The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has recommended that the government implements the Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) in the construction of houses through a new national housing policy.

The recommendation was made in the "Adequate Housing: A Human Right' report which pushes for a comprehensive policy to promote housing as a basic right and not a luxury. It was released in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday.

Unlike conventional design and construction, the IBS makes use of prefabricated factory-produced components such as slabs, beams, columns, window/door panels which are much cheaper.

The report said only 15 percent of buildings in Malaysia are currently based on IBS even though this reduces construction time, labour input, ensures greater consistency in quality and less defective work.

Great resistance

Suhakam commissioner Ramon Navaratnam felt this would lower the profit margin built into the construction process by industry players such as lawyers, architects, developers and parts manufacturers. In turn, this could help bring down the price of houses.

"IBS is gaining popularity here but there is also great resistance from (industry players) due to shrinking profit margins if this is implemented," he told reporters.

"There have been one or two pilot projects but so far, there is no will to push it through completely."

Likening the situation to the proverbial chicken-and-egg situation, Ramon said there is direct correlation between the volume of building material that meets the IBS standards and house prices.

"The government must create enough volume or demand for certified material. This could be initiated through government contracts to build affordable housing for military personnel, teachers and medical/health staffers, among others."

At present, the cost of conventional building materials is cheaper than IBS parts by 10 percent.

"But that is due to insufficient demand. If there is enough volume, the advantage would be reversed," he noted.

"Later, people could even build their own houses because the IBS would provide them with a standard design and components. People can build a house they like at a cost they can afford."

Several benefits

Ramon said adopting the IBS would not only benefit buyers in terms of cost and quality but would also be socio-economically advantageous.

"Implementing a capital-intensive system can help reduce Malaysia's over-dependency on migrant labour and reduce the social costs," he explained.

"Furthermore, speed of construction is also assured if the IBS is in place and corruption will be reduced, in a situation where approvals for housing projects can be easily monitored."

Opportunities for abuse and corruption arise because the approval process currently involves 50-60 pieces of legislation, guidelines, rules and regulations which also vary from state to state and between government agencies.

"Unclear guidelines provide approving officers with wide discretion for interpretation...and has bred the culture of facilitation," the report said.

He noted that, despite talking about the IBS for 10 years, the government has failed to get it moving due to intense resistance from industry players.

The industry has claimed that the capital-intensive nature of IBS has not benefitted players despite, for instance, a levy exemption by the Construction Industries Development Board for developers who use IBS components in half of their construction projects.

An industry top-level meeting chaired by the Government Group for High Technology (Might) early last year concluded that short-term implementation would include a R&D centre, IBS pilot projects and a legislative "pass" for implementation in projects with a minimum of 100 units.

The medium-term implementation measures include turning existing laws IBS-friendly and increasing the share of IBS in housing by 50 percent within five years from 2003 to 2007.

According to building consultants who attended the meeting, they currently have to prepare two designs - conventional and industrialised - because by specifying the designs as industrialised they usually risked losing tenders.

Subsequently, the cabinet directed the housing and local government ministry to encourage the use of prefab construction in housing, but several issues had to be ironed out beforehand.