Business in Construction Industry

Syllabus

Thematic definition of lectures: 1. Introduction to the course, literature, and requirements for completion. Construction as a sector of the national economy. Specifics, basic concepts, legislative framework of business in construction. Associations and professional organizations in the construction industry. 2. The Cadastre Act. Content of the Act, basic concepts, cadastral proceedings. Registration of rights – example of creating an entry in electronic and paper form. The title deed and its contents. Overview of administrative fees. Working with the online cadastre, search options, cadastral map. 3. The Building Act and implementing decrees. Content of the Act, basic concepts. Building proceedings. Final approval proceedings. Sanctions for violation of provisions of the Building Act. Construction supervision, construction logbook. Building permit, notification of construction – requirements in their processing. 4. The construction company and its business activities. Legislative forms of construction business entities, number of business entities in the Slovak construction sector. Management of a construction company, examples of managerial control and organizational structure. Construction output and its classification. Current statistical overview of realized construction production. 5. Material management in a construction company. Structure and examples of various traditional and modern construction materials. Procurement of materials and related logistics. Standards and standardization of current assets in a construction company. 6. Workforce and occupational health and safety (OHS) in construction companies. Qualifications, structure of employees, and labor performance indicators. Remuneration and wage structure in the sector. Overview of wages in construction according to various criteria. Tasks and responsibilities of employees in construction concerning OHS. 7. Costs of a construction company. Costing formula in construction. Composition of production price according to costs. Costs from the contractor’s perspective. Costs from the investor’s perspective. 8. Costing system in construction. Types of costing in construction and the necessary documentation for their preparation. Costing methods in construction. 9. Prices in construction. The Act on Prices. Structure of price and types of contractual prices. Factors influencing construction prices. Methods of price formation. Development of construction work prices. Price levels and development of residential property prices in Slovakia by regions and types of housing. 10. Financing in construction and real estate. Financing of a developer and financing of property purchase. Mortgage loan, stages of processing, required documents. Annuity repayment of a mortgage loan and calculation of annuity payments. 11. Assets of a construction company. Acquisition and depreciation of fixed assets. Methods of calculating depreciation. Machinery and equipment of a construction company. 12. Life cycle of a building and evaluation of project efficiency. Phases of the life cycle and related cost levels. Types of building durability and examples of durability of specific building components. Time value of money and methods for calculating the economic efficiency of investments. Impact of inflation on investment efficiency. 13. Completion and evaluation of the semester. Discussion. Closing of assessments. Thematic definition of seminars: 1. Introductory information and organization of seminars. Assignment of the project – preparation of a quotation estimate for a simple construction project based on a bungalow-type family house design. Demonstration of a sample and real projects from practice. Assignment of semester tasks. Discussion with students. 2. Introduction to the content of the technical part of project documentation for the purpose of submitting a building permit application. Explanation of basic technical drawings and their content. Acquiring the ability to read simpler construction technical drawings and budgets. 3. Demonstration of work with software for budgeting, planning, and managing construction production. Example of an output – quotation estimate from construction software. Demonstration of a specific zoning plan, extracting information from it, and explaining its role in construction planning. 4. Introduction and demonstration of work with architectural design software (e.g., Google SketchUp, Chief Architect). Summarizing supporting documents and preparing a building permit application. 5. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of earthworks and excavation works. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Division of students into working teams. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in student teams. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 6. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of foundation works and waterproofing. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in team projects. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet or in Cenkros. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 7. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of vertical structures. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in team projects. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet or in Cenkros. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 8. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of thermal insulation, finishes, floors, and fittings in a simple construction project. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in team projects. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet or in Cenkros. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 9. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of roof structures. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in team projects. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet or in Cenkros. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 10. Explanation of technical and economic aspects of sanitary and technical installations. Demonstration and explanation of calculations on a sample project. Teamwork on the assigned topic. Calculation of quantities and prices for materials and labor in team projects. Searching for construction material and labor prices on the internet or in Cenkros. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 11. Preparation of the recapitulation of the quotation estimate in Cenkros software or MS Excel. Demonstration on a sample project. Teamwork on the recapitulation of the semester project. Completion of any missing parts of the project. Discussion. In-class consultation of team projects with the lecturer. 12. Finalization of semester projects. Submission of the semester project. Short presentation and defense by student teams. Evaluation of semester projects and presentations. Discussion. 13. Submission of the semester project. Short presentation and defense by student teams. Evaluation of semester projects and presentations. Discussion. Evaluation of seminars and awarding of final grades. Completion of the semester.