Fully IBS government affordable homes by 2024

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin is aiming for all affordable homes projects under its purview to fully utilise the Industrialised Building System (IBS) by 2024.

For now, the 100,000 affordable houses to be built under KPKT in 2019 use a combination of conventional and IBS construction methods, of which IBS adoption is about 30 to 40 per cent.

“By the third or fourth year, we should be able to do 50 to 60 per cent, and by the fifth year onwards, we should be able to go 100 per cent on IBS for the affordable homes under the national affordable homes project,” she said at the launch of MGB Bhd’s first permanent IBS precast concrete plant on 16 March, as reported by The Sun Daily.

Currently, Malaysia’s IBS sector produces around 19,000 units, including affordable homes, annually. MGB’s new plant is expected to increase production by another 4,000 units to 23,000 units per year.

The minister expects private developers to follow suit as the technology increasingly becomes an industry norm. In response to claims of higher costs involved with IBS, Zuraida pointed out that the savings come up in a different manner.

“I was told that there is a 49 per cent cost saving on the labour force; timing was also six months ahead,” she said. “When it comes to dollars and cents, [it’s] not there yet. We will only have it when we have gone to full capacity and the industry matures. So it is a long-term saving.” — Construction+ Online