PMQUTSUR - MSc Quantity Surveying

Skilled quantity surveyors are in demand both in the UK and globally. At the London Metropolitan University School of the Built Environment, we have designed a course which aims to produce highly skilled and valued quantity surveyors who are able to effectively lead the financial and contractual management of projects across the globe.

This course is designed for graduates and professionals seeking to move into quantity surveying and can provide those seeking a career change with non-construction related qualifications, a pathway to enter the field of quantity surveying and gain a recognised postgraduate qualification.

As a student on our course, you will engage in authentic learning and assessment on real world projects, working with established national and international organisations operating within the global construction and real estate sector. You will visit live projects to experience first-hand the challenges, excitement, and opportunities a career in quantity surveying can offer.

Placing an emphasis on real world and authentic assessment means that throughout the course students will showcase their achievements to industry and employers and contribute to solving challenges on real construction projects. In some modules, such as Sustainable Built Environments, project choice will be available to students allowing you to choose where in the world you locate your project which will allow students to discuss different perspectives within and outside the UK. This will aid your critical thinking and awareness of how different perspectives on issues relating to diversity in ethnicity, culture and nationality can impact the quantity surveyor and the management of projects.

Assessment types will be varied, and modules such as Quantity Surveying Practice will include assessment choice whereby the students can agree with the module team the format of the presentation which, for example, could be live in person, a recorded talking head video, or a recorded PowerPoint presentation with commentary. If recorded, then there will be a scheduled opportunity for Q&A.

Formative assessment is key to students’ progression as it provides the opportunity for impactful feedback to the students which will directly benefit their future submissions. Formative assessments will be embedded in modules, sometimes taking the form of a scheduled event, for example a workshop in the Applied Research Project module in which the output of the workshop will be a project outline proposal which will be arrived at through group and individual discussions with the module team.

The course will adopt a blended learning approach which will combine the benefits of a traditional classroom taught course with the flexibility which is afforded by delivery that is enhanced through embracing web-based technology and resources. These web-based technologies allow students flexible ways of engaging with the course material, academics, and their peers. The University’s Virtual Learning Environment will provide students with access to the course materials, including lecture notes, recordings and supporting resources. Through the library students will have access to e-books, journals, and construction industry databases.

London Metropolitan University’s commitment to social justice and using the power of education to change lives is central to the learning and teaching on this course, encouraging all students to engage and fulfil their potential. The course has been designed with the objective of removing arbitrary and unnecessary barriers to learning, by facilitating a learning experience accessible for all, irrespective of the group or groups to which students belong. The student experience will raise aspirations and support achievement for people with diverse requirements, entitlements, and backgrounds. All our students belong and contribute to our community of learners, engaging with the opportunities the course, school, and University offer.

The need for expert financial planning and contract management of construction projects is a need for every organisation developing, operating, and owning built environment assets across the globe. The aim of this course is to develop quantity surveyors who have excellent communication and technical skills, and understand the contribution the principles of integrity, professionalism, respect, and excellence make towards their becoming ethical practitioners. These skills will enable them to achieve the client’s goals in a wide variety of scenarios, considering the challenges brought about when projects are placed within their cultural and national contexts. To do this the course will cover the knowledge, skills and behaviours required by quantity surveyors to allow them to expertly plan, forecast, programme, and allocate resources to a project whilst monitoring progress and managing risk as they work towards a successful project conclusion. It will introduce students to the principles behind quantity surveying practice and they will practically apply them to define and ascertain the feasibility of a project, engage in the detailed financial planning of a project including strategic procurement, set project goals, administer a construction contract, and monitor the same, all within dynamic project environments.

The course will embrace the latest quantity surveying techniques, codes of practice and bodies of knowledge. It will mobilise the latest technologies within real-life project scenarios. This will ensure the learning experience of our students is one through which they become highly employable project professionals leading ethical and sustainable quantity surveying practice within a sustainable, low carbon world.

University Learning outcome

1. Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition, and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners/professionals in their discipline.

Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and understanding of:

2. the theories, concepts and principles which underpin traditional and contemporary quantity surveying and their application to the commercial management of construction projects and contracts.
3. the nature of the built environment and the construction project lifecycle including the relationships and linkages between the various stakeholders.
4. the concepts of legal context, finance, economics, risk, corporate governance, ethics and sustainability as appropriate to a quantity surveyor.
5. the principles of effective commercial management and contract administration throughout the construction project lifecycle.

Cognitive/Intellectual Skills

On successful completion of this programme you should be able to:

6. identify, critically evaluate and produce solutions to facilitate successful strategic and operational financial planning and management of organisations and projects.
7. identify, critically evaluate and apply suitable techniques associated with the management of the project finances, project plans, resources and uncertainty.
8. define, investigate and critique a complex problem in an area specific to quantity surveying.

Subject-specific practical skills

9. appraise and advise on appropriate traditional and contemporary quantity surveying practice for a range of project types.
10. how to effectively manage the dynamic landscape within which construction projects are planned and delivered.

Key Transferrable Skills

11. adopt methods of communication suitable for the intended audience to convey complex information in an efficient and appropriate manner.

https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/subject-benchmark-statement-land-construction-real-estate-and-surveying.pdf?sfvrsn=f9f3c881_4

Assessments will be inclusive, accessible and promote decolonization and diversification to aid critical thinking and awareness of how different perspectives on issues relating to diversity in ethnicity, culture and nationality can impact the quantity surveyor and the commercial management of projects. This will be achieved twofold. Firstly, through using case studies from across the globe to bring to the student’s attention the challenges facing quantity surveyors when working in different countries and cultures. Secondly, project choice will be available to students allowing them to choose where in the world they locate their projects which will encourage contributions from students with diverse backgrounds allowing them opportunities to draw upon, express and see the value in their different and varied personal experiences.

Placing an emphasis on real world and authentic assessment means that throughout the course students will be asked to demonstrate critical thinking and awareness of how different perspectives on issues relating to diversity in ethnicity, culture and nationality can impact the quantity surveyor and the commercial management of projects.

The course uses a variety of assessment methods and modules are generally assessed using more than one type of assessment. As was mentioned in section 9, modules such as Quantity Surveying Practice, and Sustainable Built Environments, will include assessment choice whereby the students can agree with the module team the format of the presentation which, for example, could be live in person, a recorded talking head video, or a recorded PowerPoint presentation with commentary. If recorded, then there will be a scheduled opportunity for Q&A.

The course assessments will allow students to evidence their knowledge of the course core learning materials, their intellectual and problem-solving abilities, their awareness of the impact of issues relating to diversity in ethnicity, culture and nationality on the quantity surveyor, and the skills they have gained during the course. Each module will provide an opportunity for formative assessment which will be provided ahead of any summative submissions to enable the students to learn and benefit from this feedback, improving their overall performance. The delivery of formative assessment will be different across modules and may sometimes form part of a timetabled seminar or class session.

In modules where enquiry-based learning is used, industry inspired scenarios will form the basis of the assessment, sometimes using a live project as the vehicle for the assessment.

Assessment types will include:

Debates: Group debates will be conducted around a particular topic or subject area. A proposition will be offered and defended within the group context. These are often used as the vehicle for formative feedback sessions and occur during scheduled workshops.

Essays: A focused piece of writing in which the student is required to inform or persuade through argument, explanation, narrative, or description.

Portfolios: Typically, a portfolio brings together of several related pieces of work which together form the basis of a response to a problem set.

Projects: These will be based on a scenario that relates directly to the construction industry and will require an objective solution to the problem that has been set.

Presentations: These may be live (face to face or online) or recorded and could include video. Whether the presentations are synchronous or asynchronous there will be an opportunity for live Q&A scheduled into the assessment timetable.

For the Applied Research Project module, the assessment is based on a substantial, individual piece of research conducted by the student. Throughout the project formative feedback and guidance will be available to all students through their work with their supervisors including opportunities for 1:1 supervision meeting.

In broad terms, the assessment strategies adopted on the course will require students to provide evidence of the following:

Analysis – have key concepts been understood and the relationship between them articulated?

Integration of theory and practice – has evidence from both academic research and professional practice been effectively related to each other, and have theoretical concepts been appropriately applied to practical situations?

Critical thinking – has information been used in a critical way rather than simply reproduced and accepted as fact?

All assessment briefs will provide students with a clear and unambiguous guide to the assessment requirements and the marking criteria to be applied. Assessments will be spread across the whole academic year to minimise assessment bunching and any feedback issued will be done so in a timely manner which, where applicable, will help inform subsequent submissions.

All students are required to submit assignments via relevant WebLearn sites through Turnitin. These are marked and made available to second markers and external examiners in all cases and all students are informed of these procedures through module discussions as well as during induction undertaken by the Course Leader.

Qualifying mark for module completion 50% on all modules, each of which can be passed on aggregate.

Part-time Structure

Part time starts (day release)

September start, 2 years

Year 1 Autumn semester core modules CO7008 Construction Design and Technology; and C7002 Procurement and Contract Practice

Year 1 Spring semester core modules; SU7001 Quantity Surveying Practice; and CO7005 Sustainable Built Environments

Year 2 Autumn semester core modules SU7000 Built Environment Economics and Finance; and CO7P00 Applied Research Project.

Year 2 Spring semester core module CO7003 Managing Risk and Uncertainty; and CO7P00 Applied Research Project.

Year 2 Summer semester core module CO7P00 Applied Research Project.

February start, 2.5 years

Year 0.5 Spring semester core modules CO7008 Construction Design and Technology; and CO7005 Sustainable Built Environments.

Year 1 Autumn semester core modules SU7001 Quantity Surveying Practice; and CO7002 Procurement and Contract Practice.

Year 1 Spring semester core modules. CO7003 Managing Risk and Uncertainty

Year 2 Autumn semester core modules SU7000 Built Environment Economics and Finance; and CO7P00 Applied Research Project

Year 2 Spring and Summer semester core module CO7P00 Applied Research Project.

Postgraduate Certificate 60 credits must include CO7008 Design and Technology and CO7002 Procurement and Contract Practice

Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits) all modules except CO7P00 Applied Research Project module.

As with many academic disciplines it is accepted that a knowledge of fundamental concepts and vocabulary must be acquired by the student and this basic knowledge will be obtained primarily via the course material, including online resources, supplemented by their own personal research. However, the acquisition of that knowledge will not be adequate to develop the high-level intellectual skills appropriate to a master’s level course. Hence, the course will make extensive use of enquiry- based learning.

In the enquiry-based learning approach students are presented with scenarios which are open-ended and allow a variety of responses or solutions. Students determine the lines of enquiry and the methods employed, and the enquiry requires students to draw on existing knowledge and identify their required learning needs. Tutors often act as facilitators, providing guidance, feedback, and encouragement to students, with the emphasis being on empowering students to make critical decisions, reflecting on feedback received, to seek practical solutions to the problems posed. Students work collaboratively and use the extensive resources available to them to research the problems presented in the scenario.

Through both regular class-based activities and module assessments, students will be provided with feedback, both real-time and asynchronous, and asked to reflect and learn from this.

The learning process is thus highly student-centered, with the students effectively taking responsibility for what and how they learn. The scenarios are carefully designed so that there is no single correct answer and indeed, many alternative responses may be available to them as is the case in the real world of the quantity surveyor. Students gain a much deeper understanding of the material through these interactions and feedback channels, gaining knowledge by experience, alongside developing their social, cultural and employability skills.

As a quantity surveying postgraduate you will be equipped with the necessary skills to specialise in the field of quantity surveying and commercial management. Quantity surveyors play a crucial role in managing the commercial aspects of construction and civil engineering projects, including financial management, procurement and contract management. As a student, you'll gain knowledge about procurement options in the UK and internationally and learn about approaches that achieve client value while controlling costs and risk, to ensure the successful delivery of construction projects.

The private sector is a major source of employment and within the public sector both central and local government bodies offer graduates in quantity surveying employment opportunities.

Typical employers include:

• Major UK and international construction companies and consultancies
• Residential and commercial property developers
• Construction and civil engineering contractors
• Architectural and design practices
• Social housing organisations
• Public sector organisations
• Specialist consultants including cost consultants, engineering, and environmental consultancies

The technical, management and professional skills you will gain during your studies are also valued by employers in other sectors, such as finance, business, renewables, engineering, and manufacturing.

We will be seeking accreditation for our Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management BSc from the Chartered Institute of Building and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, as soon as possible.

As a quantity surveying and commercial management graduate, your in-the-know knowledge of the built environment sector, alongside the surveying skills gained, will be highly valuable to today’s employers, across a range of sectors.

Government bodies, both central and local, offer graduates employment opportunities within this area. A major source of employment also comes from the private sector.

Typical employers include:

• Major UK and international construction companies and consultancies
• Residential and commercial property developers
• Construction and civil engineering contractors
• Public sector organisations
• Specialist consultants, including engineering, cost consultants and environmental consultancy

Through this course, you will develop a range of skills that will be valued by employers within other sectors too, from project management and procurement, to finance and general management skills.

In addition to the University’s standard entry requirements, you should have:

• A minimum of lower second-class honours degree (2:2) in any subject

Or

• Membership of a recognised professional body whose entry requirements are equivalent to graduate level, and some relevant practical experience

If you’re applying with non-standard qualifications and/or relevant experience you will be considered on an individual basis.

Assessment of your experience will confirm that you have achieved the necessary skills.