CE1CEL: Introduction to Economics and Law

Module code: CE1CEL

Module provider: School of Construction Management and Engineering, School of Built Environment

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Martin Green, email: m.s.green@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Ronan Champion, email: r.champion@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module covers a range of economic concepts and issues relevant to the UK construction industry, and assists students in developing an overall awareness of the workings of the construction industry. This includes processes of cost management and forecasting for the development of construction projects from the client/owner, design team, and contractor’s perspective. The focus is from the concept and the early design stage, through the design and construction process, and into occupancy.  

Aims: 

• Provide a knowledge and understanding of the economic and financial context of the development and construction of built facilities. 
• To understand basic economic techniques related to the estimating, and cost planning of a proposed project, including the financial management from strategic definition and concept, through the design and production stage, to completion and occupancy. 
• To provide students with an introduction to the foundations of English law: the English legal system, the law of contract and some aspects of the law of tort. 

The Module Leads at the University of Reading Malaysia are Dr Bruno Lot Tanko (b.tanko@reading.edu.my) and Mr Jamaludin Yaakob (j.yaakob@reading.edu.my).

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Identify and analyse the micro-economic and macro factors affecting the development of built facilities. 
2. Understand the principles of estimating for construction work, including forecasting, cost planning, and cost management 
3. Identify the sources and administrative structure of English law, and demonstrate a basic understanding of the principles of contract and tort law; 
4. Formulate and evaluate simple legal arguments, and show some ability to analyse the existing law critically. 

Module content

• The process of development of built facilities, the organisations, and their responsibilities. The management systems, the parties, the economic and financial context. 
• Time value of cost and revenue, the use of the different types of price and cost indices. 
• The principles of building up unit price rates for estimating prices. 
• Pricing construction work from design through to site production including cost engineering and  
• Whole life appraisal techniques, incorporating whole life costing. 
• The English legal system: court structure and the doctrine of precedent; statutory interpretation. 
• Contract: formation of a contract; terms; misrepresentation, mistake and frustration; breach and exclusion of liability; remedies for breach of contract. 
• The tort of negligence: the duty of care in respect of omissions, economic loss and misstatements; the standard of care; causation and remoteness of damage; defences. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Formal teaching will include lectures, to give a basic explanation and context to the basis content of the module. Textbooks and industry reports will be recommended reading to supplement the lecture information. 

For students studying at our campus in Malaysia: This module may be taught in a different semester and the breakdown of study hours may differ to those set out in the Study Hours table (please refer to the Module Handbook for the correct breakdown). In addition, you will be required to complete an additional 40 hours of study, taking the total number of study hours to 240 for this module. This is to comply with the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA).

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs