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Unit of study_

CIVL2812: Project Appraisal

2024 unit information

This unit aims to introduce students to project valuations using present-value cash flow theory, taxation and probabilities, and the role of these valuations in the decision-making process. Students are taught techniques for making an analysis of issues involved in project appraisal by various methods and these are applied to 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 covers the following concepts: 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; Other influencing factors: price changes and exchange rates, depreciation, taxation; Capitalisation and valuation studies, replacement of assets, real option, project risk analysis, decision-tree analysis, WACC, MARR, equity capital, debt. This unit of study is a second-year core unit for students enrolled in Civil Engineering (any major), and is a possible elective in other schools of engineering.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Civil Engineering

Code CIVL2812
Academic unit Civil Engineering
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
None
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
CIVL3812
Assumed knowledge:
? 
MATH1005 or MATH1062

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. rank projects by combining both financial and non-financial indicators (e.g. environmental and social)
  • LO2. comprehend and relate to real-life examples the fundamental concepts in project appraisal (e.g. the meaning of time value for money, equivalence)
  • LO3. calculate common financial indicators for a given project and explain the relevance of each to the appraisal of the project
  • LO4. understand how risks and uncertainties affect evaluation outcomes and be able to deal with uncertainties and risks in analysis
  • LO5. apply techniques to account for the effects of inflation/deflation and exchange rates in analysis
  • LO6. understand the concept and mechanisms for depreciation and carry out pre-tax as well as post-tax analysis
  • LO7. understand the basic concepts in financing and be able to carry out basic financing analysis
  • LO8. 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
  • LO9. understand the challenges of multiattributed decision-making and able to apply an appropriate model to a given project for effective decision making.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2020
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2021
Normal day Remote
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Remote
Semester 2 2023
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.