Chair of Construction Management

The Chair members teach several courses. At the first cycle studies of Civil Engineering and Environmental Civil Engineering the course Organisation and Management of Construction Works equips the students with the basic concepts how a construction company operates and about the work at construction site, whereas for the students of the study program Construction Management the emphasis of the course Organisation and Management of Construction Works is more on practical knowledge and skills required from an engineer in a construction company. The course Quality Assurance and Quality Control raises the students’ awareness about the importance of quality in the whole construction process and emphasises the role of compliance certifications for construction process, as required by the European legislation. Within the course Project Planning and Management students gain basic knowledge on the technologies and methods for the project design, and the course Operative Planning and Monitoring of Projects provides in-depth knowledge on the methods and use of various technologies and modern IT solutions in the project design as well as its monitoring and implementation analysis. Within the courses Technology and Technological Processes students learn some basic principles for the implementation of all kinds of works at the construction site.

At the second cycle master study program of civil engineering the courses Management in Civil Engineering and Organization Planning of Construction provide upgraded theoretical and practical knowledge on organisation management and activities during the construction that may essentially affect the project success. The course Project Management, also at the second cycle studies, gives students the basic stills for project management and the application of this knowledge in civil engineering.

Research and professional activity of the Chair of Construction Management is first and furthermost focused on the study, design and rationalization of processes within the construction area. These processes consist of several phases that need to be managed. Therefore, we study all construction phases: from identification of the investor’s needs, through conceptual design and structural design, up to the point of making structures available for use. In this way we provide a holistic process management, thus enabling rational use of project resources. To help the work in construction practice to run as smoothly as possible, we develop modern methods and strategies for the design and monitoring of projects.

As regards the IT support to construction projects, we have established successful cooperation with the industry developing appropriate software solutions.

In our professional activity we cooperate in solving disagreements among stakeholders of various construction projects, where our job is to find out the reasons for discrepancies from original designs, their magnitude and especially the measures to reduce delays.

When dealing with built environment, we support holistic approach and pay special attention to the service life and maintenance of building structures. An important part of our research work is focused on the maintenance and repair of road infrastructure, where we use multi-criteria methods for decision-making processes, with the purpose to provide as efficient use of available financial means as possible. We also develop similar models for other building construction funds, such as for cultural heritage structures.

We are aware of the importance to protect the environment, which is why our research work is inevitably connected to environmental management in construction industry.