In Search of Sustainability: Constructability Application and Contract Management in Malaysian Industrialized Building Systems

Abstract

Modularization and industrialization have been regarded as parts of an answer to a sustainable development solution. As part of the overall industry goal of moving toward sustainability, which has been emphasized in the construction industry master plan of Malaysia, prefabrication and industrialized building systems (IBS) are promoted; however the move toward 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 into the construction procedure, 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 preemptive conflict management approach by improving the flow of correct, sufficient, and more transparent information and design specifications, which could source potential conflict and dispute. Thus a construction practitioner’s involvement and constructability application needs to be clearly investigated in different project phases. A questionnaire is designed to assess the application of constructability concepts to find out the constructability input of each phase to the IBS projects, furthermore evaluating the different party’s level of application for different constructability concepts. The findings of this research indicate that constructability awareness and to some extent application is low among IBS project participants. Though 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 deal of mistiming involved in the application of constructability contracting approaches and strategies. In addition, legal boundaries need to change to solve these issues and move toward greater sustainability of the built environment.