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ICCBT 2008 - B - (07) pp75-92
ICCBT2008
Perception of Industrialized Building System (IBS) Within the
Malaysian Market
A. Idrus*,Universiti Teknologi Petronas,MALAYSIA
N. F. K. Hui, Universiti Teknologi Petronas,MALAYSIA
C. Utomo,Universiti Teknologi Petronas,MALAYSIA
ABSTRACT
The Industrialized Building Systems (IBS) has the known theoretical advantages of speed,
safety and quality. However, in Malaysia, wet construction method is still widely accepted as
a convention and safe option despite incurring higher cost and slow production rate. The
objective of this research is to investigate the underlying reasons for the cold reception and
hence for the small market share for industrialized construction in Malaysia (Perak, Penang
& Kedah). IBS only accounts for approximately 15% of the market share due to severalreasons despite a series of promotion campaign by Construction Industry Development Board
(CIDB). Survey research method (SRM) is being implemented in this project. SRM is done
through questionnaire and personal interview method. Fabrication of questionnaire consists
of close-ended questions and open-ended questions. Systematic random sampling is being
selected as this technique spread the sample more evenly over the population and it is easier
to conduct than simple random sample. Questionnaire is distributed through snail mail and
follow up is done subsequently to maintain a consistent number of feedbacks by the
respondents. Feedback is analyzed by implementing descriptive method and then analytical
method. It can be observed from the feedback that the major reasons of the cold reception of
IBS in Malaysia are failure in the transfer of technology, resistance of industry players to
change, conventional system is more open and flexible and IBS generally is more costly thanconventional system
.
Keywords: Perception, IBS, Questionnaire Survey.
*Correspondence Author: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arazi B Idrus, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia.
e-mail: arazi_idrus@petronas.com.my
http://www.uniten.edu.my/newhome/content_list.asp?contentid=4017 -
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1. INTRODUCTIONThe government has put plenty of efforts to enhance the current conventional, labor-intensive
activities to a more technologically advanced method of construction such as the
Industrialised Building Systems (IBS). This is being done so that Malaysia is capable ofproducing fast and high quality products, and able to compete with the global market.
Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) is a construction process that utilizes techniques,
products, components, or building systems which involve prefabricated components and on-
site installation [1]. IBS promises several advantages over conventional in-situ systems such
as reduction of unskilled workers, less wastage of materials which means cost savings, less
building materials required, faster and better quality control of construction and increased site
cleanliness and safety.
With its current levels of quality, productivity and safety, and excessive reliance on unskilled
foreign workers, the state of the local construction industry is not in line with future
developments planned for Malaysia. Early efforts by the government to promote the usage ofIBS as an alternative to the conventional method had not made a headway. Therefore the
government, through its agency, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) had
redesigned its strategies and, with the guidance from CIDBs IBS Steering Committee had, in
2003, formulated a roadmap based on a 5-M strategy (Manpower, Materials-Components-
Machines, Management-Processes-Methods, Monetary and Marketing). Its objective is to
have an industrialized construction industry for Malaysia and achieving Open Building by the
year 2010.Road Map 2003-2010, as it is called [2], evolved on the policy of phased reduction
of dependency on foreign labour and encouragement policy on the investment in technologies,
techniques and the methodology of construction.According to the Road Map, foreign workers
in the construction industry will be decreased to 55% by year 2005, 25% by year 2007 and
15% by year 2010. As an initial pace towards achieving these targets, the CIDB aggressively
holds campaigns nationwide to promote the utilization of IBS components and off-site
construction. Besides these campaigns, and to further enhance the implementation of IBS
utilization, the Government had also formulated a policy requiring a certain minimum
percentage of IBS utilization to be satisfied in government building projects. In addition, a
50% minimum implementation of IBS utilization in a project would entitle CIDB levy
exemptions.
Despite the above campaigns and incentives from the Government, the market share for IBS
in 2003 stood only at 15%, and this figure has not changed much since then. The traditional
in-situ or the so called Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous method of construction seems to bethe preferred choice for most people until today. IBS Survey 2003, and even the more recent
IBS Survey 2005 [3], did not specifically address the underlying reasons for the low market
share of IBS in this country. This paper aims to investigate the perceptions and subsequently
the underlying reasons for the poor reception of Industrialised Building Systems within the
Malaysian construction industry.
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2. METHODOLOGY2.1Population and SampleThe survey research methodology has been used for this research. The target populationconsists of contractors, architects, engineers and developers in the Malaysian construction
industry. Due to financial and time constraints, a target population of 180 respondents was set,
consisting of 90 contractors, 30 developers, 30 architects and 30 engineers. For the same
reasons too, the study population was further confined to only the northern states of
Peninsular Malaysia, namely, Perak, Penang and Kedah. However, considering the objectives
of the research, these states would represent regions away from the influence of the
promotional activities of the CIDB central office and also away from the much-concentrated
existence of IBS manufacturers in the Klang Valley. This would in fact provide a better
picture of the perceptions and the underlying reasons for the cold reception of IBS in
Malaysia.
.The contractors, architects, engineers and developers were respectively selected from the
Contractors Directory in the CIDB website, Architects Directory in the Pertubuhan Arkitek
Malaysia (PAM) website, 2006/2007 Consulting Engineers Directory of the Association of
Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM) and the Members Directory in the Real Estate and
Housing Developers Association (REHDA) website. The number of respondents for each
category is evenly distributed according to the respective three states of Perak, Kedah and
Penang (each): 30 contractors, 10 architects, 10 engineers and 10 developers. The systematic
random sampling technique was used in selecting the samples. Contractors formed the highest
percentage in the distribution because they were thought to be the key players in the industry
who handle first hand experience with IBS components. To obtain a consistent result of the
feedback, a minimum of 30 replies was set for statistical analysis [4].
2.2 Questionnaire Outline
The structured questionnaire format was designed to be simple and which would require
minimal filling-in time. A three-point Semantic Differential Scale [5] was used to rate
respondents opinions. The questionnaire form consisted of five Sections A, B, C, D and E.
The information gathered was as follows:
Section A
- Company Profile- Position of respondent in the company.
- Company address and contact number for reference.
- CIDB Registration grade of the company.
- Survey on Completed Projects
- Number of completed projects by the company concerned.
- Number of completed projects utilizing IBS
Section B, C & D
- Opinion Survey
- The perceived benefits of using IBS.
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- IBS knowledge of architects, engineers, clients and government (approving)
authorities.
- Acceptance towards IBS usage by architects, engineers, clients and contractors.
- Using IBS in future construction projects.
- Making compulsory IBS usage in construction.- Respondents comments on the usage of IBS in construction projects.
Section E - Comments and Suggestions
-Suggestions for enhancement.
2.3Facto-face interviewsA total of five face-to-face interviews were conducted to selected samples obtained by the
systematic random sampling process. Out of these, three were contractors and two engineers.
The interviews were meant to complement the results from questionnaire survey. Although
basically the interview format was the same as the questionnaire, it also contained additionalquestions to probe further information regarding the topic, in particular, the underlying
reasons for the responses.
2.4Method of AnalysisAll data obtained will be analyzed by descriptive and analytical methods. Analytical method
will be conducted if the feedback received is high in quantity. Descriptive statistical analysis
presents data that have been retrieved into tabular and figure form. Data will be analyzed
using the Index Average Method [6] as follows:
( ) = ii xaAverageIndex ix (Eqn. 1)
Where:
ai= constant
xi = variables representing respondents frequency
3. RESULTS3.1
Response Rate (Figure 1)
The respondents were given the option of returning the questionnaire forms by mail or fax. A
total 35 respondents out of 180 returned the questionnaire. Though only 19.4% of the
respondents replied, this low percentage had been expected for a mailed and questionnaire-
based survey research.
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3.6Respondents Knowledge in IBS (Table 5, Figure 5)Most of the respondents (56%) have good knowledge of IBS while 25% of them were
reported to be having poor knowledge in IBS. Some 19% of the respondents have excellent
knowledge in IBS. A few respondents did not state anything about their IBS knowledge,which could reflect on their unfamiliarity with IBS. With more than 50% of respondents who
have at least good knowledge in IBS, we can expect that the results of the feedback or views
received would be sufficiently reliable.
3.7Perception of IBS3.7.1 Advantages of IBS (Table 6, Figure 6)As seen in Figure 6, most of the respondents agreed that IBS enhanced the quality of the
finished work of construction (71%). For example, by using the conventional system whereby
timber and nails are involved, the probability of the timber bulging is high, causing unevensurface. Also, IBS was perceived to be able to provide cleaner, neater, and safer construction
(63%). Less formwork and falsework are used in IBS construction so the method is less
hazardous to the workers. IBS proved to be neater as it uses a systematic method, and can be
reused for repeated type of construction. Also, 57% of respondents disagreed that IBS is
comparatively cheaper than conventional system. This might have occurred due to the low
scale of economy often associated with IBS projects. Thus, at the current situation, the cost
for IBS construction may he higher than conventional system, causing most industry players
to choose conventional method for their projects. 57 % respondents at least agreed that IBS
would lead to labour reduction. However, 43% of them felt that by using IBS, labour force
still cannot be reduced. This implied that IBS-knowledgeable labour are still very much
needed for design, fabrication and installation works. Further, 40% of respondents felt that
IBS is not easy to install, indicating insufficient knowledge in IBS design and installation
among workers.
Figure 5. Respondents IBS Knowledge
Table 5. Respondents Knowledge of IBS
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Table 6. Advantages of IBS
Figure 6. Advantages of IBS
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3.7.3Perception of Conventional Construction (Table 7, Figure 8)Generally, 57% of the respondents agreed that for the current situation of construction
industry in Malaysia, using the conventional system is comparatively cheap compared to IBS
system. This might be because of the low scale of economy often associated with IBS asmentioned earlier. The number of projects in Malaysia utilizing IBS is generally low and
therefore, the market demand for IBS manufacturers and IBS usage is low as well, thus giving
rise to the high cost. In addition, 44% strongly agreed that they preferred conventional system
than IBS because they found that conventional system is more open and flexible. An open or
flexible system would be easier to implement since mostly timber, steel bar and nails only are
required for construction. These items does not need to be custom-fabricated and can be
fabricated on site. However, majority (89%) of respondents, especially from the contractors,
strongly disagreed that conventional method is cleaner, safer and neater. In fact, 74% of
respondents did not think that conventional systems will decrease labor, compared with 43%
in the case of IBS (Figure 6).
Figure 7. Problems of IBS in Construction Industry
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Figure 8. Perception on Conventional Construction
Table 8. Perception on Conventional Construction
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3.11 IBS Prospect in Future Projects (Table 14, Figure 12)Referring to Figure 12, sadly more than half of the respondents (18 or 51%) suggested that
they will not recommend their respective companies to implement IBS in their next project.Only a minority (8 or 23%) supported the usage of IBS in their next project. Only this group
of people believed that IBS has the potential to be a trustable system at least for short term.
Whereby 9 respondents (26%) had no opinion at all on whether they will suggest their
companies to implement IBS. This might happen as they were still unsure of the usage of IBS
in their projects.
Figure 11. Suggestion and Comments on the Usage of IBS in Malaysia
Table 14. IBS Prospect in the Future Project
Figure 12. Willingness to recommend the
implementation of IBS for next project
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4. DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH
4.1DiscussionDuring the interviews, the author has gathered beneficial information concerning the IBS and
also general overview of the current situation in Malaysia. The number of IBS manufacturers
in Malaysia are comparatively low, recording only 50 companies registered in Malaysia, with
only three companies operating in the northern states of Malaysia at present, all three situated
in Perak.
According to some respondents, not more than 50 high-rise housing projects throughout
Malaysia have implemented IBS. Perhaps IBS has not fully recovered from the stigma of
low- cost and leaking image often associated with the system in the past but the main
reason that consultants, contractors, developers and especially clients still prefer conventional
construction is because of the relatively cheap and abundant supply of foreign labour fromneighbouring Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and the sub-coentinent. The rate of labour in
Malaysia is cheap compared with, for example, Finland in which the rate of labour is ten time
higher [7]. Besides, implementing IBS at this stage where there is no scale of economy would
be very expensive for contractors, especially those from the lower classes, as they do not have
sufficient capital funding to afford IBS. Besides, due to failures of the closed system in the
past, they do not want to risk their respective companies by implementing a comparatively
new system especially when they are still unfamiliar with the systems. Furthermore, the
failure of technology transfer also results in the low reception of IBS in the Malaysian Market.
For instance, before the proper guidelines laid down by CIDB, there was no standards for
contractors or consultants to follow and abide. Also, contributing to this scenario is poor
industry practice which includes poor planning and manufacturer driven.
As one assistant director of Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) Perak commented, IBS is not
favorable for the current industry because of the new technology implied. Contractors
inclusive of engineers and technical personnel do not possess adequate knowledge of the
technology, especially at the critical jointing area between precast units where leakages often
occur if not installed with the right method, such as in the bathroom area whereby the joint
must be properly sealed and waterproof.
Most contractors are still practicing conventional construction because they have been used to
the system before the introduction of IBS. They resist IBS and cannot adapt themselves to the
new technology as they do not possess the required knowledge. CIDB has sponsored andconducted several seminars concerning IBS throughout the year. However, the seminar has
not received positive feedback from consultants, contractors and engineer. Besides, CIDB
only organizes IBS seminar about once a year which, to many respondents, is inadequate.
Although ideally, a survey covering the whole of Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak, due
to time and financial constraints, the study had to be based on a survey population covering
the northern states of Perak, Kedah and Penang only. Nevertheless, considering the objectives
of the research, this region would represent regions away (but not too far away) from the
influence of the promotional activities of the CIDB central office and also away from the
more-concentrated existence of IBS manufacturers in the Klang Valley. As a blessing in
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