Note: This unit is an archived version! See Overview tab for delivered versions.
CIVL3812: Project Appraisal (2017 - Semester 1)
| Unit: | CIVL3812: Project Appraisal (6 CP) |
| Mode: | Normal-Day |
| On Offer: | Yes |
| Level: | Senior |
| Faculty/School: | Civil Engineering |
| Unit Coordinator/s: |
Dr Liu, Li
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| Session options: | Semester 1 |
| Versions for this Unit: |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Prohibitions: | ENGG2850. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | This UoS is a third-year core unit for students enrolled in any of the undergraduate streams in the School of Civil Engineering and elective for all other branches of engineering and other faculties. The objectives of this unit of study are to develop students' ability to critically analyse issues involved in project appraisal and to equip students with the concepts, tools and analytical processes to effectively carry out project appraisal tasks for businesses, non-profit organisations, and governments. At the end of this unit, students should be able to comprehend and relate to real-life examples the fundamental concepts in project appraisal (e.g. the meaning of time value for money, equivalence); calculate common financial indicators for a given project and explain the relevance of each to the appraisal of the project; rank projects by combining both financial and non-financial indicators (e.g. environmental and social); understand how risks and uncertainties affect evaluation outcomes and be able to deal with uncertainties and risks in analysis; apply techniques to account for the effects of inflation/deflation and exchange rates in analysis; understand the concept and mechanisms for depreciation and carry out pre-tax as well as post-tax analysis; understand the assumptions, pros and cons of each evaluation method and be able to explain why a particular method is appropriate/not appropriate for a given project. The syllabus comprises time value of money, cost of capital, simple/compound interest, nominal/effective interest, cost/benefit analysis of projects; equivalence, net present worth (value), future worth (value), annual worth (value), internal rate of return, external rate of return, payback period, cost-benefit analysis, cost-utility analysis, identifying and quantifying non-financial benefits/externalities, price changes and exchange rates, techniques for multi-criteria group decision-making, economic analysis of business investment projects, depreciation, capitalisation and valuation studies, replacement of assets, real option, project risk analysis, decision-tree analysis, binomial method, WACC, MARR, equity capital, debt. |
| Assumed Knowledge: | MATH1005. |
| Lecturer/s: |
Dr Liu, Li
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| Timetable: | CIVL3812 Timetable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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| T&L Activities: | There will be two one-hour lecture sessions each week. Following each lecture session, tutorial sessions will be conducted. Since we are taking a problem-centred approach, it is not sufficient to totally rely on lectures. You should prepare for each lecture session by going through the nominated readings for each lecture session (See the learning programme page) before the lecture, digest course content and work on the problem set from each class. To achieve the learning outcomes, each student is expected to spend about 10 hours on the subject each week, including two hours on lectures, two hours on tutorials and six hours self study. In addition to attending lectures and tutorials, it is essential that you complete the online quizzes in time. |
Attributes listed here represent the key course goals (see Course Map tab) designated for this unit. The list below describes how these attributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment tabs for details of how these attributes are assessed.
| Attribute Development Method | Attribute Developed |
| An ability to apply the basics of mathematics to the economic evaluation of engineering projects | Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3) |
| An appreciation of the business context and financial considerations for engineering projects | Professional Conduct (Level 2) |
| In-depth skills and knowledge on the economic evaluation of engineering projects | Project and Team Skills (Level 2) |
For explanation of attributes and levels see Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table.
Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. They are listed according to the course goal supported by each. See Assessment Tab for details how each outcome is assessed.
Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3)
1. Understand the assumptions, pros and cons of each cash flow evaluation method and able to explain why a particular method is appropriate/not appropriate for a given project.
2. Understand the challenges of multiattributed decision-making and able to apply an appropriate model to a given project for effective decision making.
Project and Team Skills (Level 2)
3. Comprehend and relate to real-life examples the fundamental concepts in project appraisal (e.g. the meaning of time value for money, equivalence).
4. Calculate common financial indicators for a given project and explain the relevance of each to the appraisal of the project.
5. Understand how risks and uncertainties affect evaluation outcomes and able to deal with uncertainties and risks in analysis.
6. Apply techniques to account for the effects of inflation/deflation and exchange rates in analysis.
7. Understand the concept and mechanisms for depreciation and carry out pre-tax as well as post-tax analysis.
8. Understand the basic concepts in financing and be able to carry out basic financing analysis.
Professional Conduct (Level 2)
9. Rank projects by combining both financial and non-financial indicators (e.g. environmental and social).
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Description: |
Online exercises: 24 sets of online calculation exercises with 5 questions each. Solution hints will be given as feedback following the deadline for each set. Best 15 results are counted towards your total mark. Mid Semester exam: 1.5 hours, covering content over the first seven weeks of study. Final Exam: 2 hours, covering all content of this Unit of Study. Participation: evaluated on the preparedness for tutorial problems and contribution to tutorial discussions. Peerwise: students are required to use Peerwise website to develop multiple choice question and answers. Participation in the activities and quality of questions developed accounts for 5 marks. |
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| Grading: |
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| Policies & Procedures: | See the policies page of the faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/student-policies/ for information regarding university policies and local provisions and procedures within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies. |
| Prescribed Text/s: |
Note: Students are expected to have a personal copy of all books listed.
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| Recommended Reference/s: |
Note: References are provided for guidance purposes only. Students are advised to consult these books in the university library. Purchase is not required.
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Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendar https://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp
| Week | Description |
| Week 1 | Introduction |
| Introduction— Time-Money relationship | |
| Week 2 | Equivalence I |
| Application of Time-Money Relationship | |
| Week 3 | Project Evaluation Methods |
| Equivalence-II | |
| Week 4 | Project Evaluation Methods-continued |
| Comparing alternatives-I | |
| Week 5 | Depreciation and income taxes |
| Comparing alternatives-II | |
| Week 6 | Price changes and exchange rates |
| Depreciation and income taxes-Continued | |
| Week 7 | Price changes and exchange rates-continued |
| Replacement analysis | |
| Assessment Due: Mid-Sem Exam | |
| Week 8 | After-tax Replacement studies |
| Week 9 | Dealing with uncertainties |
| Week 10 | Benefit-cost analysis |
| Week 11 | Risk analysis & DTA |
| Week 12 | Financing |
| Dealing with multiattributed decisions | |
| Week 13 | Revision |
| Project Appraisal in Practice | |
| Exam Period | Assessment Due: Final Exam |
Course Relations
The following is a list of courses which have added this Unit to their structure.
Course Goals
This unit contributes to the achievement of the following course goals:
| Attribute | Practiced | Assessed |
| Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3) | Yes | 22.22% |
| Project and Team Skills (Level 2) | Yes | 66.66% |
| Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 2) | No | 0% |
| Information Seeking (Level 2) | No | 0% |
| Professional Conduct (Level 2) | Yes | 11.11% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table for details of the attributes and levels to be developed in the course as a whole. Percentage figures alongside each course goal provide a rough indication of their relative weighting in assessment for this unit. Note that not all goals are necessarily part of assessment. Some may be more about practice activity. See Learning outcomes for details of what is assessed in relation to each goal and Assessment for details of how the outcome is assessed. See Attributes for details of practice provided for each goal.
