Construction industry stakeholders paying close attention to Ahmad Asri‘s presentation on IBS during the town hall session.

THE Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) plans to make it mandatory for the Industrialised Building System (IBS) to be incorporated in private sector projects in three years time.

IBS is a construction technique where components are manufactured in a controlled environment, transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site work.

It is said to guarantee the quality of the construction, reduce construction time, lessen reliance on unskilled workers, increase construction productivity, reduce wastage and increase sustainability, ensure a clean and safe construction site and encourage local workers’ involvement.

CIDB held a town hall session at its convention centre in Jalan Cheras, Kuala Lumpur to spread awareness of the product among construction industry stakeholders.

Its chief executive, Datuk Ahmad Asri Abdul Hamid, said feedback from stakeholders would pave the way towards incorporating the IBS in building projects in Malaysia.

Among those who attended the session titled “Mandatory Usage of IBS in Build Industry Mechanism” were representatives from local authorities, government agencies and developers.

There was also a dialogue with representatives of the Works Ministry and Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry.

In the 71st National Council for Local Government meeting, it was agreed that IBS would be made mandatory for building projects exceeding RM50mil.

Works Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Zohari Akob noted that a Finance Ministry circular stated that government projects exceeding RM10mil must reach a minimum of 70 IBS score but there was no such policy yet for private sector projects.

“However, I am confident that the state authority, local government and private developers who have not implemented IBS in construction will follow suit,” he said.

Local Government Ministry secretary-general Mohammad Mentek said the direction of the policies were set and details were being finalised.

“Once the government decides on the details of the policies, we will make amendments to the Uniform Building By Laws 1984 (UBBL 1984) as well as use it as a requirement in building’s Development Order application.

“Before that, we have to ensure that there is steady supply and demand in the market,” he said.

Since 2008, the use of IBS was mandatory for government construction projects that exceeded RM10mil and the government planned to extend it to private construction projects that took up 72% or 4,851 projects out of the entire construction project in Malaysia last year worth RM176.3bil.

The proposal for IBS usage will be implemented through talks and private companies are given a three-year transition period.