Unbolting my journey with Cost planning and Management

My journey with RICS School of Built Environment began in 2019. I was not sure about my intrigued areas in construction. I completed my first year of MBA CPM with subjects where we had many challenging assignments from which I got to learn eminently. But, focusing on the 2nd year of my MBA program, I got an occasion to explore more things on the challenging subject “Cost planning & Management”. Nevertheless, having many options among the subjects in my bucket, I never thought that on successful completion of this course, my perception regarding this subject will change completely and I will think of finding a great career opportunity in this path of “Cost planning and Managing”. After working on a well-framed and well-structured assignment under the guidance of Dr. Prof. Sanjay Patil (Associate Dean & Director, School of Construction)  & Prof. Renuka Mandlik (Assistant Prof.- School of Construction) my experience was very captivating.

So, talking in general about the subject “Cost planning and Management”, the subject had all the technical and theoretical aspects which were upskilled by Prof. Sanjay Patil. Whereas, another important part of this pathway was the software expertise that was well nourished by Prof. Renuka Mandlik. This whole process helped me in the creation of a very strong foundation with the pathways of “Cost planning and Management”. As they saying goes , “Always remember, someone’s effort is a reflection of their interest” this is how the efforts were undertaken by our Professors. Having such skilled mentors in the organization helped me in expanding my skills right from building the foundation to a very detailed finishing of this course.

As we know, actual learning starts when we execute our knowledge practically and when we perform on our own. Prof. Sanjay Patil (Associate Dean & Director, School of Construction) had framed an assignment for us which not only included the simple cost planning but also it covered all the roles & responsibilities of a Quantity surveyor. For example- Analysing and estimating the quantities of all the items of the project including a standard Bar Bending Schedule, Developing a cost plan (as per NRM Standards) and carrying out comparative analysis and advising the client, suggesting the best Procurement and tendering routes to the client, suggesting sustainable green building materials for construction and Cost control advice. In the Lab assignment, we did budgeting on CostX software by implementing all the skills we evolved during the curriculum. 

From this subject, we learned cash flow management, earned value analysis, Life cycle analysis and the case studies on the topic like Value Engineering.

Apart from this, we also achieved some competencies from this course.

1. Consideration of Design Economics to reduce the cost at the concept stage of the project.
2. Measurement practices and standards adopted (NRM1 & 2, IS1200, IS: 2502 – 1963, SP 34: 1987, International construction measurement standards (ICMS), National Building Code)
3. Cost analysis and sustainable material to reduce the cost.
4. Benchmarking of the cost for reliability.
5. Ethical standards to give the best advice to the client and client care.

With my grown interest in this subject, later on during my Internship, I selected the research topic “Impact of BIM on Quantity surveying profession and practices” under the Guidance of Prof. Renuka Mandlik.  I practically integrated the BIM model in CostX and created a Budgeting for Bungalow project. This internship gave me good industrial exposure and helped me develop myself for the upcoming new challenges in the future.

This whole discipline of the course covered all the competencies of a Quantity surveyor which became a key factor to make us ready to battle out in this challenging as well as changing industry. A very important thing to note is that RICS School of Built Environment was able to see where my interest was heading, and they were successfully able to monitor me, and later on gave me an internship of my choice. Now I can say I have at least put my first step towards my goal. 

About RICS SBE:

RICS School of Built Environment (RICS SBE), Amity University is an industry led academic institution which delivers specialized undergraduate and postgraduate programs to students ambitious to work in real estate, construction and infrastructure sector. It also aids as a hub for research and development of technical proficiency in built environment.