Institute of Construction Management

The Institute for Construction Economics is an interdisciplinary scientific institution of the two departments of Architecture, Urban and Landscape Planning (FB 06) and Civil and Environmental Engineering (FB 14) at the University of Kassel.

Today, the following departments belong to the institute:

• Construction Management / Project Development, Faculty 06
• Construction Management, headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Racky
• Construction informatics, headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jakob Kirchner

The main tasks of the IBW are the organization and implementation of teaching as well as research in the fields of construction management and construction economics. Other focal points of the IBW's work include consulting for construction companies and planning offices, cooperation with educational institutions in the region that are oriented toward construction management, and in-house continuing education for managers in the construction industry.

In recent years, the IBW has developed into a valued contact partner for the German construction industry and has also established numerous international cooperations with universities in China, Indonesia, Austria, Russia and Syria. The objective of the institute is a consistent orientation of research and teaching towards the needs of practice. The requirements of the various professional fields in the construction industry lead to a close cooperation of architects, civil engineers and business experts at the institute.

Complex research initiatives require interdisciplinary participation of scientists from different disciplines. Interdisciplinary scientific competence as well as expertise in construction technology, management, informatics and economics are prerequisites for practice-relevant research activities in the field of construction. For this, a cooperative collaboration of different scientists from already above mentioned disciplines is indispensable. This is implemented by the IBW.

The IBW bundles existing research activities of participating professors and sets new research priorities that cover all areas of the construction industry. In doing so, interdisciplinary research projects are realized as a matter of priority.

In addition, it is a competent contact for the construction industry and a service provider for scientific tasks in the fields of construction economics, construction management, construction contracting, construction organization and simulation. The IBW also provides expert opinions and consulting services.

The IBW offers public seminars, scientific symposia and lecture events for the further education of those working in the field and for the presentation of research results. In addition, the IBW has published its own series of publications in which the dissertations and lecture events are published.

The IBW is responsible for organizing and providing the construction management courses for the main and advanced studies in the departments of architecture, urban planning and landscape planning as well as civil engineering, industrial engineering and environmental engineering.

The professional activities of graduates increasingly require knowledge in the areas of project management, manufacturing technology, construction operations, technical and craftsman development, law and economics, as well as leadership skills, which can only be covered by study content that lies outside the narrow classical engineering education.

The degree program opens up new, realistic career opportunities for graduates in practice and significantly reduces the time needed to get into management positions in the construction industry.

At the Institute of Construction Economics there are currently 3 professors, 8 scientific / technical and 5 administrative staff and 10 external doctoral students and scholarship holders.

In the area of teaching, the IBW is supported by a total of 10 lecturers in the areas of occupational safety, construction contract law, formwork technology, operations research, project development, marketing, facility management, real estate management, valuation and office organization, among others. In addition, an average of 10 student assistants are employed at the institute.

The institute has two computer training rooms and computer laboratories at its disposal.