Small and Medium-Sized Contractors and the Industrialised Building System Dilemma: Navigating Barriers in Malaysia’s Construction Industry
Abstract
34
Implementing Industrialised Building System (IBS) to the construction industry has the potential of contributing to the government transformation move for a sustainable construction industry. The Malaysian construction industry is dominated by small to medium enterprises (SME) contractors. However, the performance of SME contractors in adopting IBS is still low and prefer to stick with the traditional construction method. Thus, the questionnaires survey was undertaken with 70 samples of respondents to explore the barriers of SME contractors in adopting IBS in Malaysia. The findings from the study revealed that the low adoption of IBS among SME contractors is due to three (3) main barriers. The main barriers faced by SME contractors in adopting IBS are transportation issues in delivery IBS components, lack of government policy and limited number of suppliers. The findings will provide government policymakers and industry stakeholders with a clear understanding of the barriers of SME contractors in adopting IBS.
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CIDB. (2015). Construction Industry Transformation Programme 2016 - 2020. Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Malaysia.
CIDB. (2016). Industrialised Building Systems in Malaysia 2008 – 2013 Projects. Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Malaysia.
Dehdasht, G., Ferwati, M.S., Abidin, N.Z., & Oyedeji, M.A. (2018). Trends of Construction Industry in Malaysia and its Emerging Challenges. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 27(2), 161-178.
El-Abidi, K.M.A., Ofori, G., Zakaria, S.A.S., Mannan, M.A., & Abas, N.F. (2019). Identifying and Evaluating Critical Success Factors for Industrialised Building Systems Implementation: Malaysia Study. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering.
Gibb A., & F. Isack, F. (2003). Re-Engineering Through Pre-Assembly: Client Expectations and Drivers. Build. Res. Inf., 31(2), 146-160.
Jabar, I.L., Ismail, F., & Aziz, A.A.A. (2015). Public Participation: Enhancing Public Perception Towards IBS Implementation. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 168, 61-69.
Jinn, L.S., Hoe, L.W., & Siew, L.W. (2025). A Performance Study on the Potential Improvement of Construction Sector Companies in Malaysia. Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology, 43(2), 65-74.
Idrus, A., Hui, N. F. K., & Utomo, C. (2008). Perception of Industrialized Building System (IBS) Within the Malaysian Market. International Conference on Construction and Building Technology, ICCBT2008, 07, 75–92.
Kamar, K. A. M., Alshawi, M., & Hamid, Z. A. (2009). Barriers to Industrialized Building System (IBS): The Case of Malaysia. Built and Human Environment 9th International Postgraduate Research Conference, 2009, 1-16.
Kamar, K.A.M., Hamid, Z.A., & Alshawi, M (2010). The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) to the Implementation of Industrialised Building System (IBS) in Malaysia. Proceedings in CIB World Congress 2010, Salford, 10-13.
Lou, C., & Kamar, K. A. M. (2012). Industrialized Building Systems: Strategic Outlook for Manufactured Construction in Malaysia. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 18(2), 69-74.
Mohamed, M.R., Mohammad, M.F., Mahbub, R., Ramli, M.A., & Jamal, K.A.A. (2018). The Issues and Challenges of Small and Medium-Sized Contractors in Adopting Industrialised Building System. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(3.25), 432-436.
Mohamed, M.R. (2021). Industrialised Building System’s Business Model in Improving the Performance of SME Contractors in Malaysia. PhD Thesis, Universiti Teknologi MARA.
Nadim, W., & Goulding, J. S. (2011). Offsite Production: A Model for Building Down Barriers: An European Construction Industry Perspective. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 18(1), 82-101.
Nawi, M.N.M., Lee, A., Nor, K.M. (2011). Barriers to Implementation of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) in Malaysia. The Built & Human Environment Review, 4.
Selamat, M.F., Jabar, I.L., & Kaliwon, J. (2022). Converting Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) Contractor to Industrialised Building System (IBS) Installer. Research in Management of Technology and Business, 3(2), 588-598.
Tarang, V.A.T., Mohammad, M.F., Akbar, A.R.N., & Mohamed, M.R. (2022). Pertinent Internal and External Issues in Industrialised Building System (IBS) Construction Business in Malaysia. Built Environment Journal, 19(1), 32-41.
Trigunarsyah, B., Santoso, T. P., Hassanain, M. A., & Tuffaha, F. (2019). Adopting the Industrialised Building System in Saudi Arabia: Barriers and Enablers. Infrastructure Asset Management, 6(3), 185-194.
Wuni, I.Y., & Shen, G.Q. (2022). Developing Critical Success Factors for Integrating Circular Economy into Modular Construction Projects in Hong Kong. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 29, 574-587.
Zairul, M. (2021). The Recent Trends on Prefabricated Buildings with Circular Economy (CE) Approach. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 4(100239).
Published
2024-09-30
How to Cite
MUHAMAD, Nurul Huda et al.
Small and Medium-Sized Contractors and the Industrialised Building System Dilemma: Navigating Barriers in Malaysia’s Construction Industry.
International Journal of Business and Technology Management, [S.l.], v. 6, n. S1, p. 384-392, sep. 2024.
ISSN 2682-7646.
Available at: <https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijbtm/article/view/27702>. Date accessed: 10 july 2025.
Section
English Section
