Construction management degree can be obtained from universities online, or distance education and as a full-time course. But what are your objectives for a construction management degree? Why do you want to pursue a degree in construction management? These questions need to be answered before you opt for this degree.
What is Construction Management?
Construction management is the study and practice of the managerial and technical aspects of construction projects to maintain the quality of construction, delivery timelines at a reasonable cost.
Need for a Construction Management Degree?
Construction industry is the largest industry in the world. Economy of world today depends on infrastructure development. Construction industry has the ability to provide economic growth around the world. Construction industry employs the largest number of people in the world.
According to Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) the responsibilities of a Construction Manager falls into the following 7 categories:
Project Management Planning,
Cost Management,
Time Management,
Quality Management,
Contract Administration,
Safety Management, and
Construction Management Professional Practices
Construction management professional practices consists of following activities:
Defining the responsibilities and management structure of the project management team,
Organizing and leading by implementing project controls,
Defining roles and responsibilities and developing communication protocols, and
Identifying elements of project design and construction likely to give rise to disputes and claims.
Every construction project consists of a number of complicated activities. Due to these complications, most construction projects exhibits cost overruns, time extensions, low quality construction and conflicts. To overcome these in a construction project, a construction manager has to learn and posses qualities as mentioned in above 7 categories.
These skills of construction management can be obtained from a construction management degree courses. Although, a degree cannot make anyone a successful construction manager, the skills gained from construction management course has to be applied at practically in a construction projects and should be analyzed from time to time for effectiveness and should be learned from experienced construction professionals.
The management of construction project is challanging as the works involved are unique in every construction project, it involves many contractors, subcontractors and consultants, large number of materials, machinery and equipments are involved and besides all these the construction projects are constrained by time, quality and cost and it possesses high risk.
What are construction management degree courses available?
Construction management degree courses are available in three formats:
Online degree
Correspondence or distance education
Full time classroom course
All the above degrees are offered as one-year, two-years and four-years bachelors degree and master degree.
Which degree should you opt for:
It depends on your current qualification and position. If you are working in a construction industry and located at a remote place, you may not infrastructure for online study, you can chose distance education mode as your choice. The online degree and distance education mode is best when you are working. You get work experience with construction management degree.
It is my personal thought that you opt for construction management after some experience in construction industry. You get exposed to all the activities carried out in construction, working style, management of construction activities, cost, time management etc. before you opt for a degree course. This exposure will enable you to learn the construction management skills quickly and effectively.
More details about online degree, distance education and full-time courses will be explained in next article.
