Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.

and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

BARRIERS TO INDUSTRIALIZED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS): THE

CASE OF MALAYSIA
Kamar, K. A. M.1, Alshawi, M. 1 and Hamid, Z. 2

1 The Research Institute for Built and Human Environment (BuHu), University of
Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, M5 4WT, UK
2 Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM), Level 10, Grand Seasons

Avenue, 72, Jalan Pahang, 50772, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

E-mail: k.a.mohamadkamar@pgr.salford.ac m.a.alshawi@salford.ac.uk

zuhairi@cidb.gov.my

Abstract:

The benefits of Industrialised Building System (IBS) as a modern method of construction

are numerous and far reaching. Reduced construction time, better site management,
reduced wastage are but a few of these benefits, that will ultimately produce better
products for the customers. The Malaysian government has spared no effort to bring IBS
to the drawing tables of all professionals involved in the built environment. The IBS
Roadmap 2003 -2010 has been endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers to be the blueprint
document for the industrialisation of the Malaysian construction sector. Nevertheless,
towards the last two years of the roadmap period, the effort to promote the usage of IBS
as an alternative to conventional and labour intensive construction method has yet to
make headway. Although members of the industry are open to the idea, a major portion
of the industry stakeholders are indifferent, perhaps due to resistance towards change,
insufficient information and lack of technology transfer methods to support feasibility of
change to IBS. Thus, the paper reviews literatures conserving barriers on implementing
IBS in Malaysia which requires attention from different parties. Then, the paper validates
the barriers identified in the literatures through pilot study with the practitioners from the
industry. The barriers highlighted from both literatures and pilot study are negative
perception, readiness issues, cost and equipment, poor planning and regulations, poor
knowledge and awareness issues. Finally, the paper proposes recommendations to
improve IBS take up in Malaysia. IBS in Malaysia may requires serious marketing and
re-branding efforts, restructuring in R&D focus, reorganizing training and awareness
program and proper incentive for IT adoption.

Keywords: Barriers, Implementation, Industrialised Building System (IBS), Malaysia,

Recommendations

1. Introduction
Industrialised Building System (IBS) is not new to the construction industry. Only it has
now reemerged worldwide into the 21st century as a plausible solution to improve
construction image and performance. The method will enable cost saving and quality
improvement through the reduction of labour intensity and construction standardisation.
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

Apart from this, it offers minimal wastage, less site materials, cleaner and neater
environment, controlled quality, and lower total construction costs. Successful IBS
implementations in the world are Sekisui Home (Japan), Living Solution (United
Kingdom), Open House (Sweden) and Wenswonen (Netherlands) (Oostra & Joonson,
2007). The Malaysian government has spared no effort to bring IBS to the drawing tables
of all professionals involved in the built environment. The IBS Roadmap 2003 -2010 has
been endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers to be the blueprint document for the
industrialisation of the Malaysian construction sector (IBS Roadmap, 2003).
Nevertheless, towards the last two years of the roadmap period, the effort to promote the
usage of IBS as an alternative to conventional and labour intensive construction method
has yet to make headway. This research intends to discuss the underlying barriers of IBS
implementation in Malaysia which require attention from different parties. This will
eventually add to the body of knowledge and provides fresh updates to previous studies
and reports in this area by Hamid et al (2008), Hussein (2007), IBS Steering Committee
(2006), IBS Roadmap Mid-Term Review (2007), Rahman & Omar (2006) and Thanoon
et al (2003).

2. The Problem Statement

Early survey in 2003 reported in IBS Roadmap 2003-2010 (2003) and IBS Survey (2003)
indicate that only 15% of overall construction projects in Malaysia used IBS. However
recent study in 2006 published in IBS Roadmap Review shows that the percentages of
completed projects using more than 70 % of IBS components in the construction project
are in the range of 10%. Additionally, less than one – third of total construction projects
using at least one IBS product in the year (IBS Roadmap Review, 2007). This percentage
is lower than expected despite huge publicity campaign from the government. The actual
projection for percentage of completed projects using IBS is in the range of 50 % in 2006
and 70% in year 2008 (IBS Roadmap, 2003). Despite well-documented benefits, the take-
up so far, while reasonable, is not as high as the government anticipated at this stage.
Relatively, the low labour cost in Malaysia is the root cause of the problem (IBS
Roadmap Review, 2007). Although the members of the industry are open to the idea, a
major portion of the industry stakeholders are indifferent, perhaps due to resistance
towards change and insufficient information to support feasibility of change (Hamid et al,
2008). Thus, the problem of limited IBS take-up in Malaysia has triggered this paper to
identify the barriers and seek ways forward.

3. Research Methodology
This paper is a preliminary study to a PhD research on Industrialised Building System
(IBS). This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part reviews the current state
of IBS implementation in Malaysia. The second part investigates literatures conserving
the barriers of IBS implementation in Malaysia. The third part is reporting the result on
pilot study to validate barriers and the final part is recommendations and conclusion
derives from evidence commencing both the literature reviews and the pilot study. First,
the paper use literature review to investigate existing evidences conserving the barriers of
IBS implementation in Malaysia. The literature review defined as a systematic survey
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

and interpretation of research findings in particular topic (Vogt, 1999). The aim of a
literature review is to have a good grasp of the main published work concerning a
particular topic or question in your field establishing the context of the topic or problem
(Hart, 1998). It will group authors who draw similar conclusions and highlight gaps in
research (Caulley, 1992). The sources of information are obtained from well known
refereed journals, journal with original articles, books, conference proceedings and
reports. However, the paper should deal with the potential pitfall of literature review as
identified by Hart (1998) which are limited range, insufficient information and omission
of recent work. Then, the paper applies unstructured interview and open discussion with
construction practitioners to validate the barriers first identified in the literatures. The
qualitative method in pilot study permits an informal setting that natural reflects the
reality of what happen or ‘phenomenon’ in the real setting (Rudestam et al, 1992). This
approach also allows the researcher and the participants to probe each argument in details
and obtain rich and more complex data in term of tacit knowledge, perception and human
experience in which can not be measured in quantitative approach which are the ability to
understand people’s meaning as identified by Easterby-Smith et al (2002). The authors
imposed a careful selection process of the participants which has need a compulsory high
degree of knowledge and direct practice in the area of IBS to construct some validity and
robustness of the method. The authors also appointed an experience moderator (second
supervisor of the PhD research) to monitor, lead the discussion and ensured that the
participants are aware of the aims, objectives and methodology of the study.

4. IBS Definition
To date there has been no one commonly-accepted or agreed definition on Industrialised
Building System (IBS). However, there are a few definitions by researchers who studied
into this area previously emphasizing on the concept on pre-fabrication, off-site
production, manufacturing and mass production of building components (Rahman &
Omar, 2006; Lessing et al. 2005; Thanoon et al, 2003 and Warszawski, 1999). The paper
selects workable definition of IBS which is a construction technique in which
components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported,
positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works (IBS
Roadmap, 2003).

5. The Current State of IBS in Malaysia

IBS in Malaysia has begun in early 1960’s when Ministry of Housing and Local
Government of Malaysia visited several European countries and evaluate their housing
development program (Thanoon et. al., 2003). After their successful visit in 1964, the
government had started first project on IBS aims to speed up the delivery time and built
affordable and quality houses. About 22.7 acres of land along Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala
Lumpur was dedicated to the project comprising seven blocks of 17 stories flat there are
3000 units of low-cost flat and 40 shops lot. This project was awarded to Gammon &
Larsen Nielsen using Danish System of large panel of pre-fabricated system (IBS Survey,
2003). Today, the use of IBS as a method of construction in Malaysia is evolving. Many
private companies in Malaysia have teamed up with foreign expert to offer pre-cast
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

solution to their project (IBS Survey, 2003). The current IBS systems used in Malaysia
housing projects are large panel systems, metal form systems and modular system. The
IBS system is largely used in Shah Alam, Wangsa Maju and Pandan area (Swee in Sarja,
1998). In large public and private buildings and infrastructure projects, pre-cast panel,
steel frame and other IBS systems were used as hybrid construction technique to build
national landmarks such as Bukit Jalil Sport Complex, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre,
Lightweight Railway Train (LRT) and Petronas Twin Towers. Nevertheless, the
government of Malaysia still feels that the usage of IBS is still low despite potential
advantages. From the survey conducted by CIDB of Malaysia in 2003, the usage level of
IBS in local construction industry stands at only 15% (IBS Survey, 2003). On the other
hand, the total registered IBS contractors in Malaysia stand for 895 companies in year
2007. Registered IBS manufacturer in Malaysia until 2007 is 138 producing 347 IBS
products which are available in the market. The endorsement of IBS Roadmap 2003-2010
in Malaysia by the Malaysian Parliament on 29th October 2003 expressed the importance
and urgency of IBS implementation in Malaysia. It is a systematic and coordinated
blueprint of total industrialisation of construction industry towards achieving total
industrialised industry and promoting open system by the year 2010. The roadmap is a
comprehensive document that divided the IBS programme into the five main focus areas
that reflect the inputs needed to drive the programme (Manpower, Materials,
Management, Monetary, and Marketing) (IBS Roadmap, 2003). The new circular from
the Treasury Department, Ministry of Finance Head Secretary, Tan Sri Dr. Wan Abdul
Aziz Wan Abdullah dated on 31st October 2008 has emphasized on the full utilization of
IBS for all government’s projects in Malaysia. The used of IBS components in
government projects must not be less than 70% and the inclusion of IBS component as
part of contract documents for all building works.

6. The Barriers to IBS Implementation in Malaysia

Evidently the need for adopting IBS in Malaysia construction industry is immense and
plausible due to strong encouragement from the government and systematic
implementation plan in place. Notwithstanding this progress, a number of barriers were
identified as being potential hurdles to the implementation:

6.1 Readiness

The paper has agreed and accepted that IBS is ideal conceptualization and
simplifying construction work. However, the reality in the projects is far from
practical idealism in Malaysia. The transformation is not green a good respond
due to the unlikely construction readiness (Hamid et al. 2008). Superior
construction technology requires highly skilled workers to replace foreign
workers but contractors left with no other choice. Local workforce is reluctant to
join the industry because of the issues of low wages combined with low emphasis
on occupational safety and health. The current training program to produce new
construction workforce is still not be able to cater vast demand of the market. As
such, regardless of foreign worker policy, foreign labour to do manual job is still
badly needed by the industry and it is available abundant in cheaper cost
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

(Construction Industry Master Plan, 2007). Moreover, specialized skills such as

system integrator or assemblers need intensive training and apprenticeship which
require more time and investment (Thanoon et al. 2003) (IBS Steering
Committee, 2006) (Rahman & Omar, 2006). Contractors in Malaysia are also lack
of past experience in IBS and their professional is lack of technical knowledge in
this area (Hamid et al. 2008). Hamid et al. (2008) also observed lack of R&D,
low IT adoption and limited technology availability have generally discourage
IBS take up. It also appears that most innovative system and components or using
innovative materials are based on imported technologies which are obviously
more expensive and difficult to purchase by local contractor (IBS Roadmap
Review, 2007).

6.2 Cost Issues

Many small contractors are reluctant to adopt IBS system and prefer to continue
using the conventional method of construction. This is due to the fact that small
contractors are already familiar with the conventional system and for them the
technology suit well with small scale projects and therefore not willing to switch
to mechanized based system. Furthermore small contractors lack financial backup
and are not able to set up their own manufacturing plants as it involves very
intensive capital investment. In this case, financial issues become the main
obstacle for small contractors to move forward with the IBS system (Rahman &
Omar, 2006). In the perspective of components’ manufacture, IBS construction
requires high initial investment capital for pre-casters to purchase new machinery,
mould, importing foreign technology and wages of skilled workers for installation
process (IBS Steering Committee, 2006) (Thanoon et al. 2003). IBS is also
unattractive choice due to wide swing of housing demand, high interest rate and
unsure economic condition (Thanoon et al. 2003). As a result, the industry viewed
IBS as threats to their business and not as opportunities (IBS Roadmap Review,
2007). It appears that existing procurement and contracting system is not
‘favorable’ to both pre-caster and contractor which using IBS method.

6.3 Awareness and Knowledge

According to IBS Roadmap Review (2007) report, the adoption of IBS in

Malaysia is a client driven. Client with a good knowledge and awareness of IBS
benefit will surely encourage appointed designers to design building according to
IBS. However, lack of awareness program to understand client needs and giving
correct information on IBS has contributing to a lack of interest from the client
and decision makers (Rahman & Omar, 2006). As a result, IBS is often
misinterpreted as high risk process and not contributing to any benefit to the
building owner. Lack of knowledge among the designers contributes to the project
delays due to the extra time taken to produce details drawing. On the other hand,
poor knowledge among the approving authorities has resulting misunderstanding
and misinterpreting of IBS and its relation to the current building regulation.
Familiarity with IBS will expedite design approval and it is vital to ensure
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

successful IBS project (Construction Industry Master Plan, 2007). The majority of
the authorities nonetheless is not aware of IBS design and often takes more time
than usual to process design approval. It is also observed by Chung & Kadir
(2007) recently that most of local authorities in Malaysia are unlikely to change
local building regulation to suit IBS as the amendment will consume a lot of time
and cost. According to IBS Mid Term Review (2007), the enforcement of
Modular Coordination trough the amendment of Uniform Building by Low
(UBBL) is yet to be implemented due to poor knowledge and awareness on IBS
and Modular Coordination (MC) concept among the policy makers.

6.4 Planning and Implementation

At presents, the pre-casters and contracting firm in Malaysia are involved after
tender stage of the construction value chain. However, the paper observed that,
IBS design needs to be addressed and plan form the design stage to be successful
adopted trough the integration of pre-caster, designer and contracting firm (IBS
Roadmap Review, 2007). As a result, a lot of IBS project in Malaysia is not cost
effective as it is proposed to be an alternative design to traditional method. IBS
application has to be incorporated during the design stage. The changing in design
requires a lot of further adjustment will rise the initial time and cost. Moreover,
IBS requires more coherent structure of process planning and control from start to
end of the project in order to reach the goals and reduce defect and errors (Gibb,
2001) (Warszawski, 1999). The overall project should be planned in such way
that as soon as the components are manufactured, it is possible to transport it to
the construction site and assemble it. Any delays either on manufacturing floor or
construction site has severe impact on staging requirement and production
planning where components from several construction projects are scheduled for
production at the same time. Although it is possible to pre-fabricate any kind of
building design, but if the possibility of manufactured construction is taken into
account at design stage itself, several issues relating to manufacturing,
transportation, complex interfaces and final assembly can be resolved (Pan et al.
2008) (Hamid et al. 2008). There are cases, where building projects are awarded
and constructed using IBS system but were carried out with many difficulties. The
most common problems encountered are improper assembly of the components
that normally involved the beam-to-column and column-to-base connections.
These problems arise due to the fact that the parties involved in the construction
underestimate the important of accuracy in setting out the alignment and leveling
of the bases. Basically, accurate leveling and alignment of the bases are the two
most important aspects for the successful rapid erection of pre- cast concrete
components (Rahman & Omar, 2006)

6.5 Negative Perception

Rahman & Omar (2006) observed that the term IBS is often misinterpreted with
negative image due to its past failures and unattractive architecture. These
buildings are normally associated with pre-fabricated, mass construction method,
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

low quality buildings, leakages, abandoned projects, unpleasant architectural

appearances and other drawbacks. Due to the poor architectural design, the old
pre-fabricated buildings have given the public, bad impression about pre-cast
concrete. Clients are often in doubt of using IBS because of fear of customer
rejection. Even construction professionals are in doubt in IBS technology and
relate IBS with a potential post-construction problem. In addition, it is always not
popular among the designers as they found pre-fabrication has limiting their
creativity in design process (Hamid et al. 2008). It is observed that lack of IBS
branding and promotion taking place in the market as the end user are neither
misinterpret nor unaware of this construction method. As a result, IBS is not
creating enough pull factors to encourage developers to adopt IBS. In comparison,
IBS development in Scandinavian and Japan provide higher customer focus and
adopt mass-customization of to enrich customer option. In UK, IBS is well
associate with sustainability and green construction. Better customer perception
will create better understanding and demand and will definitely encourage
developers to push for IBS adoption

9.0 Pilot study to Identify IBS Barriers in Malaysia

This paper aims to validate and cross-reference the barriers to IBS implementation with
the practitioner’s perspectives and point of view. Thus, the pilot study was conducted
with representatives from using unstructured interview approach and open ended
discussion in a workshop to the context related to IBS. This pilot study is organized in
conjunction of Workshop on Aligning R&D Themes and Titles to the Requirement of
Construction Industry held by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
Malaysia. It involves practitioners from private companies, Public Work Department of
Malaysia, government agencies, IBS consultants and representatives from construction
related professionals bodies. After a lengthy deliberation, the paper concludes that the
factors contributing to the delays of IBS implementation and other issues related to IBS
in Malaysia are as follows:

a. IBS is not popular among design consultants

b. Lack of knowledge among designers
c. The need for mindset change through promotion and education
d. The stakeholders face a chicken and egg dilemma
e. Lack of support and slow adoption from private sector
f. Proprietary systems make it hard to be adopted by designers
g. Poor quality products available in Malaysia
h. Joints are not standardized making it hard to design as the design will have to be
fixed to a particular manufacturer
i. Lack of push factor for authorities and responsible government bodies by laws
and regulations
j. The professionals in Malaysia is lack of technical knowledge about IBS
components
k. Volume and economy of production in scale IBS components
l. Monopoly of big boys, limiting opportunities to other contractors
 Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

m. Low offsite manufacturing of construction components available in the market

n. Require onsite specialized skills for assembly and erection of components
o. Lack of special equipments and machinery which hampered work. Need more
local R&D, support services, technologies and testing of IBS components
p. Mismatch between readiness of industries with IBS targets by the government
q. Lack of involvement from ‘Bumiputera’ contractors as an erectors or
manufactures
r. Insufficient capacity building for contractors to secure project in construction
s. Sustainability of construction industry, government to lead during downturn.

10. Discussion
A comparison between data conserving the barriers in literatures and results from pilot
study reveals the significant relation. Thus, the pilot interview validates findings which
highlight negative perception, readiness issues, cost and equipment, poor planning and
regulations, poor knowledge and awareness issues. For the purpose of this paper, the
barriers identified in both the literatures and pilot study was classified into a fishbone
diagram for further study. The purpose of the diagram is to clarify and analyses the
barriers. An overview of barriers for Malaysian construction stakeholders to embrace in
IBS is depicted in Figure 1.

READINESS KNOWLEDGE PLANNING & REGULATION

Support &
Lack of support from Lack of assurance from
Private sector understanding on government Red-tape
design and
planning Lack of design
Insufficient capacity to integration Market monopoly
secure project IBS requires
‘Chicken & Egg’ specialized skill on IBS
Problem force
Lack of past Lack of Current
experience on professional train procurement
Lack of
in IBS system
incentives and
push factors EFFECT: ISSUES &
LIMITED TAKE BARRIERS
Wide swing of
housing demand Fear of customer’s UP ON IBS TO IBS
Lack of awareness Lack of rejection
program Equipment & Lack of local
Machinery developed Not popular
Misunderstandin technology
g building Lack of among the
regulation Lack of Unattractive due designer
components
awareness among Lack of IBS to past failure
testing facility
Lack of contractors components in
awareness of the market
approving Not popular due to
Economic of
authorities bad architecture in
scale Higher initial the past
cost

AWARENESS COST & EQUIPMENT NEGATIVE PERCEPTION

Figure 1: Fishbone Analysis on IBS Implementation Barriers: the case of Malaysia

Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

10. Recommendation
The following are some of the recommendations proposed by the authors to increase IBS
take up in Malaysia. More evidences need to established to support the paper and validate
points and suggestions which has been highlighted in this study. The recommendations
are listed as follows:

• Reengineering the role of contractor - IBS implementation requires contractors

to be system integrator and process coordinator managing process from
production line to site. The process demanded new skills and knowledge such as
integration, planning, and monitoring. This is due to a huge risk of uncoordinated
error and tolerance during the construction tenure of IBS project. Reengineering
contractor roles from traditional practice to IBS is inevitable. The contractors
need new organization set-up, strategic direction and procedure that ‘favorable’ to
IBS. Professionals should be train in integration role between design and product
production using relevant IT tools. In this case, the government agencies in
Malaysia must provides relevant consultation and create special funding to
encourage reengineering and change management initiative to suit IBS process.
Although, IBS adoption is strongly related to clients and designers aspiration,
there is not surprise if contractors can lead the role and influence overall IBS
implementation in Malaysia.

• Restructuring awareness programs – Comprehensive awareness programs and

showcases of best practices need to be established in order for IBS to be
understood and widely used. Current awareness programs in Malaysia were
ineffective and attract a lukewarm response from construction practitioners. The
program only invites targeted audiences and in such way had failed to cover the
vast majority of construction stakeholders. It is important for the new awareness
program to run periodically and find way to educate all the stakeholders. Current
activities for example, seminars, workshops, discussions, focus groups should be
retained in the program. In addition, mass-media communication and site tour to
real production facilities or project site to showcase best practices should be
encouraged. The awareness program must also support two-way communication
between the promotion agencies and the stakeholders. In such way, the program is
a platform to understand stakeholder’s perspectives on IBS and vice versa.
Buildoffsite program in the UK for example promotes awareness program to
educate and understand the client perspective, needs and issues related to
construction. The program becomes a platform for clients and contractors to sit
together and discussing on how IBS can give benefit to both parties other than
one-way promotion program. The government trough relevant agencies in
Malaysia must imitate the program and put effort to encourage two way
communications and best practice sharing between promoters, clients and
contractors.

• Restructuring IBS training program - Comprehensive preliminary study should

be conducted by the government to identify skill gaps in IBS sector in order to
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

create a comprehensive and systematic training program. The preliminary study

will ensure the training fits the needs of IBS organization and accommodates
current skill shortages in the market particularly on specialization skills such as
design and installation based on information from real practice. In terms of
design, the engineers must have competent knowledge in component analysis and
IBS building design. In the construction field, the contractors and site engineers
must have enough knowledge on the safe and accurate methods of erecting and
assembling IBS components into a building structure. As such, training and
professional development is vital to ensure successful IBS adoption in Malaysia.

• Restructuring R&D focus on IBS - The inadequacy of corroborative scientific

research undertaken to substantiate the benefit of IBS system as mentioned in
Thanoon et al. (2003) require a new approach to be taken on board. A long term
and strategic approach of conducting research on IBS shall be established
including strong involvement of universities, companies, organizations right from
the onset of any IBS R&D projects. R&D themes should not be limited on
developing hard issues e.g. jointing system, IBS material but also to undertake a
comprehensive study on IBS solutions encompassing the entire value chain.
These include the research on developing verification progress, IBS related
software, vendor developing system, marketing system, building concept, IBS
safety procedure, IBS whole life cycle costing, lean construction concept and
developing financial model for IBS firm. Government should increase the
allocation research grant through it agencies and provide more incentive i.e. tax
reduction to encourage more R&D contribution in construction industry
particularly on IBS.

• Improving ICT adoption - Industrialisation processes in construction method

requires accurate and reliable information exchange. As compared to traditional
method, Information Technology (IT) in IBS projects covers wide and extensive
range of processes, for example in customer interfacing, design, production,
monitoring and integration. Extensive use of modern IT tools supports the
different IBS processes by enabling more accurate documents and hence good
conditions for an effective production where errors are discovered early and
problems in the manufacturing and assembly phases can be avoided (Lessing et
al. 2005). Lessing et al (2005), Eichert & Kazi (2007), CIDB (2003), Hervas
(2007) are suggested the utilization of IT in IBS projects to support integration,
provide accurate data, help customers in selection process, distribution and
logistic and cost comparison. Verweij & Voorbij (2007) suggested IT roles during
IBS project in term of communication with customer, communication with all
actors, quality control on product and process and performance measuring and re-
use of experiences. IT is also vital for IBS in market analysis tools, intelligent
component catalogues, assembly planning and monitoring tools and design and
configuration tools as observed by Manubuild (2008). As such, government
should encourage more positive policies and incentives on IT and provide
financial facilities for contractors, designers and component’s manufactures to
improve IT capacity and capability in construction.
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

• Paradigm shifting on IBS through rebranding - IBS development in

Scandinavian and Japan are well associated high customer focus and mass-
customization. While in the UK, IBS promotes sustainability and green
construction. This is the time for Malaysian construction industry to re-brand IBS
construction. Current effort to brand IBS construction as cheap and fast
construction solution is relatively poor strategy as it associated IBS with historical
failure, poor workmanship and poor design to customers due to cost reduction
mentality. The strategy now is rather to focus on customer pulls rather than
technology push or cost reduction. The term IBS which carry the name of
Industrialised Building System might be change to Intelligence Building
Solutions which reflect more innovative and better image. In the era where
customers are more educated in the issues of sustainability, carbon footprint and
global warming, IBS should be branded as value for money solution with quality
and environmental friendly solution. IBS designers should associate lifestyle
aspects in IBS design where customers input is gathered and design is then
generated based on their opinion. More showhouse must be developed to
showcase the building components and highlights its feature as a holistic
sustainable building of future of dwellings. This will attract not only attract new
buyers and set-up new market ranges but also improves the overall image of
construction industry

12. Conclusion
The paper discussed barriers underlying IBS implementation in Malaysia. IBS in
Malaysia has been introduced to cope with a growing demand of affordable housing,
solving issues associated with foreign workers and improving image, quality and
productivity of construction related services. The usage of IBS in Malaysia has begun
since early 1960’s in a low cost housing scheme and today IBS has evolved and used in
hybrid construction to build national landmark. Despite its plausible advantages and
systematic implementation plan established trough IBS Roadmap, numbers of barriers
was identified as being potential hurdles to the implementation. The barriers include
negative perception, readiness issues, cost and equipment, poor planning and regulations,
poor knowledge and awareness issues. The paper uses a fishbone analysis to map-up the
barriers conserving IBS implementation in Malaysia. In general the barriers have
hindrance the construction practitioners in Malaysia to adopt IBS as construction method.
The paper proposed recommendations to improve IBS take up and ensure successful
roadmap implementation. It includes reengineering the role of contractor, paradigm shift
on IBS through rebranding efforts, improving ICT adoption, restructuring R&D focus,
restructuring IBS training program, restructuring awareness programs and reengineering
contractor’s role. With the present conventional methods of construction, the industry is
always associated with many unprofessional practices. The adoption of IBS promises to
elevate every level of the industry to a new height and image of professionalism. The
authors observed that IBS should be branded as value for money solution with quality,
whole life cycle costing and environmental friendly to change customer’s perception of
past failure and bad architecture which strongly associated with IBS. The term IBS in
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

Malaysia could perhaps be changed from Industrialised Building System to Intelligence

Building Solution which reflects innovativeness and better image. In 2008, IBS Centre
has been established in Kuala Lumpur by the government to play the role as promoter of
IBS in Malaysia trough activities such as consultancy, verification and certification of
IBS product, training, R&D and showcasing IBS product which is excellent effort for
future development of IBS. It is also important for Malaysia through the government
agencies to benchmark IBS development with other countries such as Japan, Sweden and
Singapore which have been successful in IBS implementation. It is hoping that the
research will provide great path for further research and data collection regarding on IBS
issues in Malaysia.

11. Further Research and Relation to PhD study

The paper is a preliminary research to develop understanding prior conducting a regional
benchmarking study between contractors in Malaysia and UK. The paper aims to have a
good grasp of the main published work concerning a particular topic or question in the
field establishing the context of the topic or problem. The recommendations which have
been proposed in this paper will be used as criteria for benchmarking study. The
objectives of benchmarking are to identify process and functionality gaps. At the end of
the PhD research, the study will has to propose recommendations to improve IBS
readiness in Malaysia. The benchmarking process is depicted Figure 2.

PHASE 1: PHASE 2: PHASE 3:

PLANNING BENCHMARKING IMPLEMENTATION

START Design Data Share Finding &

Collection Method Recommendations

Literature Reviews
Selection of Design
Companies Implementation Plan

Identify CSFs
Implement &
Monitoring
Data
Collection:
Pilot Survey
Case Studies
Conclusion

Determine Scope,
Measurement and Analysis & Report FINISH
Limitation

Figure 2: The Benchmarking Model

11. Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the following committees for their contribution:

1. IBS Steering Committee Session 2003-2005

2. Construction Technology and Innovation Development Sector, CIDB Malaysia
Paper Proceedings In BuHu 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC) (Eds, Alshawi, M., Ahmed, V., Egbu, C.
and Sutrisna, M.) Salford, United Kingdom, 29-30 January 2009

3. IBS Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

4. Participants who had attended in Workshop on Aligning R&D Themes and
Titles to the Requirement of Construction Industry, 21st -22nd April 2007,
Avillion Village Resort, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

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