Industrialised Building System (IBS) in Malaysia - Part 1

The Industrialised Building System (IBS), is one of the fastest growing industries in the Malaysian construction sector. Most talks of IBS conjures images of pre-cast blocks being set upon to form offices and apartments, akin to constructing a building using LEGO® blocks. To some extent, this is correct. The key technology to IBS is the preparation of precast building structure off-site, which is then brought to the construction site and assembled. This allows building to be constructed with minimal effort and time at the construction site, which in turn provides tremendous cost savings to the contractors. However, the best savings are enjoyed by the consumers; IBS allows for homes to be owned from as little as RM 42,000.00 a year!

The potential for IBS sector in Malaysia is enormous to say the least. The conservative estimate of the industry is approximately to RM2 billion, making the future of the industry secure. Having to recognize the potential of the industry, the Government of Malaysia has implemented the roadmap for the development of IBS in Malaysia three years ago. Among the key goals of the roadmap are, to reduce the number of foreign workers in the construction sector from 75% in 2005 to 15% in 2009 through IBS, to utilize IBS in government building projects by up to 70% by 2008 and finally to achieve full industrialization by 2010.

In order to achieve these goals, a more structured approach must be taken in implementing IBS. Dishing out contracts haphazardly and hoping that the industry will build itself is a serious error of judgment. This structured approach forms a pyramid, with the bottom layer supporting the upper layers. At the bottom of the pyramid are the small components and accessories suppliers. This forms the largest group, consisting of many small and medium scale industries manufacturing items such as windows, doors, grills and frames etc. This group supports the medium sized and manufactured components group. Smaller than the small components groups, the medium components group is responsible for the sub-assembly of components and individual structure components. This group in turn supports the large component group, which manufactures precast concrete and steel frames as well as the modules. Finally, at the top of the pyramid is the developer, responsible for assembling the building. The creation of a structured system such as the pyramid, enables companies to easily identify which step of the IBS construction process they fall under, who they can sell their products to and who they can buy their components from.

Article Source: TECHSCOPE, March 2008, Malaysian industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)