IJM Corp Bhd deputy chief executive officer and Managing Director Datuk Soam Heng Choon said the Malaysian construction industry is on track to achieve the target of 50% Industrialised Building System (IBS) adoption in projects by 2018. He said the adoption is already at about 35% now, commenting during a panel session at the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia's (NCCIM) Economic Forum 2017

The IBS refers to a technique of construction whereby components are manufactured in a controlled environment, either at site or off site, placed and assembled into construction works.

"The development orders coming out from the Klang Valley now must have an IBS score of 50% for projects that are more than 50,000 sq m... To me it is not so difficult to move from 35% to 50% but we have to do it gradually" he said.

Moving forward from 50% adoption, he said the entire value chain needs to be looked at, including issues like whether there are sufficient workers, if there are enough factories producing IBS components, and whether there are competent professionals designing the IBS.

Rehda President, Datuk Seri FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said Rehda supports the implementation of IBS but there are still few issues that need to be tackled in adopting IBS.

"There is the issue of cost, [and] there is also the perception that when you use IBS, it results in lower-quality construction and numerous other issues" he said.

FD Iskandar said for IBS to gain traction, the government must take the lead.

"When they give out contracts they themselves must ensure that those people use IBS. When you give incentives, then people will start using IBS, and when a lot of people use IBS, the economies of scale will be there and it will be a successful system for us to use" he added.