a wide variety of construction industry publications. The School also has laboratories for materials and structures testing, fluid flow modelling and chemical investigation, as well as an onsite environmental laboratory located at a real sewage treatment works. We also have an extensive network of computers with general and specialist software.

Our team of experienced academic, support and administration staff are always willing to help. We also have a long established network of civil engineering consulting and contracting organisations that provide real-world case studies, curriculum advice, feedback on your work and employment opportunities.

Maths Café

The Maths Café is a daily drop-in facility, where ANY student of the University can receive help on any maths or statistics problem they encounter in their studies. We operate in a friendly, informal location which we hope will encourage students to visit us. Handouts on key topics are available to take away. Students can be shown how to use computer aided learning packages, which can be accessed from any computer attached to the University's computer network.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BEng (Hons) Construction Engineering Management for the academic year 2012/13 (opens in new window).