Industrialised Building System Projects Research Articles

Review in formulating the standard form of contract for Industrialized Building System (IBS) construction approach in Malaysia

Industrialised Building System (IBS) is the common term used to represent the prefabrication concept in Malaysia. Based on previous research being done locally and internationally, it is certain that using IBS offers huge benefits in terms of cost, time, productivity and quality. The Malaysian construction industry has been urged to use innovative construction techniques. It is being highlighted under the present Construction Industry Transformation Programme 2016 - 2020 (CITP). These initiatives illustrate the Malaysia government’s commitment in addressing the IBS agenda. Although some efforts have been taken to enhance the IBS adoption in Malaysia, various contract issues have emerged to become major concern amongst the IBS players that have led to delays, disputes, payment and cash flow issues in their projects. Formulating a dedicated standard form of contract for IBS construction approach is necessary to address the concerns. Therefore, the aim of the main research is to formulate the standard form of contract for IBS projects that will assist authorities and IBS industry players in mitigating the issues and challenges from the contractual perspectives. However, this paper will only present the literature reviews and findings from a preliminary survey conducted to establish pertinent contractual issues and challenges on the subject matter.

ISSUES OF PAYMENT PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS) PROJECT

This research paper intends to investigate the issues of payment procurement process for Industrialised Building System (IBS) Project. There are many differences of payment procurement process between conventional and IBS project. The IBS project requires upfront payment as compared with conventional project. Up to this moment, there is no single solution to this issue. Very often, the IBS contractor faces financial difficulty leading to the bankruptcy and delaying in the project completion. Thus, a preliminary study was undertaken with 21 samples of respondents that have a variety of background occupational. The findings from the study revealed that the issue of payment for IBS contractors comprises of five (5) main factors which are high initial cost, difficulty in securing timely and adequate financing, lack of integration at design stage, difficulty to get loans from financial institution and increment of material prices. Findings from this study may help the decision makers including the government or Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to formulate a new procurement process especially for the IBS contractor. The findings will be used for the financial model framework for the IBS contractor in the future.

TOWARDS DESIGNING MODULAR OF INDUSTRIALIZED BUILDING SYSTEMS

Although applying industrialization methods on the construction industry is well-documented as one of the best solutions of high housing demands, implementation progress of industrialized building system (IBS) rather slow is picking up due to barriers associated with complexity of its design stage. The paper presents an extant literature survey focusing on application of modular design process on IBS projects to benefit from abstraction of design process of these projects in order to facilitate the industrialization process of the construction industry. Results indicate that designing based on modularization could assist design process of IBS projects so that it prevents emerging conflicts in IBS life span that is rooted in IBS design stage. The study is presently expecting to improve awareness in various phases of IBS projects regarding the significance contributions of Modular Design Method as a respond to the complexity of IBS design method.

The Insight of Industrialised Building System (IBS) By Bumiputera Construction Players

The term Industrialised Building System (IBS) is widely recognised by construction players in Malaysia since its first implementation since 1960s for IBS pilot projects of Pekeliling Flats and Rifle Range Flats. The aim for the implementation is to promote better system in delivering construction end-products which offers efficiency and effectiveness. At the same time, Bumiputera construction players are the majority of parties in construction industry especially in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the perception and awareness of IBS implementation among Bumiputera players. It is found that, Bumiputera construction players have sound knowledge on the IBS and optimistic towards further implementation for future projects. Nonetheless, issues on payment methods and coordination of IBS project delivery are found to be the negative perceptions which are considered as hindrance for Bumiputera construction players’ involvement in IBS project.

Innovative Approach for IBS Vendor Selection Problem

Supply chain management in Industrialised Building System (IBS) construction management has significantly determined the successful of company and project performance. Due to the wide variety of criteria and vendor available, the vendor selection process for a specific project needs is becoming more difficult. The need of decision aid for vendor selection in other areas is widely discussed in previous research. However, study on vendor selection for IBS project is largely neglected. Decision Support System (DSS) is proposed for this purpose. Yet, most of the DSS models are impractical since they are complicated and difficult for a layman such as project managers to use. Research indicates that the rapid development of ICT has highly potential towards simple and effective DSS. Thus, this paper highlights the importance and research approach for vendor selection in IBS project management. The study is based on Design Science Research Methodology with combination of case studies. It is anticipates that this study will yield an effective value-for-money decision making platform to manage vendor selection process.

A Review on Industrialised Building System Issues in Malaysia

Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been identified as a potential method to improve overall construction performance in term of quality, cost effectiveness, safety and health, waste reduction and productivity. There are several issues in managing IBS construction projects which lead to delays, poor qualities and cost overrun. This paper aims to analyze the issues in managing the construction phases of IBS projects. Based on this review, it shows that less effective use of IBS in Malaysia construction industry is due to unwillingness of the players to change from conventional system because they are not convinced with the IBS system. Therefore, appropriate bodies should help to increase the contractor’s understanding and prepareness in using IBS system in the construction industry.

DEVELOPING METHODOLOGY FOR CRADLE TO GRAVE COST PLANNING FOR INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS) IN MALAYSIA

This paper presents a proposed research methodology undertaken by a researcher to investigate the most accurate and appropriate method to generate a cradle to grave cost planning for Industrialised Building System (IBS) in the Malaysian construction industry. The methodology was intended to bring out accurate results and provide useful sources for the induction of emerging insights relating to the problem identified, which is how the current cost planning used for IBS projects helps in terms of cost control from pre-contract until the demolition of the building. At the end of this research, a proposed cradle to grave cost planning method was produced. To achieve the aims and objectives of this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied. A quantitative research method in the form of a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate which method is mostly used in preparing cost planning for IBS both from contractors’ and consultants’ point of view. The next stage of data collection was involved in-depth qualitative investigation using face-to face interviews meant to get in-depth views of each cost planning method’s advantages and barriers and what does it need to include to produce an effective cost planning for IBS elements. To complete the triangulation approach, expert group participations and validation were conducted to contribute essential thoughts in producing a comprehensive cradle to grave cost planning method, as well as validating the findings from the research. This method offers alternatives of cost planning and control over the project, and suitable for either IBS or conventional method.

Conceptual Model of Contractor Satisfaction in the Industrialized Building System (IBS) Implementation

Most construction projects have been recognized as underperformance due to the increase numbers of delays, cost overruns and poor quality construction. The inability of contractors to meet clients’ expectation has been found as one of the main causes that contribute to the project failure. Alternatively, key players are encouraged to shift from the conventional method towards Industrialized Building System (IBS). Also known as prefabrication, previous researchers proved that IBS is able to minimize on-site works and increase the building quality in a controlled environment. However, the take up rate of IBS in Malaysian construction industry is still low as compared to developed countries basically due to incapability of contractors in mastering an advanced technology and their negative perceptions in IBS implementation. In addition, a limited subjective performance measurement, particularly to evaluate contractors' satisfaction level in implementing the IBS construction is still neglected. This is a review paper for an on-going research in examining contractor satisfaction levels on the IBS implementation and its attributes. The measurements are based on contractor perception instead of the typical approaches that solely concerned with objective measures (time, cost and quality). As a result, several attributes that integrate sustainability elements (economical, environmental, social, and institutional factors) are also determined. These attributes are then developed through systematic analysis to enhance the ability of IBS in improving contractors’ satisfaction. The developed framework is expected to help the project team in performing IBS projects more efficiently, ensuring the quality meet the standards and encouraging effective communication between participants. Moreover, the findings will be useful to assist contractors in enhancing competitiveness, increase company reputation and improve project deliveries to meet global challenges.

Challenges in the Integration of Supply Chains in IBS Project Environment in Malaysia

The importance of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) was highlighted under the Strategic Thrust 5 of the Malaysian Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP). However, the fragmentation and adversarial relationships among players in the IBS supply chain has been identified as the major obstacles in the IBS construction project delivery and environment. The main research will look into the challenges of IBS supply chains in the project procurement delivery. This paper will present the results from semi- structured interviews conducted on key IBS supply chain players with interesting outcomes which include the critical challenges on behavioural issues of attitude, relationship and communication.

Towards Integrated Team Practice: A Case of Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS) Construction Projects

Problems associated with fragmentation in the traditional construction process, such as isolation of professionals, lack of co-ordination between design and construction, and the sequential manner of its processes, has impacted on construction performance leading to a lack of integration, wastage, low productivity and efficiency. Integrated team practice is perceived as paramount. Unfortunately, there has a limitation of study focus on the dimension of fully integrated team especially for Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS) projects. Accordingly, this research paper explores and identifies the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional approach and conduct a validation process for implementing it in Malaysian IBS projects. The research presented uses interviews case study to obtain qualitative data. It was found that the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional construction process could apply to the Malaysian IBS projects. Suggestions on how an integrated team practice in IBS design and construction process in order to minimise the fragmentation gaps will be concluded.

Towards Integrated Team Practice: A Case of Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS) Construction Projects

Problems associated with fragmentation in the traditional construction process, such as isolation of professionals, lack of co-ordination between design and construction, and the sequential manner of its processes, has impacted on construction performance leading to a lack of integration, wastage, low productivity and efficiency. Integrated team practice is perceived as paramount. Unfortunately, there has a limitation of study focus on the dimension of fully integrated team especially for Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS) projects. Accordingly, this research paper explores and identifies the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional approach and conduct a validation process for implementing it in Malaysian IBS projects. The research presented uses interviews case study to obtain qualitative data. It was found that the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional construction process could apply to the Malaysian IBS projects. Suggestions on how an integrated team practice in IBS design and construction process in order to minimise the fragmentation gaps will be concluded.

The State of Skilled Components Installers for Industrialized Building System (IBS) Construction in Malaysia

In an IBS construction, the role of the contractor is shifted from a builder to an assembler on the site. Therefore, this requires the contractor to be prepared technologically with IBS knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, the number of skilled IBS installers in Malaysia is still low even though the system has been implemented for a long time. This research is carried out to find out whether the existing number of IBS installers matches existing needs. Primary data has been collected through interviews with construction workers at an IBS construction site in Penang Island in order to get the contractor’s feedback regarding this issue. Meanwhile, secondary data has been collected from government agencies to establish the number of existing IBS installers and the number of IBS projects within government projects. The results from this study indicate that not all types of IBS’s skill sectors have a shortage of skilled workers. However, there is a critical shortage of precast concrete installers.

The Contractor Perception Towers Industrialised Building System Risk in Construction Projects in Malaysia

The use of IBS (Industrialised Building System) has attracted a lot of countries like Singapore, Sweden, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. This system can replace the conventional building system which is labour oriented. However, since the first project of IBS in year 1964 till today, IBS in Malaysia is not well accepted by the construction parties because of failure to adequately deal with risks in the IBS projects. To address this matter, this study had identified the risks faced by contractor in IBS construction projects. The risk identification techniques used were brainstorming, analysis of journal and conference papers and discussion with practitioners and data were collected by a questionnaire survey on contractors. It was found that there are twelve major risks in construction using IBS which are; acts of God, change in work and defective design, changes in government regulation, contractor competence, delayed payment and resolving contractual issues, financial failure-any party, labour and equipment productivity, labour, equipment and material availability, quality of work, safety, site access/right of way and suppliers/manufacturers poor performance. Therefore, it is hoped that the finding of this research could assist Malaysian contractors in making risk management planning besides improving decisions making to achieve project.