INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS): A REVIEW OF EXPERIENCES IN UK AND MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

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1 INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM (IBS): A REVIEW OF EXPERIENCES IN UK AND MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Kamarul Anuar Mohamad Kamar, Mustafa Alshawi, Zuhairi Abd. Hamid, Mohd Nasrun Mohd Nawi, Ahmad Tarmidzi Haron, Mohd Rofdzi Abdullah Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM), CIDB MALAYSIA The Research Institute for Build and Human Environment (BuHu), UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD ABSTRACT: The move towards industrialisation of construction industry is a global phenomenon and not a local or isolated action. The idea of benchmarking of experience from other countries to guide Industrialised Building System (IBS) implementation in Malaysia has been highlighted by previous literatures. This paper discusses experiences in Malaysia and UK on Industrialised Building System (IBS) promotion and initiatives. Under the term Modern Method of Construction (MMC) and offsite, IBS has been introduced in the UK to cope with a high-demand of affordable housing and improve overall construction performance. The effort is lead by The Housing Forum and Buildoffsite in the public and private sector respectively. IBS has been introduced in Malaysia to reduce dependency on foreign workers in the construction sector and improve the image and performance of the industry. IBS Roadmap is a national-scale master plan with the target of having an industrialised construction industry by the year This paper suggests that more kick start projects need to be launched that will create more opportunities and spill out effect to the industry. IBS should be promoted in Blue Ocean and not become threat to traditional build and CIDB should find way to encourage private sector s participation in IBS promotion activities. The perspective on IBS in both UK and Malaysia construction industry will provide some ground for future benchmarking and technology transfer exercise. Malaysia can learn much from UK s experience in term of promotion and policies and vice versa Keywords: Industrialised Building System (IBS), Modern Method of Construction (MMC), United Kingdom, Malaysia, Benchmarking 1

2 1.0 INTRODUCTION Camp (1989) defined benchmarking as a search of the best practices for superior performance. Benchmarking in the context of comparison between two countries is an instrument for increasing national performance through better policy design and implementation practices. Benchmarking provides an opportunity for learning and stimulates the application of new solutions and practices. The idea of benchmarking and comparison with other countries to guide IBS implementation in Malaysia has been highlighted in the literatures (Peng et al, 2003; Hussein, 2007; Hamid et al, 2008; Kamar et al, 2009). Thus, this paper discusses the experience of Malaysia and UK in the adoption of Industrialised Building System (IBS) construction. The paper discusses the terms, historical background, drivers and government s initiatives to promote IBS in both countries. IBS s perspective in UK and Malaysian construction industry will provide some ground for benchmarking and technology transfer exercise in the future. This paper is part of on-going PhD research in University of Salford to benchmark best practices in IBS. 2.0 EXPERIENCES IN UNITED KINGDOM 2.1 Definition Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) is a term recently adopted by Housing Corporation and Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). MMC is defined as those technologies which provide an efficient process to provide more products for better quality in less time. It has also been defined in various ways such as prefabrication, offsite, Offsite Production (OSP) and Offsite Manufacturing (OSM) (BURA, 2005). 2.2 Historical Background on MMC Implementation Serious attempts at a manufacturing approach for housing can be traced back a long way. In the UK, the brick has been a highly successful standardised component started in the 18PthP century s Georgian architecture (The Housing Forum, 2002). Approximate a century later, over prefabricated housing units were built after the war (ibid). Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, the UK government s slum clearance programme reignited a requirement to build houses quickly and pre-cast concrete systems found favor for medium and high-rise applications. However, poor detailing and workmanship has let down many of these systems in the UK (ibid). In the 90s, notable UK government sponsored reports had been explicit in asserting a need for significant change within the UK construction industry. Sir Michael Latham s report had identified a necessity to overcome the industry s adversarial and fragmented nature through enhanced supplychain partnering and collaboration (Latham, 1994). Sir John Egan s report had similarly highlighted concern about the industry s apparent under-achievement, low profitability and underinvestment in capital, research and training (Egan, 1998). Both reports emphasized the advantages of standardisation and preassembly and stressed the importance of re-engineering and modular industrialised systems in housing. In the 2

3 impetus driven by Egan and Latham, Constructing Excellence and Housing Forum was established to promote the Modern Method of Construction (MMC) in UK. The government s own urban regeneration and social housing companies, the Housing Corporation and English Partnership has been using MMC to build public housing projects since The Drivers to MMC Adoption In the UK, the trend rate of real house price growth over the last 30 years has been 2.4 per cent, considerably higher than the European average of 1.1 per cent (Barker, 2004). The number of households is predicted to rise by 3 million by 2016, on average 230,000 per year and this has lead to acute need for affordable housing (Barker, 2004; The Housing Forum, 2002; Pan et al. 2008). In the year 2002, however, the number of new houses completed that year was only in the region of 145,000, which is far from the predicted target (Barker, 2004). A weak supply of housing would contribute to macroeconomic instability and hinders labour market flexibility, constraining economic growth (ibid). Barker s Report had indicated the slight concern that the current housebuilders with traditional build method would be unable to cope with this demand (ibid). It was suggested then, the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to be used by the housebuilders in order to address the under supply and poor build quality of housing. In addition to that, several government-backed reports (including NAO, BURA, Egan and Latham) had suggested that Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) could be part of the solution for addressing the under supply of housing and wide concerns over the need to improve the overall performance in construction (Egan, 1998; Latham, 1994; Barker, 2004 and Vanebles et al, 2004). The National House Building Council (NHBC) estimated that about 10% of new homes in the UK are built using timber frames, and 5% using other MMC, equivalent to about 25,000 MMC homes in 2003 (POSTNOTE, 2003). However, recent figures published by Buildoffsite showed that the current level of usage of MMC in housebuilding is low. The use of offsite-mmc was found to be around 2.1% of all construction or 3.6% of all new build (Pan et al, 2005). 2.4 The Government Initiatives to Promote MMC The following are the key events of Modern Method of Construction (MMC) initiatives taken by UK government: Constructing Excellence was established under Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in respond to Sir Michael Latham and Sir John Egan's reports. TConstructing ExcellenceT is a cross-sector, cross-supply chain and organisation charged with driving the change agenda in construction including the promotion of MMC trough R&D, benchmarking, workshop series and networking. Housing Forum has been established as the only housing organisation which provides a network across all housing construction sectors: public, private and social and through their supply chains. The Housing Forum works closely with Department of Trade (DTI), Housing 3

4 Corporation, the House Builders Federation and CITB Construction Skills and others as well as its industry partners and sponsors to encourage MMC adoption Buildoffsite is a group that includes leading clients, designers, constructors, manufacturers and others was established in Buildoffsite is exclusively and uniquely focused on off-site construction solutions facilitation and supporting the government in implementation process (Buildoffsite, 2008). The Buildoffsite engages a two-way communication to promote offsite and MMC through stakeholder s events, workshops, technology showcase and awareness. The Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has gathered information from 50 leading experts from sector practitioners and published a National Audit Office (NAO) report on MMC in This report is an independent examination to identify how to get the best value when using MMC-offsite (NAO, 2005). Barker 33 cross-industry group was established in 2006 to examine the barriers to greater use of MMC in the provision of new housing and the mechanism to overcome them (Barker, 2006) MMC is fully utilised in the public sector by ODPM s Housing Corporation (Social House Regulator for England & Wales) and English Partnership (Urban Regeneration). Large-scale development schemes such as the Thames Gateway and the seven Millennium Communities initiatives run by English Partnerships are allowing housing associations to use MMC to promote efficiency in construction (NAO, 2005). In 2004, The Housing Corporation has stated that 25% of all new grant-aided construction by housing associations should be by MMC (5000 homes per year which is equivalent to 3% of total new UK housing) The government and industry sponsored, Rethinking Construction programme has encourage the use of MMC through promoting best practice and providing information. Government research initiative such as the 1.5 million Department of Trade Industry (DTI) funded PROSPA (Promoting Off-site Production Applications) programme has been aimed to investigate the views of the UK industry on offsite MMC. Loughborough University had developed IMMPREST software as an interactive tool to help measure and evaluate the benefits of using standardised components within construction The planning system has an important indirect influence on the MMC market because of its role in determining the supply of land for house building. The government planning policy is laid down in Planning Policy Guidance (PPG), one of which (PPG3) is about housing. PPG3 covers issues such as housing density. Nevertheless, the use of MMC is not currently mentioned and planning guidance would not generally cover such details about construction type (POSTNOTE, 2003) In addition, the UK building regulations do not specify building materials or construction method, but instead set minimum performance standards. Proposed 4

5 changes to the building regulations covering energy efficiency, broadband access and structural integrity are forthcoming. It is important to note that, both planning and regulation policies adopted and planned in UK may make it cheaper and easier for MMC to meet the regulations compared with traditional construction (POSTNOTE, 2003). 3.0 EXPERIENCES IN MALAYSIA 3.1 Definition In Malaysia, the term Industrialised Building System (IBS) is widely used by the government and practitioners. IBS is a construction technique in which components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works (CIDB, 2003). The term also covered the concept of Modular Coordination (MC) and Open Building System (OBS) (CIDB, 2003). 3.2 Historical Background on IBS Implementation IBS has been introduced in Malaysia since the 60 s by the use of pre-cast concrete beamcolumn element and panelised system (CIDB, 2003) (Thanoon, 2003). The projects in Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur and Rifle Range, Penang had used Danish System and French Estoit System respectively. However due to some criteria that were not suitable for local cultural habits, the technology did not take off as planned. The recent influx of foreign workers in the 90 s, however, has reignited the interest on IBS. IBS research and promotion was pioneered by Housing Research Centre (HRC), Universiti Putra Malaysia. HRC had organised a series of national and international colloquiums and seminars on IBS. In 2001, their research on Interlocking load bearing hollow-block building namely the Putra Block has won the prestigious Geneva Gold Medal award for innovation. HRC were also engaged with the National Affordable Housing research program with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in In 1999, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia formed the IBS Steering Committee in the effort to bring to the fore all the IBS related issues in a framework and IBS Strategic Plan 1999 were published. In 2003, the government, through CIDB published parliament endorsed roadmap to guide the practitioners and decision makers in adopting IBS in Malaysia. Known as the Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) Roadmap , the master plan is based on the 5-M Strategy (Manpower, Materials-Components- Machines, Management-Processes-Methods, Monetary and Marketing) with the target of having an industrialised construction industry and introduce open building concept by the year 2010 (CIDB, 2003). The initiative of roadmap implementation is currently lead by two working groups; IBS Steering Committee and IBS Technical Committee. CIDB s IBS Center has taking a role of secretariat to monitor all the activities. 3.3 The Drivers to IBS Adoption 5

6 In Malaysia, the influx of foreign workers is a big issue for the construction industry. Malaysia has attracted a huge number of foreign workers into the country to take up employment on site as unskilled labour doing manual jobs. Total foreign workers rose from 4% of total employment in year 1990 to about 10.7% in 1997 and 9% in year As at July 2004, there are about 1.3 million registered foreign workers, constituting 12% of total employment in the country (Hamid et al. 2008). According to Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, 69% (552,000) out of total 800,000 of registered workers as at June 2007 is foreign workers (ibid). Foreign workers are usually unskilled when they first arrived in Malaysia and this impacted the productivity and the quality of the construction industry. The social problems associated with foreign workers, further aggravates the situation (ibid). The local workforce and new graduates were reluctant to join the industry due to the 3-D syndrome (dirty, difficult, and dangerous) which has been long associated with the industry (ibid). The availability of manual labours especially the abundant and cheap workers coming from neighbouring countries has sustained this type of practice and making IBS very unpopular. CIDB s report stated that only 15 % of construction projects used IBS in Malaysia in the year 2003 (CIDB, 2003b) and only 10% of the complete projects used IBS in the year 2006 (Hamid et al, 2008). In addition, less than one - third of total construction projects (using at least one IBS product) in year 2006 had been reported in IBS Mid Term Review (ibid) as compared to forecasting IBS project of 50 % in 2006 and 70% in year 2008 as projected by the IBS Roadmap (CIDB, 2003). In a survey in 2005, the majority of the architects claimed to have relatively poor knowledge in IBS (66%). 3.4 The Government Initiatives to Promote IBS The following is the key events of IBS promotion and initiatives taken by the government: Through the 2005 Budget announcement back in September 2004, the government had pledged to construct 100,000 units of affordable houses using IBS. In addition, all new government building projects were required to have at least 50% IBS content which had been calculated through the IBS Score Manual developed by CIDB (CIDB, 2007) The Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP ) had been published in December 2006 as means to chart the future direction of the Malaysian construction industry. The effort to promote IBS is highlighted under Strategic Thrust 5: Innovate through R&D to adopt a new construction method (CIDB, 2007b) Beginning from 2007 onwards, new incentives for IBS adopter has been introduced. The exemption of the levy (CIDB levy % of total cost of the project according to Article 520) on contractors that used some kind of IBS in 50% of the building components has been commenced since 1st January 2007 (Hamid et al, 2008). 6

7 In early 2007, IBS Centre had been established in Cheras to promote IBS in Malaysia and also to play the role of consultant. The centre is equipped with IBS showhouse and Research and Development (R&D) capacity. Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM) was initiated to manage IBS research. The new circular of Surat Pekeliling Perbendaharaan Bil. 7 Tahun 2008 dated on October 2008 had emphasized on the full utilization of IBS for government s projects in Malaysia. Among the pressing matters raised in the circular were the use of IBS component in government projects must not be less than 70% and the inclusion of IBS component as part of contract documents for all building works. As in February 2009, T320 government projects worth RM 9.43 billion had been carried out using the IBS technology (Bernama, 2009)T The government would establish a new policy to reduce 50% of current 320,000 foreign workers registered with the sectors. CIDB had allocated RM 100 million to train skilled workers among locals on IBS and other methods (Bernama, 2009) 4.0 LESSON LEARNED SO FAR 1. The move towards industrialisation of construction industry is a global phenomenon and not a local or isolated initiative. The perspective in UK and Malaysian construction industry will provide some ground for benchmarking and technology transfer exercise in the future. Malaysia can learn much from UK s experience in term of promotion and initiatives and vice versa 2. The introduction of Modern Method of Construction (MMC) and offsite in UK is a response to a shortage demand of housing and to improve overall construction performance. In Malaysia, IBS has been introduced to cope with influx of foreign labour and to improve the image of the industry which firmly associated with 3D syndrome (Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult). In comparison, the adoption of IBS in Malaysia is better structured and centralised with the establishment of IBS Roadmap A lukewarm response from the private sector in Malaysia, however, has forced CIDB to evaluate the accuracy of the problem statements, assumptions and the timeline of the roadmap 3. The role of the government funded project is vital to kick-start IBS adoption. The implementation of MMC in Housing Corporation and English Partnership s projects has created a spill-out effect to the industry. In Malaysia, the government has emphasised on the utilization of IBS component in its government projects. This will spur more investment on component s manufacturing and create opportunities for small and medium sized contractors to be IBS installer 7

8 4. There is a consensus of opinion that, the promotion of MMC in UK is based on the needs for a quality and affordable housing. MMC is not highlighted in national policy but it is just as a tool to achieve a vision in affordable housing. Regardless of the method, the main objective of the government initiatives is to promote best practice in construction. This will incorporate both modern and traditional method of construction. Promoting MMC in combination with traditional approaches will help ensure widespread utilisation. IBS and MMC should not be seen as a threat to traditional methods. Both methods should be able to work in tandem and improve their processes collectively. The sharing of best practice between the two approaches is essential for the continued successful development of both construction sectors 5. In Malaysia, however, IBS has been portrayed by the government as a silver bullet for all problems in construction. CIDB s levy exemption was introduced as an incentive to IBS adopter but not to the best practice contractor. While the readiness level of the industry is questionable, the construction industry is forced on make or break decision to adopt IBS. IBS should not be seen as an alternative method but rather as a good mainstream solution, where the contractors have the ability to choose the best option between IBS and traditional or hybrid that suits the unique characteristics of every projects 6. The failure of IBS to penetrate the market is due to a misconception that it will eventually replace the traditional sector, while it actually should work closely in tandem to promote best practice in construction. IBS requires fresh thinking and blue ocean strategy to capture new demand, create new market space and offer customers a leap in value. The blue ocean is an analogy to describe the wider, deeper potential of market space that is not yet explored. 7. Benchmarking the best practice program for MMC and offsite project in UK is worked well under offsite registration scheme. The scheme has been set up by Buildoffsite, the body that campaigns for the greater uptake of offsite HTbuilding solutionsth, in association with Lloyd's Register to standardise and ensure best practice across all aspects of the offsite process, from the submission of tenders through the awarding of contracts to the specification, design, manufacture, construction, handover and even the ongoing maintenance of a completed building. By choosing a supplier registered under the scheme, client organisations can be confident of the assured levels of competence, methodology and safe working from companies that have standardised the best practice for the delivery of their products and services. The approach focuses on the way the products and services are delivered rather than laying down standards for the products and services themselves. This provides the flexibility to cover a wide range of different approaches whilst still setting a benchmark for best practice. 8. As compared to the UK, Malaysia needs to formulate better platform to encourage private sector s participation on IBS promotion. Buildoffsite and Housing Forum are 8

9 well supported cross-industry bodies in the UK, where the captains of the industry have played prominent roles to promote IBS. Both bodies are promoting IBS in twoway communication to facilitate the adoption. Although, CIDB and IBS Center have been established to play the promoter s role for IBS in Malaysia, they have been seen by practitioners as authority bodies to implement government s policies rather than a facilitator. Perhaps, the IBS Center should be privatised in the future to solve the problem. For instant, the delay of Modular Coordination (MC) from the inclusion in UBBL (Uniform Building by Law) is possibly due to the misconception and failure for the promoting body to understand in depth each and every problem faced by practitioners and local authorities. The practitioners and the approving bodies both agrees that they are still not ready for MC while CIDB has work for MC inclusion in UBBL for a long time. So, the two-way communication is imperative 9. The public housing scheme in UK (Housing Corporation) is under the same ministry department with the promoter (The Constructing Excellence and Housing Forum), thus giving them the opportunity to promote and implement IBS at same time. However, in Malaysia, both effort in promoting and implementing (in the form of local housing project) are under two different ministerial administrations. It resulting a difficulties in coordinating efforts especially in implementing IBS Roadmap s recommendations. The government has been seen by the practitioners, failed to implement what they preach when the majority of public housing projects in Malaysia were still using the conventional method 5.0 CONCLUSION Although the different terms are used in both countries, the fundamental idea is to move some construction effort away from on-site to the manufacturing floor. The benefits of IBS are numerous and far reaching. Reduced construction time, better site management, reduced wastage are but a few of these benefits which will ultimately produce better products for the customer. In general, both governments are very supportive to the idea of Industrialised Building System (IBS). Modern Method of Construction (MMC) in UK has been introduced to cope with the issues of affordable housing and in Malaysia IBS is critical to deal with influx of foreign workers in the industry. This paper discussed initiatives to promote a greater use of IBS in Malaysia and UK construction industry. This paper recommended more kick start project to be launch that will provide a spill out effect to the industry. The new policy to use of IBS component in government projects must not be less than 70% is very interesting to watch according to local and international observers. If the implementation is successful, it will re-launch the full adoption of IBS in this country but if the result is otherwise, it will be devastating to manufacturers and installers. The implementation could be difficult in some ways and some project can be in delay and fail if they are not incorporate with IBS principal. Shifting to IBS seems to be an uphill task since the construction stakeholders in the country have been exposed and trained in conventional building system for decades. As such, many factors and variables 9

10 should be taken on board; practitioner s readiness, manufacture continuity, escalation of material prices and current economic condition. The quality and performance of projects under the government s supervision should not affect in negative way by the introduction of IBS. Most important, we should avoid another Gong Badak s stadium disaster, this time due to readiness and lack of trained professional in IBS. On the other hand, the promotion of IBS should be in tandem and complement with traditional method. IBS should be promoted in Blue Ocean and not become threat to traditional build. CIDB and IBS Center should find way to encourage more private sectors participation in IBS promotion activities. The Buildoffsite s promotion and Lloyd Registration Scheme in UK can be a good example to follow. The IBS Roadmap spanned eight years from 2003 until 2010 and Malaysia is now at the brink of the final years of its implementation. Although the administration infrastructures are well in place, the market has yet to embrace the technology as seen by the lukewarm response on the ground. Perhaps, Malaysia has to look and learn from other countries to be successful. This paper has provided some perspectives on IBS in both UK and Malaysia, and provided some ground for future benchmarking and technology transfer exercise. 6.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM) for sponsoring this research project. The research is a part of R&D collaboration between CIDB, University of Salford and University Teknologi MARA. The researchers under IBS Research Theme in University of Salford are Kamarul Anuar Mohamad Kamar (CIDB), Mohd Rofdzi Abdullah (Universiti Teknologi MARA), Mohd Nasrun Mohd. Nawi (Universiti Utara Malaysia) and Ahmad Tarmizi Haron (Universiti Malaysia Pahang). 7.0 REFERENCES Baker, K. (2004) Review of Housing Supply: Delivering Stability: Securing our Future Housing Needs HMSO, London Barker 33 Group (2006) Modern Method of Construction Barker 33 Cross Industry Group, London 6 April 2006 Bernama (2009) Shift to IBS Technology, Abdullah Urges Contractors, 19 March 2009, Agency Berita Nasional (BERNAMA) Buildoffsite (2008) Buildoffsite Yearbook 2008, Buildoffsite, London 10

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