Department of Building Engineering and Construction Management

Building Engineering and Construction Management (BECM) is a department at Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) under the Faculty of Civil Engineering. University Grants Commission (UGC), Bangladesh permitted on September 02, 2013, to open this department. Later on 12 September 2013, the Academic Council of KUET decided to enroll 60 students in this department at the undergraduate level from the academic session 2013-2014. As a developing and emerging country, Bangladesh needs Building Engineers coupled with a construction management specialist for the development of physical infrastructures ensuring technical soundness, cost-effectiveness, sustainable development goal (SDG), and ecofriendly criterion.


BECM graduates will play an important role in the social and economic development of the country. In Bangladesh, for the first time, this department starts its journey only in KUET from the academic year 2013-2014. BECM graduate coordinates the activities to facilitate the realization of a coherent integrated building solution and other construction sites with the planning, design, construction, operation, renovation, maintenance, and their impacts on the surrounding environment and thus appropriate approach to conduct all relevant activities properly. The practice of Building Engineering and Construction Management (BECM) includes the ability to define, implement and control the design process to provide managerial oversight for the efficient and cost-effective design of a building engineering and construction project for on-site production. Key competencies for a BECM Engineer include building design, road construction philosophies, and management.


Building Engineering and Construction Management (BECM) is an interdisciplinary program that integrates pertinent knowledge from different disciplines:

  1.  Civil engineering for building structures and foundation analysis, design, construction and maintenance, construction safety, building codes, regulations, and specifications.
  2.  Architecture for building planning, designing and constructing form, space, and ambiance that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations.
  3.  Project management for specifying project objectives and plans including delineation of scope, budgeting, scheduling, setting performance requirements, and selecting project participants.
  4.  A tremendous opportunity to gain valuable expertise in energy-efficient building methods. They discover and develop new methods to improve the efficiency of new construction.
  5.  Sustainable construction practices can be learned how architects are designing energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings with sustainability in mind.
  6.  Construction automation systems add performance features that increase the functionality of the building.
  7.  Earthquake engineering for seismic risk, vulnerability, analysis, simulation, design, and performance of building structures.
  8.  Wind engineering for dynamics, vibration control, risk, vulnerability, analysis, simulation, design, and performance of building structures.
  9.  Fire engineering for fire safety strategies, specific fire safety design, fire risk assessments, and fire damaged building assessments.
  10.  Chemistry and biology for indoor air quality, building materials chemical compositions.
  11.  Mechanical engineering for the system (HVAC) and mechanical service systems.
  12.  Electrical engineering for power distribution, control, and electrical systems.
  13.  Physics for building science, lighting, and acoustics.
  14.  Economics for maximizing resource efficiency through procurement of labor, materials, and equipment.

The learning and teaching program is studied within the wider context of the surrounding built environment and is informed by current and prospective professional practice as well as research and academic debate. The strong vocational focus aims to equip students with those personal and professional skills that are so important in gaining successful employment, whilst broadening their understanding of the changing needs of society and the concept of sustainable development within the built environment. The objectives of the BECM department can be broadly described as follows:


  1.  To establish a "Building Engineering and Construction Management" department for the enhancement of knowledge in complete building systems as well as managerial competencies at the undergraduate level.
  2.  To introduce four years duration Bachelor course in Building Engineering and Construction Management.
  3.  To develop professional manpower in the following fields: (a) Building Materials and Building Construction, (b) Construction Safety and Construction Management, and (c) Building Science and Environment.
  4.  To create the opportunity for higher education and research in the field of Building Engineering and Construction Management.
  5.  To provide up-to-date technological knowledge to various organizations of the country.

The importance of Building Engineering and Construction Management (BECM) for a developing country like Bangladesh can hardly be overemphasized. Urbanization has been rapid and largely imbalanced, presently around 30%, which will reach as much as 40% by 2025. A quarter of the population now lives in urban areas, while in 1960 the number was just 5%. The population has been increasing without any potential declination which demanding for housing development and construction difficulties of other sites have got more importance in recent past. People constantly have been fighting against nature and social ordeals for survival. A well-built construction protects a family from the onslaughts of nature as well as anti-social elements. It thus increases the productive capacity of the inhabitants of it. On the other hand, due to the geographical locations, the country has to face various environmental effects on structures, such as salinity, corrosion of reinforcement, inadequate soil stability, etc. Moreover, due to industrialization, industrial, commercial buildings, and communication networks are increasing rapidly. Hence the sound knowledge regarding building systems have crucial significance.

The Department has different highly equipped modern laboratories to support our academic programs and research. The department has approved a technical club named BECM Technical Club KUET (BTECK). The department regularly organized technical workshops, webinars, and technical sessions for skilled graduates. Already, the department more than four national fests named BUILTECH FEST.

Established : 02-09-2013
Head : Md. Ikramul Hoque
Location : New Academic Building (Block B: 3 rd floor).
Phone : +8802477733351~70, Ext-8700
Fax : +8802477733303
Email : [email protected]
No of Faculty : 13
No of Student : 236
Website: : /department/BECM
Degree Offered

B.Sc. Eng., M.Sc. Eng.