Conference on Sustainable Building South East Asia, 5-7 November 2007, Malaysia

A PRELI MI NARY SURVEY OF THE APPLI CATI ON OF I NDUSTRI ALI SED

BUI LDI NG SYSTEM ( I BS) I N KEDAH AND PERLI S MALAYSI AN
CONSTRUCTI ON I NDUSTRY

Mohd Nasrun Mohd Nawi,1 & Faizatul Akmar Abdul Nifa,2

Faculty of Technology Management,

Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah

Shardy Abdullah,3
Department of Construction Management,
School of Housing Building and Planning, USM, 11800 Penang

Fadhil Mat Yasin4

Department Building Survey,
Faculty Architecture, Planning and Survey,
University Teknologi MARA, Campus Seri Iskandar, 32060 Bota, Perak

e-mail :
1
nasrun@uum.edu.my,2faizatul@uum.edu.my, 3shardy@usm.my, 4mohdf750@perak.uitm.edu.my

Abstract

Statistic shows that between 1995 to 2020, Malaysia will need a total of 8,850,554 houses, including 4,964,560 units of new
housing to cater for an increase in population during this period. In the 7th Malaysia Plan, the country intended to construct about
800,000 units of houses for its population. Indeed, 585,000 units or 73.1% were planned for the low and low medium cost
houses. Industrialisation is a process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a pre-
industrial to an industrial state. It is a part of wider modernisation process through the technology system and one of the
solutions for this increasing housing demand. One such technology is the industrialised building system (IBS). In Malaysia, since
1998, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has been actively promoting the use of IBS in the local construction
industry by deploying large funds for research, developing standards as well as implementing various training and promotional
programs. Although the IBS system improves the quality of projects, easier to control, reducing rectification work and lowering
the total cost of construction, the trend of IBS usage in Malaysian construction projects are still below the national target. This
paper highlights the application of the IBS among developers in Kedah and Perlis areas, the types of system used, and the
barriers behind the low usage of IBS among developer companies in those areas. Solutions for encouraging the use of IBS for the
construction industry have also been identified.

Keyw ords : Industrialisation, IBS, quality, housing developers, construction industry.

1.0 I ntroduction

Between 1995 to 2020, Malaysia will need a total of 8,850,554 houses, including 4,964,560 units of new
housing to cater for increase in population during this period. In the 8th Malaysia Plan, the country intended
to construct about 600,000 - 800,000 units of houses include the low and low medium cost houses for its
population. Unfortunately, only 1,382,917 units were constructed under the 6th (1991-1995) and 7th (1996-
Nasrun, Faizatul, Shardy & Fadhil

2000) Malaysia Plan. The achievement are somewhat disappointed with only 20% completed houses
reported despite numerous incentives and promotions to encourage housing developers to invest in such
housing category (Ismail, 2001). Majority of the developers and contractors are still using the conventional
building system method which could not cope with the huge demand. Therefore, the former system must
be replaced by an industrialised building system (IBS) which has immense inherent advantages in term of
productivity, indoor quality, durability and cost (IEM, 2001).

2.0 Definition and Classification of I BS

The Industrialised Building System (IBS) is a construction process that utilises techniques, products,
components, or building systems which involve prefabricated components and on-site installation. (CI BD,
2003).

An industrialised building system (IBS) may be defined in which all building components such as wall, floor
slab, beam, column and staircase are mass produces either in factory or at site under strict quality control
and minimal on site activities (Rollet, 1986; Trikha, 1999).

Comprehensive definition of I BS was explained by Junid (1986), IBS in the contruction industry includes the
industrialised process by which components of a building are concieved, planned, fabricated, transported
and erected on site. The system includes a balanced combination between the software and hardware
components. The software elements include system design, which is a complex process of studying the
establishment of manufacturing and assembly layout and process, allocation of resources and materials and
definition of designer conceptual framework. The software elements provide a prerequisite to create the
conducive environment for industrialised building system to expand.

The hardware elements are categorised into three groups. These includes frame or post and beam system,
panel system and box system. The framed structures are defined as those structure that carry the loads
through their beams and girders to column and to the ground whilst in panel system load are distributed
through large floor and wall panels. The box system include those systems that employ three-dimensional
modules (or boxes) for fabrication of habitable units that are capable of withstanding load from various
direction due to their internal stability.

From the structural classification, there are five IBS main group identified as being used in this country.
There are Pre-cast Concrete Framing, Panel and Box Systems (Pre-cast coloumn, beam, 3-D components
(balconies, staircases, toilets, lift chambers), permanent concrete formwork), Steel Formwork Systems
(Tunnel forms, beams and columns moulding forms, permanent steel formwork), Steel Frame System (Steel
beams and columns, portal frames, roof trusses), Prefabricated Timber Framing Systems (Timber frames,
roof trusses), Block Work System (Interlocking concrete masondry units (CMU), lighweight concrete block).

3.0 Benefits of I BS

The IBS construction method is more favorable for the construction of apartments especially in the midst of
labor shortage. It offers better cash flow, speed and quality, consistency and better safety features or
measures during construction.

The system is labor efficient, thus reducing the use of general labor at construction stage and splitting the
construction sequence into two sites; slab casting and wall casting. Precast methods use less labor (30 %)
than that of conventional method. (SP Precast, 2003).

IBS offers improved cash flow to developers as they could claim the costs from purchasers as early as two
weeks upon erection of building panels comBased on the standart SPA, IBS concrete precast offers a claim
of 45% from purchasers within a period of two weeks upon the erection of panels. In comparison to a
period of at least ten months for the conventional method.

The IBS system is faster compared to the conventional construction for large volume of apartment

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construction. The speed of construction is governed by the speed of production. The client’s requirement
on fast delivery can easily be met by increasing the production capacity of the precast yard.

IBS offers safety features and procedures which are easily complemented during construction stage.

Others benefits of IBS include :

a) The repetitive use of system formwork made up steel, aluminium, etc and scaffolding provides
considerable cost savings (Bing et al. 2001).
b) Contruction operation is not affected by adverse weather condition because prefabricated component is
done in a factory controlled environment (Peng, 1986).
c) Prefabrication takes places at a centralised factory, thus reducing labour requirement at site. This is
true especialy when high degree of mechanisation involved (Warszawski, 1999).
d) An industrilised building system allows flexibility in architectural design in order to minimise the
monotony of repetitive facades (Warszawski, 1999).
e) An industrialised building system component produces higher quality of components attainable through
careful selection of materials, use of advanced technology and strict quality assurance control (Din,
1984).

4.0 The I mplementation of I BS in Northern of Malaysian

The industrialised building system’s application in Malaysia began with two government pilot projects. The
first IBS project use were constructed at Jalan Pekeliling which included the construction of 7 blocks of 17
storey flats, and 4 blocks of 4-storey flats and 40 storey shops lots (W.A.M. Thanoon, et al. 2003). The
second pilot project was built in Penang with the construction of 6 blocks of 17 storey flats and 33 blocks of
18 storey flats along Jalan Rifle Range. The project used French Estiot System (Din, 1984).

In Northern Malaysia (Kedah dan Perlis), the usage of the IBS in the construction project is still small.
Based on the survey amongst housing developers around Kedah and Perlis, statistic shows that majority of
respondents have not use IBS in their projects. Out of 76 developers, only 24 of them have used IBS
systems whilst the remaining still using the conventional method.

Based on the statistical results, most of the IBS projects were implemented in the developed area such as
Alor Setar (30%) followed by Sungai Petani (30%), and Kulim (30%). The remaining 30 percent were
implemented in Jitra and Changloon (15%) and Kangar and Arau (15%). The IBS system was used to build
College Matriculation Center, schools, high institution centers, and government quarters. Studies on system
types show 25% used framing system and steel formwork system. Steel frame systems are popular due to
government’s policy in encouraging the use of steel trusses in government buildings and housing. The third
popular IBS system is concrete precast system (24%) and followed by timber frame and blockwork system.

5.0 Barrier to the Adoption of I BS

Based on the survey conducted in 2004 to 2005 in Kedah and Perlis, the adoption of IBS within the
construction industry is small. There are several general reasons for the slow uptake including:

a) Fully prefabricated construction system requires high construction precision. Malaysia’s labour forces
still lack skilled workers. Many of foreign skilled workers had left the country after the wide spread
crackdown on illegal foreign workers on July – September 2002. The new batches of foreign workers
do not possess the required skill and have to be retrained.

b) Developers prefer to use the conventional method of building system because it is far easier to lay off
workers during slack period and requires no retraining of IBS skill. Statistic show that 21 % of the
respondents agree to conventional method which they regard as easier to use compared to IBS.

c) The construction industry is so fragmented, diversified and involved many parties. Consensus is
required in the use of IBS during planning stage. However, the owners, contractors and engineers still

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lack scientific information about the economic benefits of IBS. Based on this survey, this is a top
barrier factor contributing to the slow uptake of IBS.

d) Lack of incentives and promotion from government in use of IBS. Many architects and engineers are
still unaware of the basic element of IBS such as modular co-ordination. This statement was supported
by 21 % of the respondents from the survey which admit to the lack of exposure in IBS. The economic
benefits of IBS are also not well documented.

e) Small and limited construction project. Most of the construction industry project in Kedah and Perlis
especially housing projects, are of maximum 200 units with majority if them being single storey houses.
Hence, it is not efficient to use IBS in those areas.

f) Internal barriers factors such as the company policies. Out of the total of 32 developers being surveyed,
5 respondents agree that company policies serve as one of the barrier.

6.0 Solutions and I mprovements of I BS I mplementations in Malaysia

Based on the research and views of experienced people involved in the IBS construction system, the
following recommendations for improvements are proposed:

a) Buyers or costomers often complain about the poor quality of house that they have bought. To solve
this problem, manufacturers must ensure that, the components of IBS design should pass the quality
control measures/ department before sending to the site. The installer should be an expert or
experienced.

b) The government should be ready before deciding the use of IBS as a new contruction method. The
government must ascertain that IBS are applied in according to the project requirements. The should
identify capable suppliers or manufactures to supply products (panel) until completion of the project

c) There is the perception that precast housing is not flexible in term of renovation works. A hybrid
system that caters for client who often renovates but at the same time keeping the structure intact was
developed by Setia Precast Sdn. Bhd. This system offers much less wastages and provides speed to the
contractor at no costs and extra headroom, a consistent finish and flexibility for renovation.

d) As the building height increases, crane capabilities and costs become a major concern. For taller
buildings tower cranes are found to be more cost-effective, however this limits the sizes of precast
components that could be handled. Alternative methods involving combination of walls, columns,
beams and modular half slabs have been developed by the industry, to facilitate highrise construction.

7.0 Conclusions

This paper provides an overview of the application of industrial building system from the developers’
perspective. Recommendations for solutions and improvements are given so as to encourage the use of
IBS in Malaysia. In conclusion there is still a considerable amount of efforts to be done by the various
authorities and government to encourage the use of IBS in th construction industry.

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