Agricultural Construction and Maintenance

Course Description

AOM 3220 Agricultural Construction and Maintenance is a hands-on, upper-division course in building: choosing and using materials and tools to plan, construct and maintain agricultural and other buildings. ⚠ One institution in Florida teaches it: the University of Florida, at 3 credits, in the Agricultural Operations Management (AOM) B.S. program of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

UF's catalog: "Selection and use of materials and tools used in planning, constructing, and maintaining buildings. Participate in class lectures and hands-on laboratory activities to build full-scale projects involving framing, plumbing, electrical, windows, etc. Combines building codes and building science to introduce the changing world of construction." Prerequisite: junior standing or higher.

⚠ UF's course and the statewide description differ

The two overlap on materials, tools and electrical work. ⚠ Welding is named only in the statewide text, and building codes and building science only in UF's. UF is the only carrier, so UF's description is the one that tells you what the course teaches. The statewide text shows the older farm-shop tradition the course came from.

Where it sits in UF's degree

UF's model semester plan places AOM 3220 in semester five of the Agricultural Operations Management B.S., alongside AOM 3333 Pesticide Application Techniques, agricultural marketing and agribusiness management. In semester six it is followed by AOM 4314C Power and Machinery Management. UF describes the program as giving "technical experience in systems management, environmental quality, energy efficiency, agricultural machinery, GIS/GPS remote sensing, … irrigation, power systems, water control, and precision agriculture."

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Select appropriate materials (lumber and engineered wood, fasteners, concrete, metal, roofing, glazing) for a building task, and justify the choice.
• Use common construction hand and power tools safely and correctly.
• Read a simple set of building plans and prepare a bill of materials and a cost estimate.
• Carry out framing: layout, walls, openings for doors and windows.
• Install and repair basic plumbing (supply and drain).
• Plan and install basic electrical circuits, and troubleshoot them safely.
• Install windows and weatherproof an opening.
• Explain the purpose of building codes, and apply building science: moisture, heat flow, air movement and energy efficiency.
• Plan maintenance for an agricultural building.

Optional Outcomes

• Design a building to withstand Florida's hurricane wind loads, with a continuous load path from roof to foundation.
• Complete a basic welding project (named in the statewide description).
• Compare construction choices for barns, equipment sheds, greenhouses and packing houses.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Construction materials and their properties
• Tool and shop safety
• Plans, estimating and bills of materials
• Foundations and concrete
• Framing
• Plumbing
• Electrical planning, wiring and troubleshooting
• Windows, doors and the building envelope
• Building codes
• Building science and energy efficiency
• Maintenance planning

Optional Topics

• Welding and metal fabrication
• Wind and flood resistance
• Fencing and animal facilities

Resources & Tools

• The Florida Building Code, with its residential and building volumes, available free to read online from the Florida Building Commission.
• The National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) for the electrical unit.
• A construction-methods and materials text. Instructors vary; ask for the current choice.
• UF/IFAS Extension publications on agricultural buildings and on hurricane-resistant construction.
• The course's lab shop and full-scale build projects. Expect to wear work clothes and safety gear.

Career Pathways

• Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers (SOC 11-9013). A manager who can plan, estimate and supervise building work saves an operation money. See this site's Agricultural Manager career path.
• Construction managers (SOC 11-9021), especially for agricultural and light-commercial buildings.
• Facilities and maintenance managers for farms, nurseries, packing houses and agribusinesses.
• Agricultural equipment and building-materials sales, and agricultural extension.

Special Information

Offering Notes

The only carrier is UF, at 3 credits. UF does not publish contact hours. The guide records 45, the Florida convention for a three-credit lecture course. ⚠ The course has a laboratory component without a C suffix, so it may meet for more than 45 hours. Check the schedule.

⚠ Florida farm buildings and the building code

Florida law exempts many nonresidential farm buildings on agricultural land from the Florida Building Code (s. 604.50, Florida Statutes). ⚠⚠ The exemption is narrower than people often assume. It does not cover dwellings, it does not remove every other rule (flood-zone and some local requirements can still apply), and it does not make a building safe in a hurricane. A course that teaches building codes and building science is useful precisely because a farm owner often decides how well a building is built without an inspector to set the minimum.

Transfer

No other Florida institution teaches the number. Students transferring into UF's AOM program from a state college take it at UF. Community-college construction courses (BCN, BCT) cover parts of the same content but are not equivalents. Ask UF's department.