Manuscript Not Copyedited

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction.
Submitted September 24, 2012; accepted March 29, 2013;

posted ahead of print May 4, 2013. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)LA.1943-4170.0000121
In Seek of Sustainability; Constructability Application and Contract
Management in Malaysian Industrialized Building Systems
Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Istanbul Universitesi on 08/20/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
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Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University Of Auckland, 20 Symonds
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Street, Auckland 1142, New Zealand, E-mail: mjel010@aucklanduni.ac.nz
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Mohd Saleh Jaafar
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Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM-
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Serdang, Malaysia, E-mail: msj@eng.upm.edu.my
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Tak Wing Yiu

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Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University Of Auckland,

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20 Symonds Street, Auckland 1142, New Zealand, E-mail: k.yiu@auckland.ac.nz

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Abstract
Modularization and industrialization has been regarded as parts of an answer to a sustainable development
solution. As part of the overall industry goal of moving towards sustainability which has been emphasized
in the construction industry master plan of Malaysia, prefabrication and IBS are promoted however the
move towards IBS construction requires tools to make it more feasible. In addition there are many cases of
incomplete or failed IBS construction projects due to lack of technical expertise and knowledge.
Constructability is a concept with the goal of incorporating knowledge in to the construction procedure
Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers
Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction. Submitted September 24, 2012; accepted March 29, 2013;
which can make the IBS construction endeavor less problematic, more feasible, and easier to promote
within the Malaysian construction industry. On the other hand constructability being all about collaboration
communication and appropriate exchange of knowledge can provide a pre-emptive conflict management
approach by improving the flow of correct, sufficient and more transparent information and design
specifications which could cause potential conflict and dispute. Thus construction practitioners
involvement and constructability application needs to be clearly investigated in different project phases. A
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questionnaire is designed to assess the application of constructability concepts in order to find out each the
constructability input of each phase to the IBS projects and furthermore evaluating different partys level of
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application for different constructability concepts. The findings of this research indicate that
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constructability awareness and to some extent application is low amongst IBS project participants. Though
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there is not much classified information of constructability within the Malaysian IBS industry, significant
numbers of IBS practitioners are applying the concepts discretely. There is lack of collaboration and a great
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deal of mistiming involved in the application of constructability contracting approaches and strategies in
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addition legal boundaries need to change in order to solve these issues, and move towards greater
sustainability of the built environment.

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Keywords: Sustainability; Constructability; Industrialized Building systems (IBS); Contract
Management, Conflict Management,

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Introduction
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Sustainable resources, technologies, manufacturing and buildings are the hot topic of
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debate and research. Why is sustainability so important? And why is there an urge to
achieve maximum sustainable practices in the construction sector? In fact there is an
ongoing struggle of unsustainable development among the nations around the world
(UNFPA, 2001). Throughout the world and amongst different construction cultures it is
observed that the process of construction, operation, and maintenance of traditional
buildings is responsible for the consumption of a significant percentage of the worlds

resources and accountable for generating large percentages of solid waste. Thus a
sustainability movement has been prompted within the construction sector (Nelms, et al.
2007). The dominant definition for sustainability in construction is the creation and
operation of a healthy built environment based on ecological principles and resource
efficiency(Kibert, 1994). However sustainability in the built environment which is

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regarded as the product of the construction industry and corresponds to both the human
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and non-human inhabitants of the world extensively incorporates issues such as;
extraction of materials, manufacturing of products, assembly of products into buildings,
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maintenance and replacement of systems, the ultimate disposition of waste, building
systems and the building structure (Blismas, et al. 2005).

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Different sustainable methods and technologies have been proposed including green
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construction and also prefabrication which plays a significant role in making construction
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activity more sustainable (CII, 1986). The process of prefabrication is facilitated via
manufacturing and industrialization which has proved beneficial to most industries.
Industrialized building systems (IBS) are systems in which structural components are
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prefabricated or manufactured in a factory on or off worksite, then transported and
assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works (CIDB, 2001). IBS is the
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dominant conceptualization and terminology used for prefabricated construction in
Malaysia. Prefabrication, IBS and their design procedure are considered as an
opportunity to introduce sustainable features to the construction process and enhance
construction sustainability. The need for well managed safer, even perhaps better value
for money sustainable constructions and built environment has inspired the building
sector to take on the challenge of prefabrication, accordingly the Malaysian government

is regulating policies towards the improvement and promotion of infrastructure needed
for IBS construction in Malaysia (CIDB, 2001). Despite the realized benefits of IBS its
actual application in Malaysia is not thought to be significant due to many reasons. The
implementation and application of IBS needs to be boosted to move towards a more
sustainable construction environment. Constructability as a conceptual program may able

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to provide this boost in IBS application in Malaysia. Constructability was defined and
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introduce by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) with the simple goal of
incorporating technical knowledge in projects to make the construction process more
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feasible and constructible. The major problems with IBS implementation is thought to be
lack of communication and appropriate knowledge flow making these projects less
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constructible, thus incorporation and application of constructability concepts and
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programs with the goal of providing technical, operational, contractual, or administrative
guidance for subsequent projects (Reuss & Tatum, 1993), may be influential in increasing
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efficient IBS culture.

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Why is IBS construction sustainable?

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Prefabrication and Industrialization in the construction industry can promise a faster,
cleaner and tidier construction process, reducing the amount of waste and site labor by
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shifting the work off site (Shaari, 2003). This shift of work to a more controlled and less
exposed environment allows for the jobs to be carried out by specialized trained workers
and technicians with a higher level of supervision. Consequently prefabrication and the
industrialization procedures go through regular inspections which will improve the
quality of construction components. Prefabrication and industrialization normally entails
a lot of consideration and planning for their assembly and competent placing, this boosts

the performance and provides a more economic use of resources compared to traditional
cast on site constructions (Retik & Warszawski, 1994).
IBS construction has led to many advances in the construction industry worldwide.
Abd.Rahman and Omar (2006) stated that reduction in variability; increase in ease of
manufacturing and at the same time a decrease in the cost of manufacturing, production
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and erection is obtained through the major standardization of construction elements in the
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process of IBS construction. This standardization will also contribute to the ultimate
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quality of work and reduction of waste material. For instance methods such as
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Volumetric IBS which is now being widely used especially for highway hotels and fast
food chains can substantially decrease the completion time and make assembly easier. In
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the United Kingdom McDonolds restaurant UK Ltd has adopted the volumetric
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construction method decreasing construction time from 115 days to only 15 days,
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reaching a record construction time from ground breaking to completion of only 48
hours (Ogden, 2005). Another prefabricated system is Advanced Construction
Technology (ACOTEC), which is a wall system designed and developed in Finland for
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the first time. The principal benefits of ACOTEC are regarded to be speed of
construction, time efficiency, low wastage of material, minimal wet work, and also the
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high quality of the final product. ACOTEC wall panels are currently manufactured and
utilized in construction projects of Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand
and Indonesia (Hui & Or, 2005).
Perhaps the most important feature contributing to sustainability is the fact that IBS
construction can reduce or even eliminate a large portion of construction waste (Jaillon,
et al. 2009). However features such as production in a controlled environment, reducing

onsite work, time decrease, cost reduction; increase in quality and improved health and
safety standers which are embedded in IBS construction can assist sustainability and the
development of a more sustainable built environment (Blismas, et al. 2005; Pasquire &
Gibb, 2002). Simplification, standardization, frequent inspection as part of the IBS
culture can also contribute to the promotion and utilization of sustainability notions
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within the construction industry.
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IBS construction in Malaysia
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Although IBS is a major revolution in the construction industry which enabled
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incorporation of more sustainable features for the construction industry Hamid, et al.
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(2008) have reported that the 15% level of IBS usage within the Malaysian construction
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industry has even decreased to only 10 % in 2006. This could be due to the traditional
mindset of the Malaysian construction sector. Obviously the designers may not be very
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comfortable with the application of this system and may feel that the use of prefabricated
elements would bring limitations to their initial design. However unclear initiative for
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future sustainable construction, lack of awareness towards the potential benefits of IBS,
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unclear responsibilities in IBS and sustainability implementation, lack of research in
decision making tools and developments in the IBS supply chain could all be some of the
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reasons for the low usage of IBS in Malaysia.
One of the main reasons for this low application is the lack of knowledge and
appreciation of IBS and its advantages among the industry layers, according to
Warszawski (1999) there is not enough education and training on the issue for the
industry participants and engineers. The Malaysian construction sector is also suffering
from the same problem, there are many cases of incomplete IBS construction projects due

to lack of necessary technical expertise and knowledge in Malaysia. The difficulties of
IBS implementation in Malaysia could be associated with misperceptions, lack of
facilities, and insufficient knowledge and expertise of the parties involved. As
Abd.Rahman & Omar (2006) state, IBS construction is often seen as a prefabricated mass
construction method resembling low quality, leakage, abandoned projects, unpleasant

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architectural appearance, and many other setbacks common in the 1960s. This made a
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bad impression on the public and owners of construction projects. Some examples of
these improper endeavors are the Pekeliling Flats in Kuala Lumpur, Taman Tun Sardon,
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Geluger, and Penang. Because of the relatively costly and complicated procedure of
implementing IBS manufacturing plants and facilities it requires a certain financial and
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proficiency capacity. This resulted in the lack of involvement of small contractors in the
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Malaysian IBS projects. These small contractors who account for a large portion of
industry practitioners were mostly familiar and comfortable with conventional methods
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of construction (Abd.Rahman & Omar, 2006). The work force of the Malaysian
construction industry is largely comprised of foreign unspecialized workers which were

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in fact 69% of the registered work force in 2007 (CIDB, 2008). The employment of these
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cheap workers without the appropriate skills required for IBS construction could be
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regarded as another problem in the way of industrialization.
The Malaysian local government and housing ministry saw IBS as an answer to the
housing shortage problem due to the speed, quality, and economic advantage of this
method of construction. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia strongly supports labor reducing systems in order to reduce the construction
industries dependency to the foreign labor, which will stop the out flow of Ringgit and

also reduce their negative social and cultural impacts (Shaari, 2003). The IBS roadmap
has been formulated by the Malaysian government and CIDB with the vision of having
an industrialized construction environment.
The concept of constructability

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In late 1970s articles and papers were published on the importance of introducing
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construction experience and knowledge into the design phase which is the basic
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foundation of constructability. This stimulated the establishment of the Construction
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Industry Institute (CII) in 1983, with a mission to improve the cost effectiveness, total
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quality management and international competitiveness of the construction industry
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(Griffith, et al. 1995). In order to achieve the aforementioned goal the concept of
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constructability was defined by the CII as the optimum use of construction knowledge
and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operations to achieve overall
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project objectives (CII, 1986). This concept basically intended to provide a base for
easier implementation and delivery of construction projects, the concept was also known
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as buildability in some texts (Adams, 1989). A series of investigations by Tatum et al.

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(1986) OConner et al. (1986) and OConner and Davis (1988) was implemented to look
into different phases of the project delivery process (conceptual planning phase, design
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phase and field operation phase) for constructability and its surrounding issues during
each phase. The CII integrated the above studies and produced the constructability
concept files with fourteen concepts corresponding to each phase of the project delivery
process (CII, 1987). In 1993 CII added three more concepts to the previous concept file.
A total number of seventeen concepts were established that encompasses eight concepts

for the conceptual planning phase, eight for design and procurement phase and one
concept for field operation phase (Fischer & Tatum, 1997).
The integration of construction experience and knowledge gained from previous projects
into the construction process to achieve maximum efficiency is constructabilitys prime

goal. Therefore injecting constructability input to design is simply for making the
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appropriate decisions the first time about any design or construction related issues.
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Pulaski and Horman (2005) have mentioned this will lead to effective utilization of
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constructability knowledge to achieve efficiency. The constructability concept file
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developed for different construction phases can be an indication for making better
decision although it is not a roadmap. However in order to make the best decision in the
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best time collaboration is needed, roles and responsibilities need to be defined and
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considered among different contractual parties. Designers and engineers are perceived to
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be influential participants in implementing constructability since they are involved at
very early stages of the project. In fact Fischer and Tatum (1997) believe that the
designers are the most important users of constructability knowledge. The designers are
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normally more knowledgeable than the owners, meaning they can influence the
constructability implementation programs and persuade the owners to make

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constructability part of the project delivery process, they understand the benefits of
constructability better (Nima, Abdul-Kadir, & Jaafar, 1999). The contractors are the
dominant authority on the building site and construction phase. They have a lot of power
and influence in taking measures, choosing the building systems and major construction
methods. This means that contractors have the power to positively or negatively affect the
constructability of projects.

Potentials of constructability and contract management for IBS in Malaysia
As part of the overall industry goal of moving towards sustainability which has been
emphasized in the construction industry master plan (CIDB, 2006), prefabrication and
IBS is promoted however the move towards IBS construction requires tools to make it
more feasible. One of these tools can be incorporating and utilizing the developed
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constructability concept files in the project delivery process. If IBS constructability is
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enhanced, then utilization of these systems will increase in favor of industrys
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sustainability perspective. In order to enhance sustainability through prefabrication and
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IBS, paying attention to constructability issues regarding these methods appears to be
crucial.
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Lack of knowledge and understanding of the benefits of IBS is a major prohibiting factor
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in the application of IBS in Malaysian construction. This lack of knowledge may lead to
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all sorts of problems form technical difficulties in the construction process to lack of
awareness of the potential benefits of IBS. Constructability aims to inject knowledge in to

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the construction procedure making the construction endeavor more feasible, perhaps
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constructability inputs can effectively reduce some of the aforementioned problems of
IBS construction in Malaysia. Including constructability concepts are likely to reduce

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failed IBS projects resulting in improved outcomes and more publicity for IBS
construction. Developers are not utilizing IBS due to the presence of cheap foreign work
force this dependency on foreign labor is not sustainable and not in line with the future
development of Malaysia (IBS digest, 2005). Employing constructability concepts, and
subsequently better IBS practices may boost the awareness of potential IBS practitioners
especially developers, contractors and engineers. They may realize that the utilization of

cheap foreign labor will not always result in more efficient and sustainable outcomes.
Figure 1 shows the potential of constructability in success of IBS construction and
ultimately sustainability.
On the other hand constructability can provide a pre-emptive conflict management

approach for all sorts of construction projects. Some of the common causes of conflicts
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and disputes in construction projects are lack of transparency in the design process,
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insufficient design information or in some cases misleading information in the design
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documents. Constructability is about appropriate knowledge flow and communication at
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the right time, in fact Reuss and Tatum (1993) believed that constructability knowledge
provides technical, operational, contractual, or administrative guidance for subsequent

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projects, this could contribute to the proactive approach of conflict and dispute
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management. Reactive approaches normally take place after full manifestation of conflict
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or occurrence of a dispute incident requiring great deal of time and resources for placing
a resolution, whereas the proactive approach which may be enhanced by constructability
is always about sharing information collaboration and exchange of knowledge leading to

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ongoing and non-stop management of conflicts. Ultimately incorporating a proactive
method of conflict management and processing through any technique, method or

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concept will set the scene for sustainable procurement of IBS construction projects.
Please insert Figure 1
One of the other important issues is each partys responsibility for implementing the
constructability concept file. Who is responsible for the applying and optimizing each
concept? Which partys should be involved in constructability issues of each phase?
What sort of teams and who should be the team members for implementing

constructability concepts? are some of the questions that need to be answered. On the
other hand Paulson (1976) believes that contractual arrangements should be drawn to
assure that current construction and operations knowledge are injected in the design
process. Generally for better implementation of constructability concept file within IBS
construction there is a need for contract management and team building. Contract
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management as illustrated in Figure 1 can make the incorporation of constructability
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inputs to IBS easier leading to sustainable procurement of IBS projects, and a successful
IBS culture in favor of promoting sustainability. In other words more constructability and
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constructible IBS means a more sustainable built environment, thus there is a need to
investigate the application of constructability concepts in Malaysian Industrialized

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Building Systems in seek of sustainability in construction.
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Current research
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Research performed in Malaysia illustrates that the Malaysian industry has yet to realize
the full benefits of constructability implementation due to lack of classified knowledge

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and constructability information regarding construction methods, elements and building

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systems. A survey conducted in Malaysia shows there is a feeling between Malaysian
engineers that constructability is beneficial but they do not really generalize the concepts
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under the umbrella of constructability (Nima, 2001). On the other hand constructability
implementation as discussed could be beneficial for better IBS delivery and sustainable
construction culture in Malaysia. Therefore the importance constructability research is
clear nevertheless practical and effective constructability implementation is largely
dependent on collaboration of parties at the right time. This highlights the importance of
contracting approach and perhaps contract management strategies in achieving the best

constructability inputs. Consequently assessing roles, responsibilities and contribution of
different parties to constructability application and also their timing as part of contracting
strategies and management program can be vital for the success of IBS construction and
sustainability initiative of the construction industry.

In this research the current application of constructability concepts and features are
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assessed. Basically the research intends to investigate the application status of the IBS
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practitioner in comparison to each other and perhaps indicate which parties are more
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involved in constructability implementation during different construction phases.
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Moreover the constructability application in different construction phases will also be
investigated in order to assess constructability inputs for each phase of IBS projects. The
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primary goal of this research is to assess the status quo of constructability implementation
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in IBS projects. The findings of this research optimistically could be a step towards
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identifying the current IBS construction problems and possibly impracticalities regarding
current constructability implementation may be identified, then contract management
strategies may be applied to cover the weaknesses and strive towards prosperous IBS
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construction and ultimately sustainability in Malaysian construction. In this research the
constructability concepts file developed by Nima et al (2001) for Malaysia is used. The
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concepts file comprises of 23 concepts for three main phases of construction (Appendix).
Methodology
A questionnaire was developed and sent based on the constructability concept file
developed by Nima (2001). The questionnaire consists of two sections; section A is
concerned with demographic information and requests the general respondent

information. A question is included in this section to assess the awareness of respondents
on the issue of constructability and its definition. In section B a question is asked about
the application of the 23 constructability concepts for Malaysia, the question aims to
understand if IBS industry participants in Malaysia are actually applying these concepts
or not. All respondents were chosen from the Malaysian IBS practitioners. The best
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source of gathering the data and information is the Construction Industry Development
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Board (CIDB) of Malaysia, in fact the CIDB has an IBS center which evaluates and
classified IBS industry practitioners and companies. The bulk of data needed for this
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research has been acquired through CIDBs IBS center, comprising of companies which
have achieved approval through IBSC Certification via this organization.

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Three main respondent groups involved in the Malaysian IBS projects (designers,
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contractors and also manufactures or suppliers) were chosen via stratified sampling
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technique. After the identification of the strata, the weight and importance of each
stratum in the population is determined. The sample size (n) is then divided based on the
weight of each stratum, and the members are selected randomly from each stratum to
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form a consistent and representative sample (Fellows & Liu, 1997). In this research the
sample size is calculated using the formula developed by Cochran (Cochran, 1963):
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( )
Formula 1 =
This formula is valid if is the sample size, is the abscissa of the normal curve that
cuts off an area at the tails (1 - equals the desired confidence level, e.g., 95%), is the
desired level of precision, is the estimated proportion of an attribute that is present in
the population, and is 1- . The value used for p is a conservative value of 0.5 since we

had no previous information on the sample characteristics, this will give the maximum
sample size. 95% was chosen for the confidence level which was equivalent to a value
of 1.96, and based on similar research performed in the past an of 10% was used to
calculate the sample size. The sample size calculated for the research was 96 but due to
the low response the sample size also is often increased by 30% to compensate for this
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lack of response and based on this number the questionnaires are sent out.
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Results
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A number of 73 questionnaires out of a total of 81 returned questionnaires were
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ultimately acceptable for the study. Some of the questionnaires were excluded due to
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non-completion or inappropriate answering because the respondents were not senior
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members or well informed and well qualified engineers and some inconsistencies were
noticed in their responses. A low response rate of 27% was obtained from the
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respondents over a period of three month, low response rate are common for mailed
questionnaires. In fact Fellows & Liu (1997) for postal questionnaires a usable response
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rate of 25%-35% is the expected. Vast majority of the respondents work in the private
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sector, around 21.9% of the them were characterized as designers, a majority of 61.6%
were contractors and only 16.5% were manufacturers or suppliers, this was expected
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because the questionnaires were sent based on the population of each group involved in
IBS sector through stratified sampling. Most of the respondents were involved in
traditional design-bid-built and also the design-build contracts, revealing that the
Malaysian construction industry is rather traditional in terms of contract management. A
good diversity of construction project involvement was exhibited in the respondents

denoting that respondents possess a mixture of experiences and knowledge on different
types of construction projects which is important for the goal of this research.
Most of the respondents had over 10 years experience in the industry, 38.3% had more
than 20 years experience, around 28.8% had between 15 to 20 years of experience and
19.2% of the respondents stated they had 10 to 15 years experience in construction. A
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total of 11% of the respondents had 5 to 10 years experience and finally only 2.7% had
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less than 5 years experience. Nevertheless the respondents experience in IBS is
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significantly lower, this lack of experience is due to the fact that it is only 10 years that
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the government has decided to promote IBS seriously. Around 82.2% of the respondents
had not heard the definition of constructability before and only a minority of 17.8% had
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actually heard the definition before, this is not a surprise due to low constructability
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research and education performed in the Malaysia. Previous studies in America Uhlik and
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Lores (1998) showed that 65% of the respondents had heard the term constructability
before which shows that the American construction industry seems to be very well
informed on the issue.

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Comparison of constructability application between the construction phases

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Initially the general application score (AS) for each constructability concept is obtained
from all respondents which are based on how many of the respondents applied each
concept. Since all of the 73 respondents were included in the calculation, AS is within the
range of 0 to 73 for each concept and tabulated in Table 1. Twelve of the respondents
were manufacturers or suppliers; the AS for these respondents is within the range of 0
to12 and included in Table 2. A total of 16 designers took part in the research, which
implies the AS of each concept varies from 0 to 16 demonstrated in Table 3.The AS for

the contractors are calculated and tabulated in Table 4 out of a total of 45. All the tables
are drawn based on the three main construction phases (Conceptual planning phase,
Design and procurement phase, and Field operation phase) in line with the research
objective.
Please insert Table1

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In order to find out in which of the construction phases, the application of constructability
is significantly higher than others first ANOVA statistics is used to establish if there is
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any significant difference in the application scores (AS) of the three phases. The ANOVA
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test is conducted with SPSS software; used for this test is 0.05. If significant is
smaller than =0.05 then it could be concluded that the groups of data are significantly
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different. To determine which of the construction phases have the significant differences
and also to verify the order of constructability application for the different phases the Post
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Hoc comparison based on Tukeys theory is performed by SPSS. The analysis is first
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conducted for the general constructability application scores of all respondents taken part
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in the research illustrated in Table 1 regardless of their construction activities. Then
separate respondent groups of suppliers, designers and contractors are analyzed (Tables
2, 3 and 4).
The significant obtained from ANOVA test performed among all respondents (Table 1)
equals to 0.042 which is smaller than the =0.05 this indicates that there is significant
difference between the phases in terms of constructability application. The Post Hoc test

is applied and as a result the mean difference between the conceptual planning phase and
field operation phase is larger than Tukeys HSD denoting that the total application score
of all respondents in the conceptual planning phase is significantly higher than their
application score in the field operation phase. The ANOVA test performed on Table 2
based on suppliers constructability application scores revealed that the significant

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obtained is 0.071 which is larger than =0.05. This demonstrates no significant difference
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between the constructability application score of construction phases corresponding to the
suppliers. The ANOVA test is again performed this time for the responses attained from
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the designers (Table 3). The test shows that the significant is 0.009 which is smaller
than =0.05 suggesting that there is a significant difference between the constructability
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application scores of construction phases for designers. The Post Hoc test reveals that the
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application score in the conceptual planning phase is significantly higher than the
application score in the field operation phase for designers. The Post Hoc test also shows
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that the designers application score of constructability concepts in the design and
procurement is significantly larger than the field operation phase. In another words the
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IBS designers have a higher application of constructability during the conceptual

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planning and the design phase compared to the field operation phase. The ANOVA test
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is finally performed for the application scores included in Table 4 corresponding to
contractors responses. However the significant achieved from SPSS is 0.110 which is
larger than =0.05 meaning there is no significant difference in the application of
constructability concepts of different construction phases for the contractors.
Comparison of constructability level of application between contracting parties

In this section the results are rearranged based on the level of constructability application
for each respondent. This means that each one of the 73 respondents is given a level of
application (LA) for constructability. The level of application is simply the number of
concepts that each respondent applies based on section B of the questionnaire. The LA
for each respondent during all three phases of the project is a number between 0 and 23
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because there are 23 constructability concepts, as demonstrated in Table 5 for all
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respondent groups (suppliers, designers, contractors).
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Because every phase of the construction process as previously discussed has its own
constructability concepts the LA results for each respondent in the different phases are
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also classified and tabulated in Tables 8, 9 and 10. Consequently a comparison between
the constructability LA of each participating groups in which in this study are designers,
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contractors and suppliers involved in IBS can be made.

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In the previous section the ANOVA statistics were used to compare the constructability
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application scores (AS) of different construction phases among respondents, where the
independent variables were the three construction phases and the dependent variables was
AS obtained based on the frequency of each concepts application among respondents. In
this section once again ANOVA is employed to find any significant differences between
Level of Application (LA) associated with different construction participants. The
respondent groups (designers, contractors and suppliers) are the independent variables

and also the LA obtained for each respondent will be the dependent variable. This
analysis is carried out for the full construction process (including all phases) followed by
a phases by phase analysis as illustrated in tables 5 to 8. The conceptual planning phase
has seven concepts which are the first seven concepts in section B of the questionnaire
answer sheet, therefore the LA calculated for each respondent will range from 0 to 7
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(Table 6). The number of constructability concepts included in the design and
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procurement phase is eight thus the LA for each respondent is ranging from 0 to 8 (Table
7). For the field operation phase 8 concepts are included therefore LA for each
te s
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respondent is within the margin of 0 to 8 (Table 8).
For the whole construction process including all phases (Table 5) ANOVA analysis
ye a
showed a significant of 0.00 which smaller than =0.05, this indicates that there is a
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significant difference among the respondent groups LA score, furthermore the Post Hoc
C ted
test signifies that the mean difference between contractors and designers LA score is
significant and is more than Tukeys HSD value at 0.05 level of significance, indicating
that the contractors in general have a significantly higher LA of constructability concepts

ot p
N ce
during all phases of IBS construction compared to designers but no significant difference
was indicated between the contractors and suppliers LA scores. The LA for each
Ac
respondent in the conceptual planning phase is tabulated in the Table 6, ANOVA test for
this set of data shows significant (0.005) is lower than (0.05) indicating a significant
difference in the LA scores between the three groups of contractor, designer, and supplier
in this phase. The Post Hoc reveals that the level of application of the constructability
concepts related to contractors is significantly larger than the designers in the early phase
of conceptual planning. Based on the data in Table 7 the ANOVA test is performed with

but the significant (0.476) was larger than (0.05), consequently no significant
difference in the level of constructability application between the respondents in the
design and procurement phase is indicated. For Table 8 the significant gained from the
SPSS analysis is 0.00 and is lower than 0.05, suggesting there is a significant difference
between the respondent groups on their LA scores. The Post Hoc test illustrates that
t
ip
contractors have the highest mean and their level of application for constructability
d cr
concepts is significantly higher than the suppliers and designers in the field operation
phase. The Post Hoc test also indicates that the suppliers have a significantly higher level
te s
di nu
of application in this phase compared to the designers.
Discussions of the findings

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The results disclose that there are significant differences for constructability application
in different phases of IBS application. There is also significant differences between the
C ted
level of application of different parties involved in IBS projects, these results need to be
classified in a more comprehendible manner. Thus the results were structured in the form
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of two separate matrixes one for constructability application between the construction
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Phases (Figure 2), and the other for constructability level of application between
contracting parties (Figure 3). In these two matrixes the value 1 represents a significantly
Ac
higher relationship, the value of -1 represents a significantly lower relationship and 0 is
for no significant difference. As it can be seen in Figure 2 among all the respondents
involved there is a significant difference between the constructability application of
conceptual planning phase and the field operation phase, this is represented by the value
1 in the first row and the last column of the matrix, this could be illustrated as , = 1.

Consequently , = 1 means that among designers there is a significant difference
between the constructability application of conceptual planning phase and the field
operation phase. The same applies to Figure 3 and when , = 1 this indicates that the
level of constructability application for designers is significantly lower than the

contractors in the conceptual planning phase. The same notion can be used to interpret all
t
ip
the values of the two matrixes.
d cr
te s
di nu
Constructability in the conceptual planning phase has larger application than the field
operation phase and although it has a higher mean in comparison with the design and
ye a
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procurement phase, there is no significant difference between the phases which are
illustrated by the 0 values in Figure 2. Consequently the construction participants are

C ted
applying early constructability concepts more than the later ones. In general the
contractors application of constructability is higher than designers and suppliers

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especially in the conceptual planning and field operation phases; difference of

N ce
constructability application between contractors and the designers is significant as
illustrated in Figure 3 by the 1 values associated to contractors in correspondence with

Ac
the designers.
The constructability concepts used for this research developed by Nima (2001) are
included in the appendixes; based on these concepts the suppliers are practicing some of
the early stage constructability concepts from the conceptual planning phase; for instance
supplier like any other party involved in construction projects have their own assignment
of project schedule and completion date to track their work progress and also to keep in

the project timeframe which is C5 in the constructability concept file however this does
not necessarily indicate that they are involved in the scheduling of the whole project in
fact there involvement is often very limited. The suppliers also study the site layout C7 in
the constructability concept file because they often are in charge of the delivery of the
IBS components. The contracting process normally is a prohibiting factor for best
t
ip
practice constructability.
d cr
The contractors have the most influence in the construction process and are implementing
te s
most of the constructability concepts regardless of their source phase in the construction
di nu
and field operation process. For instance concepts such as C2, C3, C5, C6, and C7 which
entail issues such as comprehensive team building, involvement of experienced

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knowledgeable personnel, project scheduling, in-depth analysis of major construction
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methods and studying site layout for incorporating efficient construction, operation and
C ted
maintenance. These concepts are being applied after site possession and commencement
of project construction phase in which contractors are more or less involved.

ot p
The analysis demonstrates that designers involvement in the constructability of the field
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operation phase is significantly low and they are mainly applying the concepts of the
Ac
conceptual planning phase and also the design and procurement phase because they are in
charge of the early project development and design but have less authority in the field
operation phase. The designers are very much involved in the standardization, technical
specifications and simplification concepts of constructability because IBS construction is
mostly concerned with these issues, and the designer carries out the design change or
alterations concepts demarked by C10, C11, and C12. The designers are also applying
C3, C5, C6 in the conceptual planning phase which are being separately applied by the

contractors, instead of this separation collaboration needs to be incorporated for applying
these concepts.
Conclusions and recommendations
The IBS contractors in Malaysia are considered to have more experience in the IBS
t
ip
industry than other parties involved. This experience is needed in the early project
planning and because the mass usage of IBS components is a relatively new in Malaysia
d cr
the designers and project owners do not possess much information on the subject. Despite
te s
the fact that constructability teams and meetings are not often conducted in the Malaysian
di nu
construction industry the owners and the designers of IBS are forced to invite some of the
ye a
contractors and experienced personnel in the IBS industry for evaluation and assessment
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meetings, as a result the IBS contractor is involved in early project development concepts
of constructability or constructability meetings. However one of the major prohibiting

C ted
factors of successful constructability application in IBS is the dated and traditional
contracting mindset. Changes in contracting procedures and legal settings of contracts is

ot p
needed and if this is not possible in the near future, contract management techniques have
N ce
to be operated to allow better collaboration and more involvement of different parties in

Ac
the project lifecycle. For instance in traditional procurement and contracting procedures
the contractors involvements in projects are often after the planning and design phase
and after the construction process begins the bond between the contracting party and the
designing party is very weak, in addition there is no legal or binding clause for
teambuilding or collaboration. Future research on the matter can focus on developing
contract management strategies or even changing the legal mindset of contracts in

Malaysia for effective and in time knowledge and experience contributions of contracting
parties.
If there is regular constructability enhancement meetings among all parties and the
content of the constructability concept file is discussed it is anticipated that a lot of

t
unnecessary concerns and conflict causes are resolved before manifestation of conflict
ip
and dispute. Constructability needs to be defined and classified for the parties involved in
d cr
the construction process; and its value as a conflict management strategy should be
te s
highlighted. The constructability concept file could be regarded as a manifest for
di nu
collaboration, knowledge flow and information sharing; insuring all parties are in the
loop and clarity of work is achieved. This clarity and constant cooperation will
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effectively reduce consequences of conflicts and moves towards sustainable procurement.
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Generally for achieving successful IBS construction as part of the overall industry goal of
C ted
sustainability improvement, some restructuring in the contracting procedure plus better
and more effective and efficient application of constructability concepts is needed. The
ot p
findings of this research indicate that constructability awareness and to some extent
N ce
application is low amongst IBS project participants. Nevertheless interestingly enough
although there is not much classified information of constructability within the Malaysian
Ac
IBS industry, significant number of IBS practitioners are applying the concepts
discretely. The problem with this kind of application is that because they are not
classically trained there is lack of collaboration and a great deal of mistiming involved in
the application of constructability. The current status of constructability in Malaysian IBS
shows separate and unlinked application of constructability concepts in each partys
relevant phase of involvement without team building endeavors. In order to move

forward in line with the sustainability goal and achieve more practical, constructible, and
successful IBS projects constructability training and teambuilding with appropriate
contract management strategies should be acknowledged by the Malaysian construction
industry as critical components for best constructability application. Future investigations
on barriers of constructability application in all phases especially in the design and

t
ip
conceptual planning phase which shows most lack of constructability implementation is
d cr
needed. Also enhancement of information flow plus understandable and simple
classification of information can enhance constructability application and more
te s
di nu
sustainable outcomes.
ye a
Reference
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Abd.Rahman, A. B., & Omar, W. (2006). Issues and challenges in the implementation of
Industrialized Building Systems in Malaysia. Paper presented at the The 6th Asia-
C ted
Pacific Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (APSEC 2006).
Adams, S. (1989). Practical Buildability. London Boston Durban Singapore Sydney

ot p
Toranto Wellington: Construction Industry Research Information Association,

N ce
Butterworths.
Ac
Blismas, N. G., Pendlebury, M., Gibb, A., & Pasquire, C. (2005). Constraints to the Use
of Off-site Production on Construction Projects. Architectural Engineering and
Design Management, 1(3), 153-162.
Cochran, W. G. (1963). Sampling techniques (second ed.). New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc.

Construction Industry Development Board. (2006). Construction Industry Master Plan
2006-2015 (CIMP 2006-2015). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: CIDB.
Construction Industry Development Board. (2008). Malaysian Construction Outlook
2008 Presentation by Business Development Division, CIDB.
Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia. (2001). Manual for Assessment of

t
ip
Industrialized Building Systems. Kuala Lumpur: CIDB.
d cr
Construction Industry Institute. (1986). Constructability A Primer. Publication 3-1.
Austin, Texas: CII.
te s
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Construction Industry Institute. (1987). Constructability Concepts File. Publication 3-3.
ye a Austin, Texas: CII.
Fellows, R. F., & Liu, A. M. M. (1997). Research Methods for Construction: Blackwell
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Science Ltd, UK.
Fischer, & Tatum. (1997). Characteristics of Design-Relevant Constructability

C ted
Knowledge. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 123(3), 253-
260.
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Griffith, A., Sidwell, A. C., & Sidwell, T. (1995). Constructability in Building and
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Engineering Projects. London: Macmillan.

Ac
Hamid, Z. A., Kamar, K. A. M., Zain, M., Ghani, K., & Rahim, A. h. A. (2008).
Industrialised Building System (IBS) in Malaysia: The Current State and R&D
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Hui, S. C. M., & Or, G. K. C. (2005). Study of Prefabricated Building Services
Components for Residential Buildings in Hong Kong. Paper presented at the
Hubei-Hong Kong Joint Symposium.

Jaillon, L., Poon, C. S., & Chiang, Y. H. (2009). Quantifying the waste reduction
potential of using prefabrication in building construction in Hong Kong. Waste
Management, 29(1), 309-320.
Kibert, C. J. (1994). Principles of sustainable construction. Paper presented at the The 1st
International Conference on Sustainable Construction.

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ip
Nelms, C. E., Russell, A. D., & Lence, B. J. (2007). Assessing the performance of
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sustainable technologies: a framework and its application. Building Research &
Information, 35(3), 237-251.
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Nima, M. A. (2001). Constructability factors in the Malaysian construction industry.
ye a University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Nima, M. A., Abdul-Kadir, M. R., & Jaafar, M. S. (1999). Evaluation of the engineers
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personnels role in enhancing the project constructability. Facilities, 17(11), 423-
430.
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O'Connor, J., & Davis, V. (1988). Constructability Improvement During Field
Operations. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 114(4), 548-

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564.
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O'Connor, J., Larimore, M., & Tucker, R. (1986). Collecting Constructability

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Improvement Ideas. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,
112(4), 463-475.
Ogden, R. (2005). Offsite (IBS) in the UK Developers Perspective. Paper presented at the
CIDB-UKTI Industrialized Building Systems (IBS) Seminar.

Pasquire, C. L., & Gibb, A. G. F. (2002). Considerations for assessing the benefits of
standardisation and preassembly in construction. Journal of Financial
Management of Property and Construction, 7(3), 151-161.
Paulson Jr, B. C. (1976). Designing to reduce construction costs. Journal of Construction
Division, 102(4), 587592.

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ip
Pulaski, M., & Horman, M. (2005). Continuous Value Enhancement Process. Journal of
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Construction Engineering and Management, 131(12), 1274-1282.
Retik, A., & Warszawski, A. (1994). Automated design of prefabricated building.
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Building and Environment, 29(4), 421-436.
Reuss, M. C., & Tatum, C. B. (1993). Requirements and tools for transferring
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construction experience between projects: Stanford University. Center for
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Integrated Facility, Engineering.
Shaari, S. N. (2003). IBS Survey 2003. Kuala Lumpur: Construction Industry

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Development Board Malaysia.
Tatum, C. B., Vanegas, J. A., & Williams, J. M. (1986). Constructability improvement

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during conceptual planning. Texas: Construction Industry Institute, University of

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Texas at Austin.
Ac
Uhlik, & Lores. (1998). Assessment of Constructability Practices among General
Contractors. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 4(3), 113-123.
UNFPA. (2001). Chapter 3. The State of World Population 2001. Retrieved 20th of
August 2012, from http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2001/english/ch03.html#3
Warszawski, A. (1999). Industrialized and Automated Building Systems: A Managerial
Approach: Taylor & Francis.

APPENDIX; An example of the mailed questionnaire is included:
Section A: general respondent information:

Just check () the suitable option.
1. In which sector dose your organization work?

private Public
2. What best describes your construction activities
Designer Manufacturer or supplier
contractor Others please verify
t
3.Under what types of contracts do you usually work with:
ip
Traditional design-bid-build Design-build
Construction management Others please verify
d cr
4. In what type of projects your organization is mainly involved?
General building (commercial and industrial) Industrial
Civil (highway and heavy works)
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Others please verify
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5. Years of experience in the construction industry:
0 5 years 10 15 years
More than 20 years
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6. Years of experience in the Industrial Building Systems (IBS) industry:
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More than 20 years
C ted
Section B: application of constructability concepts

Question: Does your organization use the concept in their construction practice? (Please check () Yes or
NO)
C1, Documented constructability program should be prepared for all the project phases by
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participation of all project team members. Yes No

C2, A team of representatives from owner, engineer and contractor should consider projects
N ce
constructability issues. Yes No

C3, experienced & knowledgeable construction personnel should be involved in the early project
planning phase. Yes No
Ac
C4, The construction methods should be considered in determining the type and number of contracts
required
Yes No
C5, Project schedule and completion date should be assigned early and must be construction
sensitive.
Yes No
C6, Major construction methods should be discussed and analyzed in-depth as early as possible.
Yes No
C7, Site layout should be studied carefully to ensure efficient construction, operation, and
maintenance.
Yes No
C8, The construction schedule must be discussed and developed prior to the design development and
procurement schedule. Yes No

C9, Usage of information technology could overcome the problem of fragmentation between
specializations involved in construction. Yes No
C10, Design simplification by designers and design reviews by construction personnel, must be
configured.
Yes No
C11, Project elements should be standardized to an extent that will never effect the project cost
negatively.
Yes No
C12, The project technical specifications has to be simplified without sacrificing the level of
t
efficiency.
ip
Yes No
C13, Modularization and preassembly design should be prepared to assist fabrication, transport and
installation.
d cr
Yes No
C14, Design should consider the construction personnel, materials, and equipments accessibility to
te s
site locations. Yes No
C15, Design should facilitate construction during adverse weather conditions. (The use of
di nu
prefabricated elements)
Yes No
C16, Field task should be organized to minimize damage, reworking or congestion of construction
personnel, material, and equipment. Yes No
ye a
C17, Innovations in using available temporary construction materials/systems which are not limited
op M
by the design and technical specifications. Yes No
C18: Incorporating innovation of new methods in using off-the-shelf hand tools, modification of
available tools, or introduction of new hand tools that reduce labor intensity or increase mobility,
safety, or accessibility.
C ted
Yes No
C19, Introduction of innovative methods in using the available equipment or modification of the
available equipment to increase their productivity. Yes No
C20, Using optional preassembly will lead to increase in productivity, reduction of scaffolding, and
ot p
improved constructability under adverse weather. Yes No

C21, Innovation of temporary facilities will help enhance constructability. Yes No
N ce
C22, The work of contractors should be documented based on quality and time so future projects are
awarded based on these attributes and not just low bids. Yes No
C23, Evaluation, documentation, and feedback regarding constructability concepts during project
phases should be maintained as lessons learnt for future projects. Yes No
Ac

)LJXUH&DSWLRQ/LVW
List of Figures
1. Figure 1: potential of constructability in achieving sustainability
2. Figure 2: constructability application between the construction Phases
3. Figure 3: constructability level of application between IBS practitioners

t
ip
d cr
te s
di nu
ye a
op M
C ted
ot p
N ce
Ac

ILJXUHSGI
Constructabil ity Contract

input management
Successful
IBS culture
Increassed awarenesss & Proactive connflict

utilization of IBSS manageme ent
Sustainnable deliveryy of Susttainable procurement
constrruction projeccts of IBS proje
ects
Mooving towardss sustainabilitty in constructtion
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

ILJXUHSGI
Conceptual Design and Field

planning procurement operation
phase phase phase
Conceptual All 0 1
planning respondents
phase Suppliers 0 0
Designers 0 1
Contractors 0 0
Design and All 0 0
procurement respondents
phase Suppliers 0 0
Designers 0 1
Contractors 0 0
Field All -1 0
operation respondents
phase Suppliers 0 0
Designers -1 -1
Contractors 0 0
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

ILJXUHSGI
Contractors Designers Suppliers

All phases 1 0
Contractors
Conceptual planning 1 0
phase
Design and 0 0
procurement phase
Field operation phase 1 1
All phases -1 0
Conceptual planning -1 0
Designers phase
Design and 0 0
procurement phase
Field operation phase -1 -1
All phases 0 0
Conceptual planning 0 0
Suppliers
phase
Design and 0 0
procurement phase
Field operation phase -1 1
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

7DEOHV0RVWDID%DEDHLDQ-HORGDUGRF[
Table 1 All respondents constructability application scores (AS) according to different phases

phase phase phase
Concept AS Concept AS Concept AS
C1 48 C8 40 C16 46
C2 58 C9 34 C17 33
C3 65 C10 50 C18 41
C4 41 C11 52 C19 42
C5 71 C12 61 C20 50
C6 63 C13 59 C21 28
C7 64 C14 54 C22 48
C15 28 C23 61
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 2 Suppliers constructability application scores (AS) according to construction phases

phase phase phase
C1 10 C8 10 C16 7
C2 6 C9 9 C17 4
C3 10 C10 5 C18 10
C4 7 C11 3 C19 6
C5 12 C12 7 C20 6
C6 10 C13 11 C21 2
C7 12 C14 9 C22 5
C15 6 C23 10
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 3 Designers constructability application scores (AS) according to construction phases.

phase phase phase
C1 3 C8 4 C16 2
C2 11 C9 7 C17 4
C3 14 C10 14 C18 4
C4 8 C11 14 C19 4
C5 14 C12 16 C20 8
C6 15 C13 13 C21 2
C7 13 C14 10 C22 3
C15 2 C23 8
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 4 Contractors constructability application scores (AS) according to construction phases.

phase phase phase
C1 35 C8 26 C16 37
C2 41 C9 21 C17 25
C3 41 C10 31 C18 27
C4 26 C11 35 C19 32
C5 45 C12 38 C20 36
C6 38 C13 35 C21 24
C7 39 C14 35 C22 40
C15 20 C23 43
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 5 LA for each constructability concept for all phases
Contractor Designers Supplier

s
11.00 23.00 18.00 22.00 11.00 10.00 18.00
15.00 23.00 22.00 22.00 10.00 16.00 19.00
16.00 23.00 16.00 19.00 12.00 12.00 17.00
17.00 14.00 11.00 11.00 10.00 12.00 22.00
12.00 18.00 21.00 15.00 12.00 12.00
17.00 22.00 16.00 16.00 11.00 9.00

16.00 16.00 22.00 17.00 11.00 11.00
23.00 11.00 13.00 12.00 17.00 17.00
16.00 21.00 12.00 17.00 15.00 11.00
13.00 16.00 20.00 16.00 10.00 17.00
17.00 22.00 18.00 23.00 10.00 12.00
16.00 14.00 9.00
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 6 . LA for each concept during the conceptual planning phase
Contractor Designers Suppliers

4.00 7.00 6.00 7.00 3.00 4.00 7.00
7.00 7.00 7.00 6.00 3.00 5.00 7.00
5.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 6.00 6.00 6.00
4.00 5.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 7.00
3.00 6.00 7.00 7.00 5.00 5.00

7.00 7.00 6.00 5.00 5.00 4.00
7.00 7.00 7.00 4.00 3.00 4.00
7.00 4.00 5.00 3.00 5.00 7.00
6.00 7.00 5.00 7.00 5.00 4.00
4.00 6.00 5.00 7.00 6.00 7.00
4.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 4.00 5.00
7.00 5.00 4.00
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 7. LA for each concept during design and procurement phase

4.00 8.00 7.00 8.00 5.00 6.00 5.00
3.00 8.00 7.00 8.00 4.00 6.00 6.00
5.00 8.00 6.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 7.00
5.00 3.00 5.00 4.00 6.00 5.00 7.00
4.00 7.00 7.00 3.00 5.00 4.00
4.00 7.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 3.00
3.00 6.00 7.00 5.00 5.00 3.00
8.00 5.00 3.00 4.00 6.00 6.00

3.00 7.00 2.00 4.00 5.00 3.00
5.00 5.00 3.00 3.00 4.00 6.00
5.00 7.00 5.00 8.00 5.00 4.00
6.00 5.00 3.00
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Table 8 LA for each concept during the field operation phase

.
3.00 8.00 5.00 7.00 3.00 0.00 6.00
5.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 0.00 5.00 6.00
6.00 8.00 3.00 7.00 1.00 2.00 4.00
8.00 6.00 2.00 3.00 0.00 2.00 8.00
5.00 5.00 7.00 5.00 2.00 3.00
6.00 8.00 5.00 6.00 2.00 2.00
6.00 3.00 8.00 8.00 3.00 4.00
8.00 2.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.00

7.00 7.00 5.00 6.00 5.00 4.00
4.00 5.00 4.00 6.00 0.00 4.00
8.00 8.00 6.00 8.00 1.00 3.00
3.00 4.00 2.00
Accepted Manuscript
Not Copyedited

Manuscript Not Copyedited

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Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction.

Submitted September 24, 2012; accepted March 29, 2013;

In Seek of Sustainability; Constructability Application and Contract

Management in Malaysian Industrialized Building Systems

Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar

Tak Wing Yiu

Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University Of Auckland,

20 Symonds Street, Auckland 1142, New Zealand, E-mail: k.yiu@auckland.ac.nz

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

sustainability of the built environment.

Keywords: Sustainability; Constructability; Industrialized Building systems (IBS); Contract

Management, Conflict Management,

achieve maximum sustainable practices in the construction sector? In fact there is an

observed that the process of construction, operation, and maintenance of traditional

buildings is responsible for the consumption of a significant percentage of the worlds

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

operation of a healthy built environment based on ecological principles and resource

efficiency(Kibert, 1994). However sustainability in the built environment which is

extraction of materials, manufacturing of products, assembly of products into buildings,

systems and the building structure (Blismas, et al. 2005).

manufacturing and industrialization which has proved beneficial to most industries.

prefabricated or manufactured in a factory on or off worksite, then transported and

dominant conceptualization and terminology used for prefabricated construction in

Malaysia. Prefabrication, IBS and their design procedure are considered as an

opportunity to introduce sustainable features to the construction process and enhance

sector to take on the challenge of prefabrication, accordingly the Malaysian government

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

is regulating policies towards the improvement and promotion of infrastructure needed

implementation and application of IBS needs to be boosted to move towards a more

sustainable construction environment. Constructability as a conceptual program may able

incorporating technical knowledge in projects to make the construction process more

efficient IBS culture.

Why is IBS construction sustainable?

Prefabrication and Industrialization in the construction industry can promise a faster,

industrialization procedures go through regular inspections which will improve the

quality of construction components. Prefabrication and industrialization normally entails

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

cast on site constructions (Retik & Warszawski, 1994).

reaching a record construction time from ground breaking to completion of only 48

hours (Ogden, 2005). Another prefabricated system is Advanced Construction

utilized in construction projects of Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand

and Indonesia (Hui & Or, 2005).

et al. 2009). However features such as production in a controlled environment, reducing

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

Gibb, 2002). Simplification, standardization, frequent inspection as part of the IBS

unclear responsibilities in IBS and sustainability implementation, lack of research in

reasons for the low usage of IBS in Malaysia.

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

to lack of necessary technical expertise and knowledge in Malaysia. The difficulties of

IBS implementation in Malaysia could be associated with misperceptions, lack of

facilities, and insufficient knowledge and expertise of the parties involved. As

construction method resembling low quality, leakage, abandoned projects, unpleasant

construction industry is largely comprised of foreign unspecialized workers which were

regarded as another problem in the way of industrialization.

method of construction. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in

Copyright 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction