Introduction

Learn or review the basic knowledge required for certification as a cost engineer or cost consultant. Fundamental Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering by correspondence is a self-paced, structured method to prepare for the certification exam. The Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Iowa State University administers the course.

Benefits

• Improve or review your knowledge of cost engineering subjects through a structured study guide, study questions and exercises.
• Practice solving cost engineering problems of varying complexity and difficulty similar to those encountered in the practice of cost engineering.
• Receive feedback and additional practice problems when warranted.

Specifics

The course begins the date your registration and payment are received. All course work must be completed within 12 months of that date. The US$495 non-refundable registration fee must be paid in advance to Iowa State University. Upon receiving your payment, we will send you your course materials, the texts, "Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering," Fifth Edition, AACE International, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1999 and "Certification Study Guide," Third Edition, AACE International, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1999.

Complete the assignments at your own pace. Return completed assignments to Dr. James Rowings, Iowa State University, 456 Town Engineering, Ames, IA 50011. Assignments will be reviewed by Iowa State University staff and returned. Consistent with the format of the course, you may mail or fax questions to Dr. Rowings for response by the course staff.

After successful completion of the course, you will receive 7.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) which will be permanently recorded by ISU Continuing Education. You will also receive a certificate of completion issued by Iowa State University. All segments of the course must be completed to earn CEU credit for the course. Partial credit will not be awarded.

Course Content

Part 1: Basic Engineering Economics - includes coverage of present value, future value and annual payment calculations and equivalencies. Application of basic time value formulas and approaches are covered. Cash flow diagrams.

Part 2: Applied Engineering Economics - decision making using engineering economics fundamentals including rate of return, cost benefit analysis and minimum attractive rate of return. Includes treatment of depreciation and taxes in analysis.

Part 3: Contracting Fundamentals for Cost Engineers - includes forms of contracts and their application and advantages and disadvantages. Risk and terminology related to typical contract provisions are included.

Part 4: Conceptual Cost Engineering - approaches to conceptual engineering including parametric estimating, factored estimates, scale of operation and panel methods. Includes development and use of time, size and location indices.

Part 5: Detailed Cost Estimating - general estimating terminology and steps to prepare a detailed estimate. Includes unit price estimates and lump sum estimates. Development of composite crew rates.

Part 6: Statistics and Probability for Cost Engineers - terminology related to basic statistics including central tendency and variance. Application to cost engineering situations.

Part 7: Forecasting Applications for Cost Engineering - includes least squares method of forecasting and application of the learning curve.

Part 8: Operating and Manufacturing Cost Engineering - development of screening estimates and detailed operation estimates for manufacturing operations and processes. Application of operations cost graphs and techniques for profitability analysis.

Part 9: Basic Business and Finance for Cost Engineering - types of accounting and terminology. Basics of balance sheets and income statements along with analysis using ratios.

Part 10: Project Management Basics - basic principles of human behavior applied to management situations. Leadership and management terminology are covered.

Part 11: Constructability and Value Engineering - basics of the constructability review process and objectives. Includes basic definitions of value and the value engineering process.

Part 12: Planning and Scheduling - differences between planning and scheduling, basic planning approaches. Fundamental terminology and process for CPM scheduling and diagramming is included. Determination of types of float and their application are also explained.

Part 13: Project Control Basics - methods of measurement of progress and determination of earned value. Includes forecasting with earned value approaches. Schedule and cost variance and cost performance are also covered.

Part 14: Productivity and Quality Improvement - basic terminology and concepts related to Total Quality Management. Includes quality circle approach and use of productivity improvement approaches and methods for process improvement.

Part 15: Computer Basics for the Cost Engineer Course Review - basic computer terminology and the functions of common hardware and software used by cost engineers.

Registration

Tuition: $495 / $495 (Nonmember / AACE member)

Click here to REGISTER ONLINE (Directly with Iowa State University)
Click here to DOWNLOAD a registration form (PDF file)

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact Carolyn Hoagland at choaglan@iastate.edu