Abstract. 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.

Industrialized Building System (IBS) has been introduced in Malaysia since the 1960s. The government has come out with varies strategic blueprint to push IBS as a national agenda. Unfortunately, the pace of adaptation of IBS is still slow and below the government’s target. Construction players are still facing various issues when adopting IBS particularly on contractual and procurement aspects; thus it contributes to the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia. Lack of provision in the Malaysia standard form of contract is one of the issues. There are six (6) significant clauses in the Malaysia standard form of contract that can be improved to make it more conducive to IBS construction approach. Therefore this research will attempt to investigate the factors of improvement for the six (6) significant clauses in the standard form of contract with IBS construction. A semi-structured interview was used in the data collection exercise. The study revealed that there are eleven (11) factors of improvement for the six (6) significant clauses in the standard form of contract with IBS construction approach. The findings will be useful in order to enhance the local standard form of contract to suit the IBS construction approach hence able to accelerate the adoption of IBS construction in Malaysia.

Industrialized Building System (IBS) has been introduced for over 40 years in Malaysia, with well-documented benefits and strong support from the government. Unfortunately, the pace of IBS adaptation is still slow and below the government's target. Construction players are still facing various issues and challenges when adopting IBS, particularly on contractual and procurement aspects, thus, it contributes to the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia. As of to date, there is still the lack of provisions in Malaysian standard form of contract to suit the IBS construction approach. Therefore, this research will attempt to investigate and compare several local and international standard form of contracts to identify and highlight what international standard form of contracts have provisions to suit IBS construction approach. Literature review and documents analysis were used in the data collection exercise. The study revealed that there are six provisions that the local standard form of contract can enhance to suit the IBS construction approach. The findings will be useful to enhance the local standard form of contract to suit IBS construction approach, hence, able to accelerate the adoption of IBS construction in Malaysia.

In the 80s, Malaysia was one of the fastest developing countries with the introduction and development of mega-projects in the region. As reported by (Ibrahim et al., 2010), the construction industry plays an important role in the country's transition and its goal of becoming a developed country. It is expected that the Economic Transformation Program (ETP), the 11th Malaysia Plan (11 MP), and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12 MP), will transform Malaysia into one of the world's high-income nations. According to Olanrewaju et al. (2017), over the next 10 years, the country will need over one million construction workers. Olanrewaju et al. (2017) added that one of the Malaysian construction industry's biggest challenges is the lack of skilled labour. Mustafa Kamal et al. (2012) stated that the construction industry in Malaysia is still struggling with many problems and is associated with low quality, low productivity, unskilled labour, project delays, poor maintenance, non-conducting, and high on-site accident rates. The government aims to be a world-class, creative and knowledgeable solution provider for the Malaysian construction industry. To achieve the aim, the government, together with the CIDB, has made many efforts to upgrade the level of knowledge and skills among the construction players (Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia 2021). In the construction industry, 93% of registered foreign labourers with CIDB are unskilled labourers (Hisyam 2015). This was echoed by Hamzah et al. (2020) and Mohd Fateh et al. (2020), since most foreign labour comes from other countries, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, and is mostly unskilled labour. Many of them come from their county and only have basic construction knowledge. This issue has resulted directly in the lack of building expert labour in this country as work from these small nations has exposure to limited knowledge. The recruitment of low-salary foreign labour may ease the expenditure of the contractor, but it will not ensure the quality or even benefit of the Malaysian people.The rapid development of the construction industry causes the demand for labour to increase, and the lack of local participation cannot meet the demand. Labour is one of the most constrained challenges faced by the Malaysian construction industry as the nation relies too heavily on a large foreign labour workforce (Najib et al., 2019). In the Malaysian construction industry, skilled labourers such as bricklayers, carpenters, painters, electricians, welders, plumbers, plant operators, among others, form a large part of the site labour force whose input determines, to a great extent, the quality of the industry's product. The common problems of low-skilled labour participation in construction have been traced to the unfair salary of labour, poor safety in construction sites, lack of clear-cut career paths, diminishing skilled labour training programs, and delays in the schedule of work on-site (Hussain, Xuetong, and Hussain 2020). Lingard (2013) reported that around 60-90% o...

The Industrialised Building System (IBS) was introduced over 10 years ago in Malaysia, with well-documented benefits and strong support from the government. Apparently, the adoption and implementation of IBS is still low and below the government target. When adopting IBS, construction players mostly face different issues and challenges, particularly on contractual aspects, which contribute to the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia. There is also a lack of provision in the significant clauses of the Malaysian standard contract form to fit the development of IBS to date. The aim of this paper is thus to establish a system of factors underpinned by Deming's Theory for the improvement of the significant clauses in the standard contract form for IBS construction in Malaysia. A multi-method approach was used to achieve its aim, including an extensive literature review, findings from the previous study via document analysis, preliminary survey, questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The research revealed that there are five significant clauses with important factors that can be improved in the existing Malaysian standard form of contract in relation to the IBS construction. The research also developed a framework that would be able to assist the policy and decision-makers in understanding what the improvement factors that need to be considered in the significant clauses in the standard form of contract in relation to the IBS construction. The research output (the framework) was validated by the prominent industry players on the practicality, suitability to its purposes for the related stakeholders. The developed framework would be able to accelerate the adoption of IBS construction in parallel with the initiatives (P3) in the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP).