Barriers to Implementation of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) in Malaysia

摘要

Malaysia, like any other developing country, considers the construction industry as one the main contributors to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, there are unresolved issues arising from the ongoing and widespread adoption of the traditional method of construction. Among them are the resultant fragmentation of the industry itself; delays in production and delivery time; unnecessary wastages and lack of sustainability practice. As such the Malaysian Government has been continuously encouraging the industry to use, partly or if not wholly, the Industrialised Building System (IBS), which is considered to be an important part of sustainable construction initiative. The IBS, albeit in its crude form, is not new in Malaysia and was introduced in the country over 40 years ago through government-led affordable housing projects. However, the system has so far failed to gather momentum. A number of barriers to its implementation are identified from a survey of pertinent literature sources by a number of local researchers. The main barriers are related to the perception that the system incurs additional costs; the financing practice that does not support the adoption of the system; the lack of skills and knowledge on the IBS; project delivery and supply chain matters; negative perception of stakeholders [mainly clients, professionals and end-users] on the flexibility of the system; and the lack of incentives and seriousness in its promotion by the decision makers both in the public and private sectors. Based on the review on the available literature sources, this paper discusses the identified barriers with the aim of examining how far these barriers may well affect the process of IBS implementation in the Malaysian construction industry.