Perspectives on issues and the application of the innovative procurement approaches for the Industrialised Building System (IBS)

Abstract

Malaysia is making an aggressive effort of transformation to become a fully developed country. As one of the pillars for transformation, the construction industry has been undergoing a major reform with regard to the traditional method of construction. In recent years, the Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been promoted extensively with the government taking a lead with the practice. Studies showed that IBS has been able to expedite construction process, improve the time taken to accomplish a project, improve building quality, able to control cost and human resources, which in overall, raise occupational health and safety standard of construction. Despite, as most IBS projects were carried out under the traditional procurement method, the full benefits of IBS are somehow obscured. Several issues such as work delay, lack of communication and integration, lack of knowledge and an increase in cost, which are synonymous to the traditional procurement method appear to outweigh the benefit of IBS. Hence, this research aims to suggest an alternative to the traditional procurement method with regard to IBS project implementation. The focus of this research has been on the challenges and innovative procurement methods most suited for IBS project. Two objectives were outlined: (1) to identify issues faced by the client on current procurement method in IBS project; and (2) to identify the client’s perspective on innovative procurement method most suited for IBS project. Data for this research was collected through semi-structured interviews with five respondents from five major developers having experience in IBS project implementation. The results from the thematic analysis revealed that apart from the common issues which ascend from the sequential nature of the traditional procurement method, design integration issue was opined to aggravate the situation. Unanimously, respondents agreed that partnering is the way forward for IBS project implementation in the Malaysian construction industry. This research contributes by providing important pointers for the local construction industry to move forward with IBS project implementation.

A thematic Review on Industrialised Building System (IBS) Publications from 2015-2019: Analysis of Patterns and Trends for Future Studies of IBS in Malaysia

“…Moreover, there is also a suggestion to review the existing standard form of contract to suit the IBS system in Malaysia (Fateh et al, 2020). This suggestion was previously asserted by H. L. T. Ariffin et al (2019) on the importance of having dedicated procurement specialised in IBS. Most of the articles were found focusing on issues and challenges on the implementation of the system.…”

“…The issues and challenges include competency and performance (H. L. T. Ariffin et al, 2019), implementation (Nawi et al, 2013), and the acceptance among the Pertanika J. Soc. Sci.…”

“…Despite the challenges, another group of researchers suggested that technology transfer or benchmarking on IBS construction and exchange of information to be among the best practices for successful systems (Amin et al, 2017). To further support this suggestion, a recent study revealed issues of IBS using conventional contracts like PWD or PAM contracts which were found to be unsuitable for work and procurement of IBS (H. L. T. Ariffin et al, 2019) Nevertheless, the issues and challenges pattern is among the most popular publications or research conducted by IBS researchers in Malaysia, considering the adversarial factors involved among the key players in the construction issues in Malaysia.…”

Relationship between Medium and Large Grade Contractors on Implementing Safety Management in Construction Site

“…Other researchers have recommended safety toolbox talks as a flexible method for safety communication and generating discussion [25] because the construction parties have faced with the poor integration and communication [26]. The cooperation among construction parties is one of the important aspects that will contribute to the success of [27] safe environment in workplace. Table I show the implementation of safety management in medium and large construction company in Taiwan.…”

Development of Application Framework for Design for Manufacturing and Assembly Towards Digital and Sustainable Construction in Malaysia

“…Berdasarkan laporan kajian kes, penggunaan IBS dapat mengurangkan tempoh pembinaan, meningkatkan kualiti pembinaan dan mengurangkan keperluan buruh di tapak pembinaan (Fateh et al 2021;Hui et al 2020;Saikah et al 2020;Saikah et al 2019;Shamsuddin et al 2021). Meskipun faedah penggunaan IBS telah jelas, adaptasi IBS dalam industri pembinaan di Malaysia masih belum dapat merealisasikan sepenuhnya potensi IBS (Ariffin et al 2019). Walaupun IBS ada digunakan bagi komponen projek tertentu, namun keperluan buruh di tapak binaan masih tinggi, selain prestasi pembinaan masih menunjukkan kelewatan dan peningkatan kos daripada kos asal (Nawi, Nasir, et al 2019).…”