CSM80005 ENGINEERING PROJECT CONTROL SUBJECT BULLETIN NO.: 1 1O MARCH 2017 1. Economic Cycles In lecture 1 last week, and from the Module1A we discussed the impact of economic cycles on the building and engineering construction industry in Australia. The following article describes what happened after a fall in the stock market in Australia in October 1987. Reference: What happened to Australians the last time house prices fell http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/property/2017/03/03/last-housing-crash/?utm_source=Responsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20170304_TND (accessed 6/3/17) 2. Module 1A – Bricklayers In Module 1A we discussed the impact on tradesmen such as bricklayers who left Melbourne after not being able to find paid work for many years. Quite a few of those bricklayers ended up in San Francisco, USA to work on rebuilding the city after the 1906 earthquake. The reference below shows the aftermath of the earthquake. Reference: Aftermath of San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906 http://www.shorpy.com/node/12933?size=_original#caption (accessed 7/3/17) 3. And now to Quality Assurance on houses in the UK! Reference: More than half of new-build homes in England 'have major faults' https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/02/over-half-of-new-build-homes-in-england-have-major-faults (accessed 8/3/17) 4. Materials and Equipment Procurement In Module 6 we cover Materials and Equipment Procurement. For projects these days in Australia and internationally, we procure many of our project inputs from overseas. Whilst small consignments can be shipped by airfreight, the bulk of our project inputs come as sea freight. This program looks at the economics of ports, how they work, and important changes taking place in the shipping industry internationally as many countries start to move away from ‘globalised’ trade to producing more inputs in the home country. Reference: When your ship comes in: the economics of ports http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/themoney/ (accessed 3/3/17)