Industrialised Building System the way forward
THE construction industry in Malaysia is experiencing a migration from conventional methods to a more systematic and mechanised method known as the Industrialised Building System (IBS).
Like it or not, industry players should be prepared to adopt the system as soon as possible before it is made mandatory following a meeting held in parliament to make the IBS compulsory for the national construction industry through the legislation of laws by amending the current Uniform Building By-Laws.
Deputy Prime Minister who also the Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said IBS had shortened construction time and allowed developers to sell the properties and buildings quicker and would help to double productivity level by 2.5 times.
It is also predicted to be able to generate extra income for the construction workers by 2020.
In Sabah, employing the IBS, which involves pre-cast elements made in factory and transferred to building sites for installation, can help to reduce the state’s dependence on foreign labour.
With the estimated 50,000 illegal Indonesian and Filipino workers in Sabah by the State Immigration Department, some of whom are working in the construction industry while the others are in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors.
Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB) Sabah director Rosmen Awang Hassan in an exclusive interview with The Borneo Post said studies from various projects implementing IBS show that the system could reduce construction duration by up to 50 per cent and labour cost by 46 per cent.
He further elaborated that with IBS, construction workers’ exposure to danger could also be minimised.
“To our locals, construction activities are synonymous with the 3D syndrome which is difficult, dirty and dangerous. These are the main reasons why they refuse to work at construction sites.
“Using IBS will eliminate this 3D syndrome because with this system, construction sites will be clean. Since the pre-cast elements are done in the factory, the only work they do is to install the material.
“Skilled workers are needed once IBS comes into the picture, so more training will be provided by CIDB through Akademi Binaan Malaysia (ABM), CIDB’s training arm.
“With proper training on the IBS installation, we are hoping it will help to change our locals’ mindset about the construction field and nurture them from now on to sustain the construction industry in the future,” he added.
Rosmen added as of November 2017, a total of 557 installers were trained by CIDB, where 30 of them focused on aluminium framework, 13 on lightweight panel, 405 on lightweight blockwall, 32 on precast concrete installation, 62 on roof truss, 14 on steel structure and one on system formwork.
This number is expected to increase due to demand from the construction companies as more projects involving IBS come in to Sabah.
A number of government projects, including the recent 109 dilapidated primary school projects allocated under a RM2.5bil provision (RM500mil for peninsular Malaysia and RM1billion each for Sabah and Sarawak) by the federal government, are expected to start in March .
Rosmen cited Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin who recently explained that the RM1billion allocation would be divided into two phases to be carried out this year and next year with RM500 million to be used to upgrade 74 schools identified by the Education Ministry and 35 schools by the Works Ministry.
Apart from projects from the government, some from the private sector are also starting to be part of this system.
Rosmen added that with the demand of IBS components from construction companies, CIDB encourages more suppliers and manufacturers to take up this opportunity.
To date, 10 IBS manufacturers in Sabah have registered with CIDB.
“Three companies are registered to manufacture precast concrete system, namely Hume Concrete (EM) Sdn Bhd, Sedco Precast Sdn Bhd and KTI Sdn. Bhd.
“On the steel framing system, four companies have registered with CIDB, namely NS Bluescope Lysaght (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, Bristeel Corporation Sdn Bhd, Colform Sdn Bhd and City Top Enterprise Sdn Bhd.
“Meanwhile, two companies have registered to manufacture blockwork system, namely Brikform Sdn Bhd and Gaya Belian Sdn Bhd, and only one company has registered to manufacture IBS innovative system, namely Multi Space (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd,” he said.
With the total 8,087 IBS contractors registered with CIDB in Malaysia, Sabah needs more participations since as of October 2017, only 295 contractors have registered specializing on precast concrete system (15 contractors), steel frame system (276 contractors), mold system (one contractor), block system (one contractor) and wooden frame system (two contractors).
Rosmen said IBS would not only benefit the workers to eliminate the 3D syndrome, it would also benefit the industry to explore better construction practices.
In Malaysia, CIDB has classified the IBS system into six categories as follows:
1. Precast concrete framing, panel and box system 2. Steel formwork systems 3. Prefabricated timber framing system 4. Steel framing system, 5. Blockwork system 6. Innovative system Precast concrete elements are the most common IBS type. There are precast concrete columns, beams, slabs, walls, lightweight precast concrete and permanent concrete formworks. Besides, it also consists of 3D components such as balconies, staircases, toilets, lift chamber, refuse chamber, etc.
Steel formwork systems generally involve site casting and therefore subjected to structural quality control. So, it is considered as the low level or the least prefabrication IBS types. However, this system does offer high quality finishes and fast construction with less site labour and material requirement. These include tunnel forms, tiltup system, beam and column moulding forms and permanent steel formwork like metal decks.
The products of prefabricated timber framing system are timber building frame and timber roof truss. Among these two, timber roof truss is more popular. Timber building frame also has its own niche market where it offers interesting designs from simple dwelling units to buildings requiring high aesthetic values such as chalets for resorts.
Steel framing systems are commonly used with precast concrete slabs, steel columns and beams. These systems have always been the popular choice and used extensively in the fasttrack construction of skyscrapers. Recent development in this type of IBS includes the increased usage of light steel trusses. It consists of cost-effective profiled coldformed channels and steel portal frame systems as alternatives to the heavier traditional hot-rolled sections.
Blockwork system is considered as an alternative, as the tedious and time consuming traditional brick laying tasks are greatly simplified. The construction method of using conventional bricks has been revolutionized by the development and usage of interlocking concrete masonry units (CMU) and lightweight concrete blocks.
Innovative system is the latest IBS type which incorporates various green elements, which are considered innovative in the industry. An example of the innovation is the mixture of two elements such as polystyrene and concrete to produce IBS components for use in the construction of a wall which has better heat insulation properties.
Indeed, with the advancement in technology and innovation, some of the new materials introduced in IBS include gypsum, wood wool, polymer, fiberglass and aluminium-based IBS components.
Rosmen said IBS is not a new system.
In Malaysia, it begun in the early 1960s when the Ministry of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia visited several European countries and evaluated their housing development program.
The first project using IBS was started by the government, a seven-block Pekeliling Flats along Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur.
Other IBS project icons in Peninsular Malaysia are Petronas Twin Tower, KL Tower, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KLIA 2 Terminal, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, IKEA Mutiara Damansara, apartments for government staff in Putrajaya and the Container Hotel at Bukit Bintang.
“As Sabah is still new in implementing the IBS system, there is no specific iconic building using IBS. However, a number of construction companies have already started using IBS on their projects.
“The implementation of IBS in Sabah is not encouraging compared to Peninsular Malaysia due to the overall initial cost which is higher than conventional, where they have to buy high tech machines to produce IBS components and so on.
“The influx of foreign workers in the market is another challenge because contractors are more interested in using foreign workers that are easily accessible and cheap.
“Apart from that, IBS was never their option because there is no policy to mandate the adoption of IBS in the private sector, no standardization in size of IBS components and lack of IBS knowledge and awareness,” he further elaborated.
Since Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has also announced that all government agencies and government-linked companies (GLCs) involved in constructing affordable houses for the rakyat are required to use IBS, this is a positive indication that this system is going to be a new thing in the construction industry in Sabah.
“The benefit of IBS is that it is both time and cost-saving, besides cutting manpower and giving chance to locals. It is also environmental-friendly and houses built from it are of good quality.
“This is very relevant at a time when the government is trying to build as many affordable houses as possible at the shortest time and the cheapest,” said Hajiji after a visit to Woodford Estate, an affordable housing programme which used IBS, at the end of last year.