IBS Gaining Ground

Source: News Straits Times, March 1st, 2008

It's still early days, but the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is confident that usage of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) in construction will pick up momentum. "In the Klang Valley, we are noting an increased use of IBS in certain construction activities," said its chief executive officer Datuk Ir. Hamzah Hasan. "Before, many builders preferred to use cheap foreign workers to perform labour-intensive construction activities, but they are now recognising the advantages of IBS - speed, better quality and saving the environment. "We hope that with the promotions made by our IBS Centre, the system will become accepted as the normal way of construction. "

CIDB is aiming for an industrialised construction sector by the year 2010." UM Land Bhd operations director Zulkifly Garib said the prospect of IBS succeeding is good, but said its usage "depends on the type of project being undertaken". "It would be more feasible in the development of certain higher-end properties as the cost of engaging (IBS) isn't economically attractive enough ... at least not at the moment," he said. Zulkifly also said before it can be implemented full-scale, developers "have to ensure that the infrastructure and operational requisites are in place". National House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong, said there is a 2005 incentive that exempts developers from paying the CIDB construction levy of 0.125 per cent for projects that have at least 50 per cent IBS content. Except for projects costing less than RM500,000 as well as low-, low-medium- and medium-cost houses, all projects were previously imposed the levy. "

The system will improve productivity, reduce site wastages, give rise to better quality end products, make the industry less dependent on foreign workers and help the environment," Chang said. As much as 70 per cent of the waste created in the home-building process can be removed by adopting IBS. Among the developers that are using IBS are SP Setia Bhd, Bina Puri Holdings Bhd, IJM Building System Sdn Bhd, and MTD-ACPI Engineering Bhd. Buildings that have been built with the system include Kuala Lumpur Sentral, Petronas Twin Towers, Putrajaya and the KL International Airport. Coined in America in the late 80s, IBS involves making various components that go into a building's construction in a factory and thereafter transporting them to a worksite for assembly.