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THE
VOL.56
SEPTEMBER 2013
INGENIEUR
M A G A Z I N E O F T H E B O A R D O F E N G I N E E R S, M A L A Y S I A

Housing for Persons

With Disabilities
IBS Roadmap Review &
The Way Forward
Eco-Friendly houseS in
Janda Baik
REIT Management & THE
PIVOTAL ROLE OF THE REIT
MANAGER

NEWLY EMERGING
METHODS OF CONTRACT
PROCUREMENT IN MALAYSIA

housing for ALL

ai
 Personal Financing-i
INGENIEUR
Wit
Per B ank h
so Is
all t nal F lam
e co inanc
hes
uld ing
b e yo
urs.
-i
..

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50,000 4,278.08 2,191.33 50,000
1,496.30 1,178.84 833.37 661.95 560.14
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90,000 7,700.55 3,944.40 90,000
2,693.34 2,121.92 1,500.07 1,191.51 1,008.25
100,000 8,556.17 4,382.66 100,000
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aii VOL
VOL 56
55 SEPTEMBER
JUNE 2013 2013
1
 INGENIEUR

CONTENTS
8

6 President’s Message 19 IBS Roadmap Review & The

Way Forward
BEM News
8 BEM 40th Anniversary Dinner Update

9 Publication Calendar 26 New Model Of One Stop

The Ingenieur e-magazine
on Smartphones & iPad
10 Highlights of BEM 40th
Anniversary Dinner
Cover Feature
14 Housing for Persons with
Disabilities
Centre To Ease Issuance Of
Construction Permits
30 Are Professional Engineers
more accountable with the
implementation of CCC?

46

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Special Feature
33 Green Building Index & Green
Housing
37 Green IBS: A Design Concept of
Divergent Dwelling System

Project Report
46 Eco-Friendly Houses In Janda Baik
52 Thinking & Building “Green”

Investment
59 REIT Management & Pivotal Role of 52
the REIT Manager

Engineering & Law

65 Disciplinary Hearing – Case Study
68 Newly Emerging Methods Of
Contract Procurement in Malaysia

Photo Feature
74 Dala Bamboo Village, Myanmar -
Temporary Homes After Cyclone

Engineering Nostalgia
79 The Causeway

74 14

3
 INGENIEUR

THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS

LEMBAGA JURUTERA MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA (BEM)
BOARD
ARD
ORIAL BOARD

BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA

2012-2013
BO

PRESIDENT EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITORIAL

YBhg Dato’ Seri Ir. Hj. Mohd Noor bin Yaacob

EDITORIAL

ADVISOR
BOARD MEMBERS YBhg Dato’ Seri Ir. Hj.Mohd Noor bin Yaacob
YBhg Datuk Ir. Hj. Ahmad Husaini bin Sulaiman
EDIT

YBhg Dato’ Ir. Dr Johari bin Basri CHAIRMAN

YBhg Datuk Wira Ir. Md Sidek bin Ahmad YBhg Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr Hassan bin Basri
YBhg Dato’ Ir. Abdul Rashid bin Maidin
YBhg Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr Hassan bin Basri EDITOR
YBhg Datuk Ir. John Anthony Ir. Fong Tian Yong
Ir. Zuraimi bin Haji Sabki
Ir. Prem Kumar M Vasudevan EDITORIAL MEMBERS
Ir. Dr Abdul Majid bin Dato’ Abu Kassim Prof. Ir. Dr K S Kannan
Ir. Prof. Dr Wan Mahmood bin Wan Ab Majid Ir. Prem Kumar
Ir. Choo Kok Beng Ir. Chan Boon Teik
Ir. Gopal Narian Kutty
Ir. Prof. Dr Lee Teang Shui PUBLICATION OFFICER
Ir. Vincent Chen Kim Kieong Pn Nik Kamaliah Nik Abdul Rahman
Ar. Mohamed Hafiz bin Mohd Hashim
Sr Nik Zainal Alam bin Hasan

SECRETARY
Ir. Ruslan bin Abdul Aziz

REGISTRAR
Ir. Hizamul-din bin Ab. Rahman

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ir. Ashari bin Mohd Yakub

The Ingenieur is published quarterly by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia)
and is distributed free to registered Professional Engineers.
The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers.
BEM invites all engineers and readers to contribute relevant articles and views to the Publisher.
PUBLISHER
Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia
Tingkat 17, Ibu Pejabat JKR, Jalan Sultan Salahuddin,
50580 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2698 0590 Fax 03-2692 5017
e-mail: publication@bem.org.my
website: www.bem.org.my
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Inforeach Communications Sdn Bhd
PRINTER: Art Printing Works Sdn Bhd

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5
 INGENIEUR

MESSAGE
GE
President’s Message

PRESIDENT’S MESSA
Housing for All Mov
T
T
he topic of housing affordability has become professionalism to a higher level as consumers
a hot topic lately, although it is not something nowadays are more effluent, knowledgeable and
new. The coming National Budget session Mobility in any region remains one of the ke
demanding.
has also attracted more views from the public and With more high-rise housing near hill
impetuses for the economic development of a
the industry on this issue. Housing affordability slopes being constructed in urban areas due to
can be complex as it involves land availability nation.
land scarcity, In spitehave
engineers of an impressive
to be more prudent network of 63,445
or scarcity, demographic profile, household in theirkm roadsupervision
design, infrastructure, the Malaysian
and certification of Governmen
income, housing standards, Government housing completion of such structures. The few building
still choses to identify Urban Public Transport a
policy, perception of quality, demand and supply failures on hill slopes around the Klang Valley
one of six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) in the
equation and loan policy. Government strategy that had drawn public attention and negative
has been evolving since the First Malaysian Plan Economic
perception should not Transformation
be repeated. Programme. The
where housing was named as a priority concern. importance
The Board intends accorded to the movement
to publish more of masse
The task of providing sufficient affordable housing commercially-related
efficiently and articles in The Ingenieur
affordably as
is understandable given
has been expanded to several agencies such as it is important for engineers to be connected to
National Housing Department, SPNB, PR1MA,
the current densely populated business district
the industry since their works are closely linked
state agencies, etc. with it.sprouting
The article in on
the“REIT
Greater Kuala Lumpur region and
Management”,
The housing development sector is an which is other
a new conurbations.
trend, should provide some
important industry for Malaysia. It drives many good insights The in the mechanics
overall of the REITsystem has been
transportation
downstream industries that engage a large market. In order to encourage more engineers to
number of tradesmen, professionals, financial
structured more strategically to meet highe
contribute articles since many of them have good
institutions, material manufacturers and passenger
encounters demands,
with interesting safety
projects, and convenience. The
we selected
suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors; new
an article Master
on “Dala PlanVillage,
Bamboo on transportation
Myanmar” to have set new
and scores of supporting industries. Against show a direction
simple write-up, but with many illustrative
and future growth pattern as usefu
this background, all housing development will photographs to prove the point. After all, a
require the consultancy service of Professional
reference for planners and traffic engineers. In thi
picture speaks a thousand words. I hope more
Engineers. Although engineers have generally engineerspublication,
will be motivatedthetointerview with CEO of SPAD, a
contribute articles
done well in their contribution to infrastructure relatively rate
as the contribution newagainst
entitythebutbigholding
number of high responsibilit
works, building structures and M&E supporting engineers is relatively low.
provides some first-hand information on it
services, the Board of Engineers has received
complaints on housing construction quality. challenges
Dato’ Seri Ir.and direction
Hj. Mohd in Yaacob
Noor bin achieving its objectiv
The time has come for engineers to uplift their of a safe, efficientPresident,and cost
BEM effective land
transportation system that is vital to propel Malaysia
to a developed nation by 2020. In recognition o
6
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JUNE 2013 2013 engineers’ contribution, the article of anothe
iconic project namely the Second Penang Bridge
should interest the readers with its state-of-the-ar
7
 INGENIEUR
BEM 40TH
ANNIVERSARY
By Yang Berhormat Datuk Haji Fadillah Bin Haji Yusof
Minister of Works, Malaysia
BEM NEWS
This is the text of the speech by the
Minister of Works Malaysia at BEM’s 40th
Anniversary Dinner held on July 7, 2013 at
the Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
L
et me begin by congratulating the President,
Board members and all registered engineers
of the Board of Engineers Malaysia on this
40th Anniversary celebration of the establishment
of the Board of Engineers. A person’s 40th age,
has been described as their golden age as this
is the time when they are supposed to have
gained maturity in their career and have acquired
knowledge and experience. Likewise, I see BEM
as a matured professional body ready to take on
new challenges in tandem with the nation’s march
towards becoming a fully developed nation by
2020.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The nation recognises the contribution of engineers
since independence. The Malaysian engineers who
took over from the British, laid the foundation
for an improved network of roads, water supply,
irrigation systems, health facilities, sewerage
systems, power installations, telecommunication
and municipal infrastructure. These were the
basic requirements of a new nation that was
progressing from an agriculture-based economy,
to an industrial, knowledge-based and innovative
economy that we enjoy today.
Succeeding generations of Malaysian
engineers have continued to make the nation
proud by building world class infrastructure
and facilities. We have constructed world class
buildings, bridges, expressway systems, light
transit systems, airports and ports.
6
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The success story of Malaysian engineers
is not confined to our own shores. We also have
many success stories overseas. In all, there are
115 Malaysian companies currently engaged in
construction in 50 countries around the globe
which reflects our capabilities in competing and
providing engineering and construction services on
par with the best.
In fact, the contribution of engineers and good
engineering practices have played a significant role
in improving the nation’s productivity. The Malaysia
Productivity Corporation (MPC) reported that in
2011, the economy recorded productivity growth of
4.6%. The productivity growth of the construction
sector grew by 3.1% in the same period. This
growth was supported by active construction
activities especially in the Greater Kuala Lumpur
region. The implementation of the Industrialised
Building System (IBS) in major projects was the
major contributor to the overall improvements
in productivity of the construction sector. That
being said, it is imperative that we continue to
strive for higher productivity and enhance our
competitiveness in all projects that we undertake.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, the Engineers Act is being
amended to prepare the nation for liberalisation
and international competition. The proposed
amendments allow for the mobility of engineers
among signatories of the Washington Accord. In
this, I see more gain than pain for our engineering
professionals. Judging from the performance of our
engineers since independence, I am confident that
you are well placed to leverage on the resources
that you have at your disposal to penetrate
effectively into the ASEAN market, which boasts
some 580 million people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Tonight’s dinner theme, “Transforming the nation
and innovating for a sustainable future” is most
apt as engineers do play a major role in a nation’s
transformation. Engineers are innovative people
due to training and work requirements. I encourage
you to expand your R&D activities and develop
innovative products and services to meet the
needs of the world market.
In this context, I am pleased to learn that
a team of engineers and architects in the private
sector have developed the Malaysia Green Building
Index (GBI) with the objective of conserving energy
and protecting the environment. I understand that
additional GBIs are being developed for other
categories of property development such as office
buildings, residential buildings and even housing
estates. It is a highly commendable initiative and
my Ministry stands ready to provide all necessary
support.
ANNOUNCEMENT
PUBLICATION CALENDAR
The Ingenieur is published
quarterly by the Board of
Engineers Malaysia. The
following are the themes for
the coming issues.
DEC 2013 -
MANAGING WATER
MARCH 2014 -
ICT CONVERGENCE
Articles and editorial contributions relevant to
the themes are welcomed, but the decision to
publish rest with the Editorial Board.
Advertising inquiries are also welcomed. Please
refer to the BEM advertisement in this issue for
the latest rate card and booking form.
Nevertheless, recent construction project
mishaps serve as a timely reminder on the
need to be vigilant and to maintain professional
standards and accountability at all times. Quality
and quality control of the production process are
never ending tasks. In this regard, I urge BEM to
play an active role in ensuring that its members
perform to the highest engineering ethics and
standards.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Before I conclude, I would like to thank the
organizers for inviting me to join you in celebrating
this 40th Anniversary Dinner. The engineering
fraternity has indeed come of age and it is time
the industry “Goes Global, Thinks Global, Acts
Global and Delivers to Global Standards.”
Thank you and I wish you a pleasant evening.
THE INGENIEUR
E-MAGAZINE ON
SMARTPONES & iPad
THE INGENIEUR Vol. 55 June 2013 issue can
now be read on smartphone as well as iPad.
Read anywhere, anytime and share with your
colleagues and friends.
How to get the e-magazine?
Mobile Version  - Scan the QR Code
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Download
9
 INGENIEUR
BEM NEWS
Arrival of Minister of Works
Speech by BEM President
The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) hosted
its 40th Anniversary Dinner on July 7 2013 at the
Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The Dinner was held
to both celebrate and appreciate the tremendous
achievements and contributions of the engineering
fraternity towards nation building. Organised once
in every 10 years, it was a grand event with nearly
1,000 guests gracing this special occasion. The
event saw many familiar faces from the engineering
industry.
Guest of Honour for the night was the
Minister of Works, YB Dato’ Hj. Fadillah bin Haji
Yusof. Also at the dinner was the BEM’s President,
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Highlights
of BEM 40th
Anniversary
Dinner
Arrival of Deputy Minister of Works
Speech by Minister of Works
YBhg Dato’ Seri Ir. Hj. Mohd Noor bin Yaacob and
past Presidents of BEM.
The highlights of the celebration included
the launching of the BEM Personalised Corporate
Stamp and presentation of certificates of
appreciation to the chairman, past chairmen
and members of the Engineering Accreditation
Council (EAC) who were instrumental in Malaysia
being a Full Signatory of the Washington Accord
by the Minister of Works. YBhg Dato’ Wira Ir.
Md Sidek Ahmad had the honour of receiving the
certificates of appreciation on behalf of the EAC
members.
 Arrival of Guests

Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation for

achieving Full Signatory of the Washington Accord

11
 INGENIEUR

Launching
of BEM
Personalised
Corporate Stamp

Gift Presentation to Minister of Works

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 haty) &
ah Ibrahim (K
y Dato’ Khadij
ance b
Performhmad Nawab
Dato’ A
Dinner

Departure of Minister of Works

Group Photo of BEM

Secretariat with YB
Minister of Works 13
 INGENIEUR
Housing for
Persons with Disabilities
COVER FEATURE
By Dr Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, Senior Lecturer, University of Malaya and
Dr Nor Rasidah Hashim, Senior Lecturer, International University of Malaya-Wales
Housing for persons with disabilities in the low income bracket is a serious issue. On
a visit to a public housing project, the writers discover certain amenities missing and
some facilities are not accessible to the disabled or are poorly maintained.
W
hen we, as disabled
persons have the
financial means, we
buy a desirable house or a
condominium right in the middle
of the city close to the best
amenities and hotspots that
the city provides. Many of us
do spend a lot of money to live
near our workplace or near a
Government hospital because of
the long-term health issues that
we are anticipating in retirement.
Also it is not a coincidence
that many of us are in the civil
service and have signed up for
a Government pension scheme
to lessen the burden on our
loved ones when we are in
need of hospitalisation. But for
those of us with low income
and at the poverty level, the
problem of getting affordable
and comfortable housing is
very acute indeed. Housing for
persons with disabilities in the
low income bracket is an even
greater issue as transportation
to work is problematic as well,
especially when the public
transportation system is still
inaccessible.
The problem with lack
of accessibility is widely
acknowledged at various levels
nationally. In fact, the National
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Housing Policy Negara states, “In
general, housing development by
the private sector has fulfilled
the needs of high-income
earners. However, the housing
needs of the low-income and
medium-income earners,
including those of persons with
disabilities, the elderly, single
mothers and squatters have
not been met” (KPKT, 2013).
Furthermore, the NGO, Beautiful
Gate, finds that many disabled
persons and their families face
serious problems in obtaining
affordable and appropriate
housing due to poverty, non-
enforcement of building by-laws
requiring access and facilities for
disabled persons as well as local
authority requirements that work
against disabled persons, e.g.
applicants have to be married
but many disabled persons are
unable to find marriage partners.
The Government is
committed to provide for the
needs of disabled persons. The
Ministry of Local Government and
Housing Act (1990 amendment)
notes that a building where
the public can access should
provide facilities like ramps,
parking for disabled persons
and toilets. The Ministry also
provides 6% of special flat units
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
Universal Design1, originally a
term expounded by The Center
for Universal Design at North
Carolina State University,
comprises seven principles as
follows: (1) Equitable use; (2)
Flexibility in use; (3) Simple
and intuitive; (4) Perceptible
information; (5) Tolerance for
error; (6) Low physical effort;
and (7)Size and space for
approach and use. Before
Universal Design, the terms
usually used are Barrier-
Free Design and Accessible
Design, where the three
factors of (1) Accessibility;
(2) Usability and; (3) Safety
are emphasized, especially to
define the former.
under Public Housing Projects
(Projek Perumahan Rakyat or
PPR in Malay) to persons with
disabilities, with an option to
choose the ground floor in the
case of walk-up flats and the
first floor where lifts are provided
(UNESCAP, 2003).
On top of that, the Persons
with Disabilities Act, which
came into effect in 2008 is a
clear signal of the Malaysian
Government’s commitment
to providing accessibility.
Specifically, the accessibility During our visit, we pedestal-type toilet and be wider
principles that we need to surveyed one block in which and more spacious to enable
implement are required to follow we found there were four flats maneuvering.
those of Universal Design, which allocated for disabled persons There was one parking lot
means the design of products, on the first floor. These units allocated for disabled persons,
environments, programmes and differed from other units as located on the ground floor
services to be usable by all the entrance had ramps (Figure of the same block (Figure 2).
persons, to the greatest extent 1). The size of the doors for Interestingly, there was a chain-
possible, without the need for the units was also quite wide linked barrier placed across
adaptation or specialized design for wheelchair access and a the back of the accessible
and shall include assistive cursory glance inside showed open parking lot, presumably
devices for particular groups of the unit to have bigger corridor to obstruct the misuse of the
persons with disabilities where space. For an accessible three- parking space by other users.
this is needed. bedroom housing unit, one Although only one accessible
However, it is estimated bathroom should include the lot was visible as the floor is
that 1,000 single mothers and
disabled persons are now living
in Public Housing (Perumahan
Awam or PA in Malay) and PPR.
Clearly. much more needs to
be done in order to cater to
the needs of disabled persons
in this country as it is currently
estimated that there are as many
as 301,346 disabled persons in
Malaysia (Yeoh, 2011). At the
same time, it is also important
to monitor housing prices and
housing loans for disabled
persons so that the Government
efforts to provide housing for
disabled persons are not in vain
(SUHAKAM, 2012). Figure 1
To find out what is
happening on the ground, we
visited PPR Selayang Taman
Wahyu, near Jalan Ipoh, which
was designed and built to
comply with the Government’s
policy to integrate disabled
persons’ needs in low cost
housing in Kuala Lumpur. The
low cost housing was developed
and maintained by the Kuala
Lumpur City Hall to address the
accessibility needs of disabled
persons by allocating a few units
at the first floor level (there are
no units at ground level) near the
lift lobby. Figure 2

15
 INGENIEUR
painted with the international
symbol of access, this does not
complement with the fact that one
housing block has four accessible
housing units. It is assumed that
the other three units housed
either elderly persons or disabled
persons who are not physically
disabled. The identification of the
lot with the chain barrier provided
by Kuala Lumpur City Hall was
installed after permission was
sought by the disabled person
living there and was not provided
in the beginning.
In order to get to the
Figure 3
accessible parking lot from the
lift (or vice-versa), a disabled
user would have to travel about
20 meters either on an uneven
pavement or on the road,
whilst having to negotiate the
motorcycles parked in his path
(Figure 3). After office hours and
in the evenings the disabled
person might have the accessible
route blocked by illegally parked
cars or double-parking that are
often found in low cost housing
areas. This is because the ratio
of housing unit per car park lot
is 1:1, not reflecting the reality
of parking needs.
Figure 4
Other findings that we wish
to share with our readers are as
follows:
1. The ramp outside the building
(next to the lift) is equipped
with a handrail at one side
of the ramp (Figure 4).
Handrails need to be fixed on
both sides to allow physically
disabled persons to use
either side as required.
2. The staircase had only one
set of rails which is not fully
accessible for persons with
physical disabilities, similar
to point 1 (Figure 5).
Figure 5

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 3. The lift call buttons were
embossed with Braille
letterings but might be
difficult for a blind person
to feel as an anti-vandal box
was encased around the
buttons (Figure 6).
4. The drops at the main routes
were minimized and replaced
with ramps, which were well
designed (Figure 7). Usually
housing units that are not
accessible have too many
drops including main routes.
5. The lift was spacious – even
for someone on a motorbike
Figure 6
to use (Figure 8).
6. In the surveyed block, two
entrances (one on each
side of the block) on the
ground floor had ramps with
a gradual gradient but other
access had drops and steps
(Figure 9).
These findings call to
mind common issues plaguing
accessibility in the built
environment in this country (see
for example: Yaacob and Hashim
(2007; 2009) and Yaacob et al.
(2009).
Firstly, accessible features
are regarded as added-ons rather
Figure 7
than being planned as integral.
The usual way of design is to
have steps usually about 50,
75 or 100 mm high, which does
not make sense, as it is easier
access for everyone to have
no change of levels. The steps
usually crack and chip in the long
run and become unsafe to use.
For low cost housing, the finish is
the bare minimum with no colour
contrast making it unsafe and
easy to trip over or mis-step.
Low cost housing design
is fraught with the practice of
reducing the accessible features
Figure 8

17
 INGENIEUR
or cutting costs such as having
only one rail at the side rather
on both sides. This is a basic
safety and accessible feature,
where a person with physical
impairments needs to use both
sets of railings, one side to go
up and another side to go down
the stairs. These features are
for all people and not only for
disabled persons.
Secondly, abuses of
accessible facilities are a real
challenge. For example, locking
or placing a chain at the entrance
of parking lot may prevent non-
Figure 9
designated user from using the
parking lot but this only signals REHDA and local authorities accessible facilities are added
a deeper problem, i.e. lack of should work together in this on to existing buildings, which
awareness of the community case. might not have been originally
about the needs of disabled Lastly, it is important designed for the use of persons
persons. Creating awareness to maintain the facilities and with disabilities, the renovation
and providing the knowledge amenities so as to ensure that may not solve the problem
about disabled persons’ rights these features are working well fully. Therefore, to implement
to the community should be in and are maintained properly. The Universal Design1 principles, it
tandem with providing facilities users should be provided with is imperative that accessible
and amenities. NGOs, disabled clear instructions as to who to facilities, amenities and services
persons organisations, housing contact in times of need. are planned at the earliest
developers’ agencies such as And in cases where possible stage.

References
1. Naziaty Yaacob, Nor Rasidah Hashim and Helena Aman Hashim. 2009. Achieving social equity by
addressing the needs of disabled people in heritage building conservation in Malaysia. The International
Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability. Vol. 5(4): 51-68.
2. Naziaty Yaacob & Nor Rasidah Hashim. 2009. Accessibility for Disabled and Elderly People In Malaysia:
Problems And Solutions. The Malaysian Surveyor. Vol. 44(2): 30-34.
3. Naziaty Mohd Yaacob and Nor Rasidah Hashim. 2007. Disabled people as Stakeholders in a barrier-
free built environment. The Ingenieur. 36: 60-63.
4. Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act 2008, Malaysia.
5. Yeoh Joo Ai, Department of Social Welfare Malaysia, electronic communication with ESCAP dated 31
March 2011.
6. Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled (BGFD). http://english.beautifulgate.org.my/important-
info/memorandum-on-disability-issues-for-the-9th-malaysia-plan/
7. Kementerian Perumahan & Kerajaan Tempatan (KPKT). 2013. National Housing Policy. http://www.
kpkt.gov.my/kpkt_2013/fileupload/dasar/DRN_BM.pdf.
8. Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (SUHAKAM). 2012. Laporan Mesyuarat Bersama Agensi Kerajaan
Mengenai Hak Perumahan Wajar Dan Mencukupi. http://www.suhakam.org.my/c/document_library/
get_file?uuid=46250970-83ed-4d5d-baa8-87b039c4ba80&groupId=10124.
9. UNESCAP. 2003. http://www.unescap.org/sdd/issues/disability/policycentral/CountryProfiles/
Malaysia.doc.

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IBS Roadmap Review
& The Way Forward

COVER FEATURE
By Ir. Dr Zuhairi Abd Hamid
Executive Director of Construction Research Institute
of Malaysia (CREAM),
Ir. Dr Kamarul Anuar Mohamad Kamar
Manager of Construction Research Institute of
Malaysia (CREAM), and
Ir. Noraini Bahri
General Manager of Construction Industry
Development Board Malaysia (CIDB)

The writers review the second IBS

Roadmap 2011-2015 and call for
redefining IBS as practised in the country
due to low value-added. To move forward,
the industry should push for a higher
degree of industrialisation, value creation
and offer ‘green’ benefits.

B
etween the 1970s and 2000s, the term
‘prefab’ gradually changed to Industrialised
Building System (IBS). According to the
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB),
IBS is defined as a construction technique in which
components are manufactured in a controlled
environment (on or off site), transported,
positioned and assembled into a structure
with minimal additional site work. It consists of
precast component systems, fabricated steel
structures, innovative mould systems, modular
block systems and prefabricated timber structures
as construction components. Parts of the building
that are repetitive but difficult – and too time
consuming and labour intensive to be cast onsite
– are designed and detailed as standardised
components at the factory and are then brought
to the site to be assembled. The onsite casting
activities in IBS utilise innovative and clean mould
technologies.
The fundamental idea of IBS is to move onsite
construction work to a controlled manufacturing
floor. Therefore, the main advantage of using
the IBS system is that there is a high degree of
quality control from start to finish. IBS should be
able to control even the tiniest details of a design
with precision and consistency. Nevertheless, not
all builders are able to deliver projects using IBS.
This is due to the fact that the initial costs of the
site for manufacturing and heavy machineries are
expensive while our labour is still comparatively
cheap.
To promote and encourage adoption of
prefabricated construction or IBS, the Malaysian
Government through CIDB (together with the
captains of the industry) formulated a masterplan
called Industrialised Building Systems (IBS)
Roadmap 2003-2010 and is currently on its
second IBS Roadmap 2011-2015.
ROADMAP REVIEW
Two of the main objectives of IBS Roadmap 2011-
2015 are:
1. To sustain the existing momentum of 70%
IBS content for public sector building projects
through to 2015
In November 2008, the Treasury Malaysia issued
a Treasury Circular Letter, now referred to as

19
 INGENIEUR
SPP 7/2008, directing all Malaysian Government
agencies to increase the IBS contents of their PREFAB HISTORY IN MALAYSIA
building development projects (RM10 million and
above) to a level not less than 70 points of the IBS Prefab buildings in Malaysia started way
score and in that sense IBS must be incorporated back in the 1960s when Dewan Bandaraya
as part of the contract document for tender.  The Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) built the first prefab
decision was to create sufficient momentum for
flats in Jalan Pekeliling. About 22.7 acres
the demand for IBS components and to create a
spillover effect throughout the nation. The Ministry
of Education is the largest IBS construction
project buyer with the rapid construction of
secondary and primary schools, worth a total of
RM 2.4 billion. However, only 10% of 4,000
completed Government projects since 2008 have
used IBS as their construction method. This is
due to lack of monitoring from the Government
of contractors and their sub-contractors who
are not able to deliver IBS projects. Smaller
contractors tend to view IBS as a threat and not an
opportunity. Failure of the Government to create an
open system (to encourage participation of small of land along Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala
and medium components producers) has created
Lumpur was dedicated to the project
a monopoly of manufactures, thus increasing the
price of components and tender pricing. comprising seven blocks of 17 stories flat
consisting of 3,000 units of low-cost flat
and 40 shoplots. This project was awarded
2. To increase the existing IBS content to 50% for
to JV Gammon and Larsen and Nielsen
private sector building project by 2015
Residential projects such as flats, condominiums
using Danish System of large panel pre-
and terrace houses have high IBS potential due cast concrete wall and plank slabs. The
to their repetitive nature. The private sector built project was completed within 27 months
RM13.7 billion worth of these residential projects, from 1966 to 1968 including the time
compared to only RM1.8 billion by the public taken in the construction of the RM2.5
sector. If more of the private sector is convinced to million casting yard at Jalan Damansara.
adopt IBS, the resulting outcomes will be manifold.
The second prefab housing project
Based on a recent study by Construction
Industry Development Board (CIDB) the current initiated by the Government, comprising
uptake on IBS in private sector projects in Klang six blocks of 17-storey flats and three
Valley stood at 45%. This encouraging take up is blocks of 18-storey flats, was constructed
due to the fact that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) at Jalan Rifle Range, Penang. The project
is mandating the use of IBS for building projects was awarded to Hochtief and Chee Seng
constructed in Kuala Lumpur. Iskandar Malaysia is
using French Estoit System. The project
another local authority that is currently imposing
similar conditions with a positive outcome.
utilised the large panel system which
The report discovered that high rise required large concrete panel cast in the
development and factory-like buildings tend to factory and transported to site on trailers
have higher adoption of IBS compared to landed for assembly. The speed of construction is
properties and small commercial units; and the much faster although the tendered price
adoption in Malaysia is client-driven rather than was slightly higher by 5% to 8%.
end-customer’s demand driven.

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 On positive note, more private developers
have emerged as a champions of IBS including
Sime Darby Property Sdn Bhd, Sri Pajam Sdn Bhd
and Zikay Group. Apart from that, companies such
as Precast Product Sdn Bhd and Kim Lun Sdn Bhd
have successfully penetrating Singapore’s precast
market.
On the other hand, there is reluctance
among the small private companies to take risks
on IBS which is mainly due to cost and unstable
market;and hence lack of investment. Another
major barrier is the resistance from established
architects to use IBS. They are the hardest to
convince to use IBS compared to smaller and less
established architects.
To date, more than 160 IBS manufactures
are registered under Assessment of IBS Status
Company (AIS) - certification or accreditation
of components companies and installers. It is
perceived that most manufacturers are single
plant operators concentrated in selected states
only, propagating its own proprietary system, not
operating in full capacity and having difficulty
meeting the demands of contractors. It seems
that most locally developed products are based on
traditional materials such as reinforced concrete
and most use innovative materials based on
imported technology.
To encourage open system and
standardisation, standard catalogue for IBS
components has been published CIDB in 2012 and
standard joints for IBS components in currently
been developed by Construction Research Institute
of Malaysia.
UNRESOLVED ISSUES
(a) Modular Coordination
The introduction of Modular Coordination (MC) in
the industry not only provides dimensional basis
for the coordination of dimensions and of those
buildings incorporating them, but also acts as a
tool towards rationalization and industrialization of
the building industry. MC in buildings is not a new
concept. It is well documented in the Malaysian
Standard MS 10064: Part I -10: 2001. However,
the use of MC in construction is still on voluntary
basis and IBS proponents failed to include MC in
the Uniform Building-By-Law (UBBL) as stipulated
in roadmap’s recommendation.
(b) Failure of Open System
Based on the fundamentals of Open Building,
components are standardised and can be
interchangeable in a skeleton – infill concept.
However, the ideal state of having one common IBS
Open System for the whole industry is very unlikely
in the near future. This is because the industry
already has 160 IBS systems providers that cover
precast concrete frames, panels and blocks, steel
frames, prefabricated timber frames as well as
system formworks. Each system provider has
invested heavily and not all systems or production
facilities are easily adjustable or convertible.
(c) Lack of incentives to change to IBS
Some may argue that the incentive in the form of
exemption of levy for projects with minimum IBS
Score of 50% is too little. The effectiveness of the
offer is very unlikely due to the fact that the current
levy imposed on building projects is already low.
Initially the levy charged for construction projects
was at 0.25%. However, after the enforcement of
the Economic Stimulus Package in 2003, it was
reduced to 0.125% and as for low, low medium and
medium cost housing projects, no levy is imposed.
Based on the 0.125% rates, say for a RM20 million
project, the levy to be paid to the Government is
only RM250,000. The offer will only be attractive
if the increase of cost due to the usage of IBS
components is less than that value.
(d) Skill Shortages
Currently there is a shortage of skilled on-
site specialists for assembly and erection
of components and experienced IBS project
managers who can plan and coordinate with
the IBS manufacturers. Some of the larger IBS
manufacturers are finding it very difficult to recruit
people with IBS experience who can understand
the construction process and be able to translate
technical drawings to produce the required IBS
components. In addition, the installation process
on-site requires skilled installers. There are a
few options to train a skilled IBS installer. One
way is through apprenticeship and working with
contractors who are carrying out IBS projects. IBS
courses carried out in training institutions such
as Akademi Binaan Malaysia and Pusat IBS are
very short-term (approximately 3-5 days for each
module). The effectiveness of such courses may
21
 INGENIEUR
be questionable and need to be re-examined in the
context of creating IBS professionals to support
the industry.
RETHINKING AND REDEFINING IBS
(a) Understanding the degree of industrialisation
By comparison to the local definition, the term IBS
used in Malaysia covers a very wide scope which
includes the application of onsite systems. One
cannot distinguish it properly with conventional
practice. While other terms used to represent
construction industrialisation often relate to
innovative solutions; the current definition and
scope of IBS defined by CIDB includes low-
tech solutions and other common practices not
substituting conventional practices i.e. block
works and formwork systems. Therefore, even if
the large numbers of components in construction
are to be fabricated under IBS, the construction is
still forever site-intensive handicraft.
Rethinking the old processes is now critical if
the industry is to move forward in IBS. The industry
requires change management and business re-
engineering to encourage new mindset. To move
forwards, IBS needs to be redefined by looking into
the degree of industrialisation (Figure 1) and value
creation (Figure 2)
Figure 1: Degree of Industrialisation (Roger Bruno
Richard, 2005)
Figure 1 explains the degree of
industrialisation. There are five degrees of
industrialisation which are; prefabrication,
mechanisation, automation, robotic and
reproduction.
1. Prefabrication is a manufacturing process that
generally takes place at a specialised facility,
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in which various materials are joined to form a
component part of the final installation
2. Mechanisation comes in whenever machinery is
employed to ease the workload of the labourer
at factory or at site
3. Automation is a situation when the tooling
(machine) completely takes over the tasks
performed by the labourer.
4. Robotics comprise the ability of the same
tooling which has the multi-axis flexibility to
perform diversified tasks by itself. This follows
the mass-customisation concept.
5. Reproduction implies that innovative processes
that are truly capable of simplifying the
production process.
Prefabrication aims at the location of the
production whereas the next three degrees
(mechanisation, automation and robotics) aim at
substituting labour with machines. Reproduction,
on the other hand, is a concept borrowed from the
printing industry and it is an innovation capable
of simplifying the multiplier of complex goods and
delivering affordable, quality building to the vast
majority of people.
The Malaysian construction industry is
currently positioned at the prefabrication stage
(production of IBS pre-cast components). To reduce
the extensive use of labour and create value
from IBS, the way forward for the IBS industry in
Malaysia is through the adoption of mechanisation,
automation, robotic and reproduction concepts
instead of prefabrication (IBS) alone.
But changing of the fundamental idea of IBS
is still needed for the industry to have a clearer
picture on IBS and in order to create value out of
it. If we still rely on IBS Score, it will not change
people’s perception of IBS, neither moving the
industry to next level nor encouraging innovation
such as robotics and automation. People will not
embrace IBS in a holistic way, but just substitute
brick to precast system, while IBS is about
‘industrialising’ the whole processes. IBS needs
new paradigms and new way of doing things. The
‘IBS is precast’ mentality will probably drag us
downward.
(b) Redefining Industrialisation
In initiating industrialisation, volume alone
is not enough. Never before in the history of
industrialisation, has introduction of products or
processes or systems through industrialisation
depended on volume alone. Volume must
come together with value. Nonetheless, unlike
manufacturing, automotive and telecommunication
industries, which evolve and often innovate, the
construction industry still uses mould systems
and simple panel systems after 40 years of
adoption for the sake of practicality and cost
saving. By applying this, IBS has created no or little
value other than replacing wood mould with steel
or substitute panels to brick and mortar. Onsite
IBS mould systems or onsite panel casting pre-
cast system have been ‘over-rated’ by us as if it is
IBS at the most effective. Rarely do we hear about
innovative panel and roof systems (that cool the
house), modular bathrooms and kitchens. Neither
is the green component readily available in the
market.
It is imperative that, IBS should move up the
degree of industrialisation from prefabrication to
reproduction through innovation to create value.
The mass-customisation concept which is vital
to an open building system agenda can only be
achieved through the adoption of automation in the
level of industrialisation. In conclusion, IBS in the
future should be mechanised and using robotics for
reproduction and it has to create value to clients.
THE WAY FORWARD
(a) Creating Value - 3D Volumetric Construction
To create most value to customers and project
implementers through industrialisation, one of
the most probable technologies is 3D volumetric
construction. 3D Volumetric construction (also
known as modular construction) involves the
production of three-dimensional units in controlled
factory conditions prior to transportation to site.
Modules can be brought to site in a variety of
forms, ranging from a basic structure to one with
all internal and external finishes and services
installed, all ready for assembly.

Figure 2: IBS and Value Creation (CIB, 2010)

Figure 2 shows the value creation of

industrialised construction versus the type
of systems used, as well as the level of
standardisation. IBS can create the most
value when the product undergoes individuality,
integration and less standardisation in the form
of modular construction and integrated elements.
Increasing the individuality, content and spatiality
of modules results in a reduction in the series
sizes, while, on the other hand, increasing content
and spatiality adds more monetary value due to
rationalisation effects in the factory. Therefore,
the value creation of industrialisation can only
be established using robotised and automated
manufacturing process using 3D volumetric and
modular construction which is different from
current conventional practices. 3D Volumetric Construction

23
 INGENIEUR
The benefits of 3D volumetric construction
are listed below.
1. The casting of modules uses the benefits of
factory conditions to create service-intensive
units where a high degree of repetition and a
need for rapid assembly onsite make its use
highly desirable.
2. The use of volumetric construction has the
potential to reduce on site wastage by up to
90%, compared to traditional construction
3. The enormous increase of population during
the last decades has generated intensive
demand for houses. It is estimated that
Malaysia needs a total of 8,850,554
houses between years 1995 to 2020, with
an average of 1,790,820 units to be built
for every 10 years. IBS in the form of 3D
volumetric construction addresses issues
of fast track delivery. IBS can expedite the
delivery of affordable housing currently been
championed by Perumahan Rakyat 1 Malaysia
(PR1MA) and Syarikat Perumahan Negara
Berhad (SPNB). It could even be used to
complement conventional housing for the
Build-Then-Sell (BTS) concept.
4. 3D Volumetric construction could deliver high
quality and energy-saving houses, conferring
direct benefits to home owners. This will
translate to profitability for developers.
5. 3D volumetric construction technology allows
mass-customisation and increased value to
users. It will allow buyers to choose the finishes
and gives homes a personal feel.
However, the use of 3D volumetric housing
or modular construction requires new materials
(probably non-concrete), a ready supply chain and
requires technology know-how. The technology
also requires new machines and new skill sets
for the workers. There is a long way to go since
our present IBS construction is a concrete-based
industry and therefore it requires a paradigm shift
and cultural change.
(b) Championing the Sustainability Agenda
There are several aspects of IBS that have the
potential of contributing to different aspects of
sustainability and green construction, thus creating
more value to it. Some of the major aspects are
explained below:
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Controlled Production Environment
IBS offers a controlled manufacturing
environment with the ability to reach difficult
nooks and corners, which are often inaccessible
in regular in-situ construction. With the availability
of production tools, and permanent jigs and
fixtures, it is easier to control the workmanship
of construction and tighter construction resulting
in less energy losses due to leakages (thermal
leakage).
Minimize Waste
IBS traditionally has been known to minimize
waste, with the ability to reuse material from one
module or product into another. However, several
aspects of planning both in terms of materials
management and production management have
to be monitored in order to achieve the waste
minimization benefits.
Energy-efficient Buildings
Several pre-fabricated technologies such as
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) offer great
potential in terms of fabrication of more energy
efficient buildings. However, if appropriate process
controls and planning are not implemented these
potential benefits could be lost due to expensive
on-site assembly processes. Therefore, it is
important that the advent of new technologies
should be accompanied by proper process design
for onsite assembly.
Less Logistics
Some estimates have put the amount of
environmental impact from material transportation
activities to be one-third of total environmental
impact on the entire construction process. IBS
offers another benefit, and that is the ability to
order in large quantities thus reducing the number
of trips to be taken. Despite this potential benefit, it
is important that a detailed material transportation
and logistics plan be put in place.
Economic Sustainability
The ability of IBS to reduce reliance on labour
in construction is well documented. However, for
this to succeed there is the need to develop a
detailed training and dissemination strategy for
promoting IBS and preparing the workforce for
that.

CONCLUSION
IBS requires fresh thinking and ‘blue ocean’
strategies to capture new demand, create new
market space and offer customers a leap in
value such as in 3D volumetric construction. The
blue ocean is an analogy to describe the wider,
deeper potential of market space that is not yet
explored. Value-added IBS specialists (specialist
installers, small parts producers, specialist facade
manufacturers, specialist joints, specialist project
coordinators, specialist designers etc.) should be
encouraged.
With rising costs and shortage of construction
labourers, IBS is definitely the future. In terms of
quality and returns on investment, there should
not be much difference between conventional and
prefab homes. Eventually, the market will realise
that IBS produces a better quality finish and faster
construction. Besides overcoming the current
higher cost of IBS, we need to educate the public
on the better quality that can be achieved from IBS.
The Government needs to encourage
manufacturers to produce ‘3D volumetric and
modular housing’ which move all the work trades
at site to the manufacturing floor. We need to move
up the level of industrialisation and encourage
innovation, whilst low innovative systems which
do not contain enough value like mould systems
should be discouraged. Proper incentives and tax
holidays need to be introduced to cater for the
production of innovative IBS.
It is imperative that IBS is seen as
an evolution of construction using new and
innovative techniques rather than a revolution. By
understanding this, the Government should realize
that incentives and levy exemption are still needed
until the industry is mature. On the other hand,
low-tech IBS that do not create any value should
be dropped from IBS categorisation. Any incentive
for this type of system will not help the nation to
embrace construction modernisation.
Creating and encouraging the IBS industry
that is innovative should be a first priority. Volume
is good, but concentrating on volume alone is not
sufficient. On the other hand, industry must take
the lead on this. Use volume to innovate. We want
‘Praton Haus type of technology exploration’ again
but with greener and sustainable solution. Note:
Praton Haus is the most advanced system and
precast technology at that time, imported from
Germany in 1980s by Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri
Selangor (PKNS) to construct affordable housings.
Essentially, IBS should not be seen as a
threat to traditional methods. The failure of IBS to
penetrate the market is due to a misconception
that it will eventually replace the traditional sector,
while it actually should work closely in tandem to
promote best practices in construction. The sharing
of best practices between the two approaches is
essential for the continued successful development
of both construction market segments.
REFERENCE
CIB (2010), New Perspective in Industrialisation in
Construction: A State-of-the-Art Report, International
Council for Research and Innovation in Building
and Construction (CIB) Publication, TG 57
(Industrialisation in Construction), May 2010
Roger Bruno Richard (2005), Reproduction before
Automation and Robotics, Journal Automation in
Construction, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pg 442 -445
25
 INGENIEUR
New Model Of One Stop Centre
To Ease Issuance Of Construction Permits
By Puan Aminah Abd Rahman, Director (Technical), Local Government Department,
Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government
The introduction of the One Stop Centre
or OSC 1 Submission as a special lane
UPDATE
to get construction permits offering only
10 procedures and taking 100 days to
process marks a major improvement.
T
he World Bank 2013 Doing Business Report
ranked Malaysia at 96th place out of 185
economies under the indicator of Dealing
With Construction Permits (DCP). This ranking has
led to an unfavourable image of Malaysia in the
construction sector. A comprehensive review of the
regulations in DCP was initiated in Kuala Lumpur
with the aim of removing unnecessary bureaucratic
procedures and improving the existing procedures,
later to be extended and adopted by other local
authorities in Peninsular Malaysia. Problems
pertaining to obtaining construction permits
are largely due to the nature of the regulations,
weak enforcement, administrative issues such
as unnecessary duplication and inconsistencies
in procedures and incompetency both among the
agencies and professionals. The World Bank report
stated that to build and operate a warehouse in
Kuala Lumpur a Submitting Person would have
to go through 37 procedures that required 140
days to secure various construction permits from
several technical agencies.
A Focus Group in Dealing with Construction
Permits (FGDCP) has conducted a thorough study
to identify regulatory and non-regulatory procedures
that if deleted, are able to reduce the burden imposed
by the regulators on the business community in
dealing with construction permits, yet not sacrificing
safety and health of the public. The introduction of
One Stop Centre or OSC 1 Submission in Kuala
Lumpur as a special lane to get construction
permits offering only 10 procedures and taking
100 days to process marks a major improvement
in comparison to 37 procedures which required 140
days to complete as reported by World Bank.
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The New Model of OSC focuses on five main
processes during construction period namely pre
consultation (data gathering) process, approval
process, and notification to start work process,
final inspection and deposit of CCC process. The
Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local
Government (MHLG) in collaboration with Malaysia
Productivity Corporation (MPC) and FGDCP has
embarked on a series of road shows to promote
awareness and increased understanding among
industry players on the New Model of OSC.
Flowcharts of the five processes in the New Model
of OSC are in Appendix A.
The improvements initiated by the FGDCP
ease the issuances of construction permits and
hence is a testimony of a successful public and
private collaboration to improve a service delivery
system.
Focus Group in Dealing with Construction
Permits (FGDCP) Members
• Kuala Lumpur City Hall
• Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia
• Malaysian Communication and Multimedia
Commission
• National Water Services Commission
• Energy Commission
• Board of Architects Malaysia
• Board of Engineers Malaysia
• Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd
• Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd
• Tenaga Nasional Berhad
• Ministry of Federal Territories
• Ministry of International Trade and Industry
• Ministry of Urban Wellbeing Housing and
Local Government
• Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and
Water
• Ministry Information and Communication
Technology
• Ministry of Works
APPENDIX A
PROCESS 1 PRE-CONSULTATION

1.1

APPLICANT
• Gather technical requirement

• Layout Plan • Layout Plan

• Estimated electrical • Layout Plan • Layout Plan
• Estimated water supply
cosumption supply cosumption

1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

PTG/PTD
SKMM
TNB • Type of land application 14 DAYS
PBAN • Relevant NFPs
• source of electric supply to be settled
• Tapping point •Tapping point of relevant NFP
• Pressure at tapping point

1.6
APPLICANT
• Received technical input from 4
technical agencies
•Prepare documentations for formal
submission

Note :
Improvements
• Validity of technical input is 3 months from issuances of
• Data gathering process streamlined and monitored
input
• Technical requirements made known prior to formal
• Formal submission to OSC within the validity period
submission
• Benefit genuine investors

PROCESS 2 APPROVAL

2.1
PSP

Complete Submission
SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION OR STAGGERED
2.2
2.2 OSC
Checking of Document

No
Request Additional Complete?
Document

Ya

PLANNING 2.5 BUILDING PLAN 2.6 ENGENEERING PLAN 2.7

EXTERNAL TECHNICAL
2.3 2.4
LAND PERMISSION Building Engineering Department, AGENCIES
MATTERS Planning Department, PBT PBT JPS
Department, PBT •Structural Plan SKMM
State Land
•Earth Work Plan JBPM
Office •Building Plan
•Planning Plan •Work and Drainage Plan PTN/PTG
•Hoarding Permit
TNB
•Name of road • Roro bin permit •Street Lighting Plan
•124A • Name of Scheme •Utility Plan
JMG
•204D IWK
•Lanscape Plan •Excavation Permit JAS
•Others •Transfer of Earth Permit JPBD
•Public Road Usage PBAN
Permit JKR

2.8
OSC

Approval after fulfill the amendments

To be continued

27
 INGENIEUR
APPENDIX A
PROCESS 2 PLAN APPROVAL

Continued

2.9 OSC COMM

MEETING

2.10
OSC

2.11 INTERNAL 2.12 2.13 PTN

TECHNICAL FULL COUNCIL • Table
DEPARTMENT PBT •endorsement Land
•Issue official Matters to
decision States Exco
•Endorse plans •Forward
state’s
decision to
OSC
2.14 OSC
•Coordinate
and compile
Amendment of plans to be submitted to
•Issue
JK OSC consideration
endorsed
plans

Improvements 2.15
PSP/SP

• Single in single out process

• Reduce interactions between business to agencies

PROCESS 3 NOTIFICATION TO START WORK

PSP
3.1 Deposit
Notification
Deposit Checklist

• Project Implementation Schedule

• Declaration complying with IWK
• Declaration complying with JPS
• Declaration complying with SKMM
• Declaration complying with PPSPA
• List of consultants involved in projects
• Land Certificate
• infrastructure fund payment by check / money
order / bank draft
• JKJ Form
• B Form
• B Form (Earth Work)
• PDC 6
OSC
3.2 Distribute
notices to
agencies

3.3 3.4 3.5 APP 3.6

BUILDING
ENGINEERING (IWK/MAJAARI) DOSH / OTHERS
DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT ReceivePDC 6, AGENCY
Receive B Form,
Receive B Form, MSIG Receive
Second Schedule
Earth Work by law VOL II notification
UBBL 1984

Improvements

• Reduce interaction

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 FINAL INSPECTION (TESTING AND COMMISSIONING, REPORTS, CONNECTION, ISSUANCE
PROCESS 4 OF CLEARANCE LETTER)

Note : 5.1 PSP

• Submit request for
• Substation to be handed over to TNB once completed inspection with testing and
commissioning report

 Final inspection I for scope PBAN, TNB, PBT / IWK

Improvements
• Structured and monitored inspections
•Clearance letters issued immediately
• Testing and commissioning of systems based on
supplies designed for the development
•Reduce interaction
 Application for Communication Connection.
 Final Inspection II for JPBM, DOSH, APP (IWK/MAJAARI), PBT/JKR
5.2
OSC
• Issue notices for final inspection
• Monitor final inspection
•Flag off
• OSC inform NFP to do connection

FINAL INSPECTION I

5.3 NFP 5.4 PBAN5.4 5.5 TNB5.5 5.6 PBT / JKR

•Communication a.Final Inspection a. Final Inspection a. Final Connection
Connection b.Utility Connection b.Electrical b.Clearance letter
c.Report c.Connection CCC
Submission d. Clearance letter
d.Meter connection CCC
& Clearance letter
CCC

FINAL INSPECTION II

5.7 JBPM 5.8 DOSH 5.9 APP

a. Final a. Final (IWK/MAJAARI)
Connection Connection a. Final
b.Clearance letter b.Clearance letter Connection
CCC CCC b.Clearance letter
CCC

5.10 PSP
• Receive clearance
letters CCC

PROCESS 5 DEPOSIT CCC AND G FORM

PSP
6.1 • Deposit 2 copies
CCC & Form G within
14 days after CCC
issued

• CCC
• From G1 – G21

6.2
OSC
Receive & distribute

• CCC • CCC
• Form G1 – G21 • Form G1 – G21

6.3 6.4
BUILDING
LAM/LJM
DEPARTMENT
• Record & file CCC &
• Record & file CCC &
Form G1 – G21
Form G1 – G21

Improvements

•Reduce interaction
•Leaner process

29
 INGENIEUR
Are Professional Engineers
more accountable with the
implementation of CCC?
By Ir. Chen Thiam Leong
UPDATE
The first Certificate of Completion &
Compliance (CCC) was issued by a
Professional Engineer (PE) on March 4,
2008. Has the CCC proved effective so
far? Were PEs less accountable prior
to CCC? Have PEs been short-changing
the public previously? The writer gives
answers to these and similar queries.
I
n June 2004 the Prime Minister called for the
replacement of the issuance of the Certificate
of Fitness for Occupation (CFO) by the local
authorities with self-certification by professionals
with the intention of improving the efficiency of
the building delivery system and enhancing the
competitiveness of Malaysia globally.
Certificate of Completion and Compliance
(CCC) to be issued by professional architects and
engineers1 (PE) will replace the CFO previously
issued by the Local Authorities (LAs). The issuance
of CCC came into effect on April 12, 2007 and the
first CCC was issued by a professional engineer on
March 4, 2008.
In May 2008, upon review of the CCC
documents (Form F and G) received by the Board
of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), it was apparent that
many PSPs (Principal Submitting Persons) and SPs
(Submitting Persons) were not fully conversant
with filling up the various forms properly and some
defaulted on enclosures.
Examples of errors detected included:-
• Inserting PSP’s design drawing nos. instead of
LA’s Approval Reference no.
• Inserting Contractor with Company Name
instead of the required Individual Name with
NRIC no.
• Name of LA not inserted
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• Wrong discipline of PE signing as SP in Form G
• Non submission of Form G
• Non enclosure of Clearance Letters from Utilities
To overcome the problem, the BEM’s CCC
Sub-Committee published a comprehensive Guide
to Filling up CCC Forms F/F1 and G1 to G21 in
May 2008 which to-date remains posted on the
relevant websites of BEM, BAM, ACEM, IEM and
PAM. The footnotes on this Guide also carry the
following reminders:-
(1) PSP shall notify the local authority through
OSC (in writing or using prescribed form)
after Forms G1-G3 are certified (i.e. after
completion of Earthwork, Setting Out and
Foundations)2
(2) Form F/F1 and Form G-1 to G-21 shall be
forwarded to the LA and BAM/BEM within 14
days of the issuance of Form F/F1
With the publication of this Guide and footnotes,
all PSPs and SPs will have no more excuses of not
knowing about the intricacies of CCC.
After September 2008, BEM began issuing
warning letters to PSPs who failed to submit their
Form F/F1 or G within the prescribed deadline
of 14 days from the date of issuance of CCC.
To allow sufficient time for familiarization, BEM
decided to let all first time offenders off but would
refer repeat offenders for disciplinary action.
However, following the conclusion of a second
round of roadshows on CCC by BEM in 2012,
together with updates and repeat notices in the
BEM bulletin, BEM will no longer be lenient on first
time defaulters. Engineers are also reminded that
only Civil Professional Engineers may issue CCC
(Form F/F1) and only for Appendix B & C3 types of
buildings/projects. It is an offence for engineers to
issue CCC for Appendix A type of buildings.
Effectiveness of CCC
That the CCC regime has been more than
successful cannot be disputed anymore. CCC has
not only achieved its primary objective but more.
CCC has enabled the tracking of fraudulent and/
or unprofessional engineers, and is also capable
of tracking unqualified and defaulting contractors,
trade contractors as well as (in future) inspector-
of-works4.
All CCCs issued for Appendix C type of
buildings that are deposited with BEM are thoroughly
scrutinised for correctness and compliance. A list
of these issued CCCs5 is regularly updated on BEM
website for public consumption.
Through this process, a PSP who has
incorrectly signed a CCC will be issued a show
cause letter to be followed by appropriate action.
This process checks whether the PSP is a bona
fide PE who is permitted to issue the CCC6 and
whether the PSP is properly practising through
an Engineering Consultancy Practice (ECP). The
check also extends to verifying that each Form G is
correctly signed by respective PEs (as the SP) of the
relevant licensed discipline. All this thoroughness
serves to ensure that the interests of the public
are protected.
Prior to CCC, LAs who did receive Form E (or
their equivalent for different States) before issuing
CFOs, did not check on the authenticity of the
signing PEs and hence the possibility of fraudulent
PEs could not be discounted.
As a matter of statistics, with over 2,200
CCCs deposited with BEM, the following issues
have arisen and appropriate action taken:-
• All complaints from LAs (about 20) have been
investigated and hitherto no wrong practice has
been found. The complainants have been duly
notified and the findings copied to the Ministry
of Housing & Local Government.
• More than 30 PSPs or SPs have been found to
be practising without ECPs and majority of them
have taken up the opportunity given to rectify
within a prescribed period while a recalcitrant
few have been served disciplinary notice.
• Over 80 SPs have been hauled up for signing
Form G for the wrong disciplines.
• Three SPs have claimed their signatures have
been fraudulently used without their knowledge
or consent and they have lodged police reports.
• One PSP has been deregistered for fraudulently
issuing a CCC.
Now that BEM has finally cleared its backlog
of checking all deposited CCCs, the staff have
moved on to commence checking CCCs deposited
with the Board of Architects Malaysia (BAM). This
on-going task will take a while since there are
over 8,000 CCCs issued for Appendix A type of
projects. However, it is alarming to note that from
the initial Form G checked, the percentage of SP
(PE) offenders appear higher than for the Appendix
C projects.
The Practising Professional Engineer &
Engineering Consultancy Practice7
Amongst the reasons for PEs not adhering to the
requirements of CCC is the inexcusable ignorance
of PEs of the requisites of a practising professional
engineer. Therefore, in conjunction with CCC, it is
prudent to remind engineers of the clear distinction
between a practising engineer and a non-practising
engineer as well as a consulting engineer and a
contractor’s engineer.
The practising engineer in relevance to CCC
refers to a Consulting Engineer8 in the Construction
Industry who charges a fee to render his service
and acts as a PSP or SP as defined in the UBBL.
A PE may not necessary be a practising engineer
but may merely practise engineering, viz. as a
Resident Site Engineer for a construction project.
However, when acting as a Resident Engineer, he
acts on behalf of the Practising Engineer, and as
such his professionalism and conduct is equally
vital to ensure public safety and interest. A
competent lift engineer registered with the Factory
& Machinery Department, on the other hand, acts
on behalf of his lift contracting company, and under
no circumstances should any consulting engineer
compel him to sign on behalf of the consulting
engineer9.
Fraudulent Engineers
As highlighted earlier, before the advent of CCC,
there was no mechanism to detect fraudulent
engineers except through public complaints.
Over the years, BEM has received complaints of
fraudulent engineers. Two such cases involved
masquerading as engineers with doctorate
31
 INGENIEUR
degrees – one to impress his in-laws, and one to
seek employment.
Sadly, the implementation of CCC has also
exposed other forms of fraudulent practices, the
most prevalent being using PE stamps of some
unsuspecting PEs or even PEs who have migrated
or quit the industry.
Conclusion
As far as the effectiveness of CCC is concerned,
there is only one verdict and that is it has achieved
more than what it was set out to do. Public
interest is definitely better served and where
fraudulent practices may have escaped detection
in the past, CCC is able to uncover these acts
and hopefully completely eliminate such in double
quick time.
By ensuring errant engineers are stopped
in their tracks for practising out of their licensed
disciplines, public interest is further protected
before any calamity occurs. The same applies when
only serious consultants are permitted to practise
through registered ECPs to prevent ‘fly-by-night’
PEs – a very necessary step when the industry is
completely liberalised in the very near future.
The benefits of CCC can only get better
when the rest of the industry is ready to activate
its already in-built mechanism to track legitimate
contractors and inspector-of-works.

REFERENCES

1 The detail development of CCC was led by Ar Tan Pei Ing and Ir. Chen Thiam Leong on behalf of the
professionals.
2 The rationale for this early notification is due to the fact that some approved projects may not
commence construction at all during their approved Building Plan validity period of 12 months, and
hence, the local authorities are unable to plan their optional site inspections.
3 For definition of Appendix A, B and C projects, refer to www.bem.org.my and go to the “SERVICES”
tab.
4 Under the amended REA, inspector-of-works will be registered under the category of engineering
technologists.
5 Visit www.bem.org.my and go to the “SERVICES“ tab for the drop-down box on CCC and then open
the sub-menu on “list of submissions”.
6 CCC issuance is by means of Form F or Form F1, the latter is for a partial CCC and is normally not
applicable to a factory project. Use of Form F1 is now strictly controlled by BEM to prevent misuse
and can only be purchased from BEM after clearance of its legitimacy.
7 For a more comprehensive insight, readers are encouraged to read the two articles on The Practice
- Part 1 (published in the Third Quarter 2011 issue of Suara Perunding) and The Practice – Part 2
(published in the First Quarter 2013 issue of Suara Perunding). The Suara Perunding is a publication
by the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia for which all serious practising engineers
subscribe to.
8 A Consulting Engineer must practise through an Engineering Consultancy Practice, contrary to
misleading advice by certain pseudo lawyers over the years.
9 This ‘misconduct’ by some consulting engineers was uncovered recently when the Malaysia Lifts &
Escalators Association sought clarification from BEM after one of their members was given a show-
cause letter for signing on behalf of the consultant.

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 Green Building Index &
Green Housing

SPECIAL FEATURE
By Ir. Chen Thiam Leong

What is a Green Building?

Strictly for the benefit of those who are not familiar
with the construction industry ………. A Green
Building can be defined as a building designed,
built, operated and disposed of in a resource-
efficient manner with the aim of minimizing the
overall (negative) impact on the built environment,
human health and the natural environment. Some
examples of green building features are choice
of site and orientation, efficient use of materials
and resources, indoor environmental quality and
innovation.

Global Green Rating Systems

The British were the first to introduce a systematic
methodology of rating buildings green in the form
of BREEAM1 in 1990. The Americans released
their LEED2 rating scheme eight years later, but
thanks to their superior marketing acumen3, LEED
quickly overtook BREEAM in global subscription.
The Australians developed their Green Star rating
scheme in 2003 which was followed by Singapore’s
Green Mark in 2005.
What all these rating schemes have in
common is that all of these authorities first
launched their rating tools for non-residential
or commercial buildings. This should not be
unexpected since this is where the highest market
demand existed at the time. Their respective
residential tools followed about three years later.
Even later tools like India’s GRIHA, which first
launched their commercial tool in 2006 (India
licensed from America’s LEED) in the similar
vein following up with their residential tool four
years later in 20104. Malaysia’s Green Building
Index (GBI) rating scheme holds the distinction of
launching both the non-residential and residential
rating tools simultaneously on May 21, 2009.
Residential Green Rating Tools
Apart from the earlier market pressures to rate
commercial buildings first (in all countries),
another reason why rating tools for commercial
buildings are always developed first lies in the
commonality of facilities associated with such
buildings throughout the world where offices
need to provide the same indoor conditions to
enhance productivity wherever they may be sited.
However, the same cannot be said of residential
developments where the disparity in developmental
progress, wealth, culture and climate are too wide
to find common grounds. For instance, the types of
houses prevalent in the USA are not often found
in India and it was for this reason that India had
to develop its own residential tool even though it
took another four years to do so. Nearer to home
and even within the same region, housing in the
city state of Singapore can be distinctly different
from Malaysian homes except for the high-rise
towers. Hence, it was only appropriate that the
GBI residential tool had to be suited to our local

33
 INGENIEUR
building typologies ranging from the single landed
properties (which in turn comprises variants of
link terrace houses, single, double or even triple
stories; bungalow units, walk-up town houses and
apartments, high-rise low cost flats to high-rise
condominiums, not to mention the never ending
evolving ‘mixed’ schemes creatively named SOHO,
SOFO, SOVO, etc.).
Green Building Index (GBI)
The GBI rating scheme is developed to suit
the local Malaysian conditions, benefit the
local environment and incorporates Malaysian
laws and codes of practice. The credibility and
integrity of GBI is held in high esteem, stemming
back to 2008 at a BIPC5 meeting when REHDA
lamented on the mushrooming of developers
claiming their developments to be green without
any authentication and requested professionals
develop our own Malaysian rating tool stressing
that the professionals are the ones who are
impartial and are regulated by their respective
boards on their code of professional conduct6.
GBI RNC Tool
The GBI Residential New Construction (RNC)
Tool Version 1.0, after its launch in May 2009,
immediately started receiving constructive
feedback from the industry stakeholders which
resulted in the development of Version 2.0 after two
years7. However, RNC Version 2.0 was also found
wanting8, and a year later, a new comprehensive
exercise was undertaken involving independent
industry practitioners and stakeholders through
Facebook, email and physical participation to
realise RNC Version 3.0 which was launched on
July 11, 2013. After four years of GBI experience,
Version 3.0 has hopefully managed to capture all
the different (and still evolving) residential building
typologies in the country.
In line with GBI’s philosophy, the RNC rating
tool is similarly developed to meet the local
industry’s needs. The tool is not developed to
suit any stakeholder’s needs but is intended to
raise the standard of the Malaysian building and
construction practices through the increased
demand for CIDB’s IBS and QLASSIC9 due to
points awarded in the GBI for their compliance.
The tool also encourages recycling of construction
and domestic wastes10, harvesting rainwater11,
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promoting the reduction of heat island effect,
use of 5-star energy rated appliances and hybrid/
electrical vehicles.
The RNC tool succinctly discourages use of
air-conditioning and challenges designers to opt for
tropical designs to harness the natural environment
of the region. Use of public transportation is
generously rewarded. Pollution control, storm-
water management and renewable energy sources
are duly recognised.
In a nutshell, the tool is designed to cater for
Malaysia’s local conditions and addresses issues
associated with our climate, resources, stress and
priorities. It is designed to dovetail into Malaysia’s
own building industry; acknowledging its maturity,
compliance with local regulations, enhancing the
industry with trained and professional consultants
with integrity and adopting best industry practices.
RNC Version 3.0 has advanced a step further
(since the industry is now ready), by having a first
mandatory criteria in “Minimum Energy Efficiency”
requirement which is in line with the Uniform
Building By-laws (UBBL) 2012 Amendment on
Energy Efficiency, that reads;
By-law 38A. Energy efficiency in buildings
1. New or renovated non-residential buildings with
air-conditioned space exceeding 4,000 sq m
shall be;
• designed to meet the requirements of MS
1525 with regards to the Overall Thermal
Transfer Value (OTTV) and the Roof Thermal
Transfer Value (RTTV); and
• provided with an Energy Management
System.
2. The roof for all buildings (residential and
non-residential) shall not have a thermal
transmittance (U-value) greater than;
• 0.4 W/m2K for Light (under 50 kg/m2)
weight roof; and
• 0.6 W/m2K for Heavy (above 50 kg/m2)
weight roof,
unless provided with other shading or cooling
means.
Various Local Authorities have since been
duly briefed that implementation of this new by-
law can be by means of self-regulation by the
Principal Submitting Person (PSP) now that GBI
has provided training to the submitting persons
(Architects and Engineers) over the past four
 Does green pay off (in Malaysia)?
- Non-Residential Buildings -
projected data by Ir TL Chen (not verified:2009)

Green Average Meets GBI GBI GBI GBI

Building M’sian MS1525 Certified Silver Gold Platinum
Index Rating Bldg

BEI 250 200 - 220 150 - 180 120 - 150 100- 120 <100
kWh/m2.year

Energy Base 10 - 20 30 - 40 40 -50 50 – 60 > 60

Savings %
Incremental Base 1–3 5–8 8 – 12 12 – 15 >15
construction
(0 – 3)* (1 – 5)* (3 – 8)* (5 – 10)* (6 – 13)*
cost %

* Denotes revised projection in 2011

years, and furthermore, compliance with GBI rating
will automatically denote compliance to this by-law.
Green Housing & Green Township
Whilst the GBI RNC tool rates each individual
building green and which may cover the entire
housing scheme, the future market trend will
likely see demand to be part of a holistic green
township. The Government has already moved
ahead with greening Putrajaya and KeTTHA12 and
has embarked on its Low Carbon City Framework
(LCCF). These are still early days yet and GBI has
also responded to KeTTHA’s request to come out
with the GBI Township tool – a lengthy subject for
another time.
The Cost of going Green
When building green was first surveyed in 200813,
it was deemed as “the right thing to do”. Within
five years, the mantra has changed to “green is a
business imperative”.
Perhaps in the near future, the question will
be rephrased as “The Cost of not going Green”?
This prediction is not at all over optimistic since
within only a short period of four years, for example,
low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paints are
now priced at similar levels to non-low VOC paints,
and due to supply and demand forces, the latter
may soon cost more than the former in the very
near future.
Practitioners and responsible developers
have also begun attesting that it may even cost
nothing extra for residential developments to
achieve the minimum GBI Certified rating albeit
with conscious good design practices at the onset
especially addressing the passive design needs
(which are now mandated under the UBBL 2012
Amendment). As GBI buildings are completed and
green cost incentives are submitted, the actual
green costs expended appear to trend lower than
GBI predicted in 2009 (see table). For instance,
a recent GBI Gold rated residential building was
achieved with only about 3% cost increment.
GBI Status
GBI publishes its progress record on a monthly basis
and updates on the displayed table on facts and
figures are available on www.greenbuildingindex.org

35
‟
INGENIEUR
GBI is a recognised world class green
building rating system and similar to the
altruistic green drivers all over the world
Conclusion
Going green is inevitable as it is the right thing to
do. The challenge is no more proving the virtues
of going green but rather preventing the green
agenda from being hijacked by ‘green washers’
pretending to champion the cause to protect their
own selfish interests. GBI is a recognised world
class green building rating system and similar to
the altruistic green drivers all over the world; each
country needs to develop its own rating tool to suit
its sustainable needs and growth. The resolve to
resist regression and to acquiesce to any particular
stakeholder’s narrow interest must be upheld at all
times. To this end, GBI has walked the talk when
in 2010 GBI sent a team of trainers to assist the
Indonesian Green Building Council set up its own
rating tool (Greenship) instead of merely adopting
GBI. Similar assistance is now being extended to
other requesting countries – a testimony to GBI’s
standing.
REFERENCES
1 Building Research Establishment’s
Environmental Assessment Method
2 Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design
3 Bet you heard it before that the Yankees can
even sell you a bankrupt bank?
4 The author met up with the founders of
GRIHA in 2009 who confided that GBI was
absolutely right in developing our own tool
suited for our own country and that India
learned their lesson and will come out with
their own residential tool suitable for their
use.
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5 BIPC the acronym for Building Industry
Presidents’ Council which comprises
presidents representing the Architects
(PAM), Engineers (ACEM & IEM), Developers
(REHDA), Contractors (MBAM), Town
Planners (MIP), Interior Designers (MIID), and
Surveyors (RISM).
6 The Development of GBI is archived
under www.greenbuildingindex.org (go to
RESOURCE tab then scroll to GBI Documents
to view the title file.
7 It is an industry standard for all green rating
tools to be reviewed yearly for need to revise
as these tools are meant to be dynamic
and aims to keep raising the bar to attain
sustainability.
8 Due in part to unchecked influence exerted
by a certain working group member that
led to V2.0 being skewed towards high-rise
developments.
9 CIDB refers to the Construction Industry
Development Board; IBS refers to
Industrialised Building System; QLASSIC
refers to Quality Construction Standard
developed by CIDB.
10 Recycling of domestic waste which was
promoted by the Ministry of Housing & Local
Government more than 10 years ago, is now
enjoying far more success than ever before.
11 GBI has successfully promoted rainwater
harvesting ahead of the government’s
recently mandated laws albeit for only
specific developments.
12 KeTTHA is the acronym for Ministry of Housing
& Local Government
13 Surveyed by McGraw-Hill Construction
 Green IBS: A Design
Concept of Divergent

SPECIAL FEATURE
Dwelling System
By Gan Hock Beng, G&A Architect
Zuhairi Abd Hamid, Foo Chee Hung, Mohd Khairolden Ghani,
Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM)

The authors recommend a divergent dwelling system

for housing construction where service spaces are fixed
externally to form dwellings, but internal service spaces
can be changed to accommodate different functions with
minimum or no disturbance to the core structure.
Green IBS can be embedded in this design system by
incorporating IBS manufacturing practices and the ten
principles of green construction involving economic viability,
environment and sustainability.
37
 INGENIEUR
I
n a highly competitive industry such as building
construction where profit hovers around 5 –
10 % and risks are extremely high, unfamiliar
techniques such as Industralised Building System
(IBS) can easily blow out the 5 – 10 % profit target.
The objective is to make IBS the preferred mode of
design and construction, so that both clients and
stakeholders instinctively choose standardization
of components from the onset of any construction
project.
Finding solutions to the challenges faced
by implementing IBS relies upon active actions
by the developer, manufacturers and contractors.
They are builders that can change the construction
scene in Malaysia.
Firstly, let us examine the processes and
supply chain involving IBS. Manufacturer of IBS
components are commonly involved only after the
tender stage. However, IBS needs to be addressed
right from the onset of the design stage to ensure
that the successful optimization of design and
construction is carried out. IBS derives from a
combination of design office (architectural and
structural engineering), workshop detailing and
scheduling, manufacturing (factory) and construction
on site (Hamid, 1993). The flowchart activities in
IBS can be easily summarized in Figure 1.
The success of IBS construction depends
on close co-operation of the whole team. This
will enhance the advantages and versatility of the
system and could maximize cost benefits.
Planning must be precise and exact. It is
important that each member of the team is aware
of the constraints of the method and of the broad
implications arising from any errors or incorrect
decisions.
Architectural Design Concept
The architect must clearly define his concept
in a practical method of panel construction
and erection. An experienced architect with IBS
construction background will help in ensuring the
concept is practical. This does not mean that if
the architectural concept is not aligned with IBS,
the construction cannot be carried out. IBS allows
flexibility as it can be adopted in combination
with both traditional and conventional methods of
construction.
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ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CONCEPT
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DESIGN
DETAILING AND CHECKING
WORKSHOP DETAILING AND SCHEDULING
BUILDING COMPONENT MANUFACTURING
AND QUALITY CONTROL
TRANSPORTATION TO SITE
BUILDING COMPONENT AND SITE ERECTION
Figure 1: Flowchart Activities involved in IBS
Structural Engineering Design
Close co-ordination between the structural design
engineer, manufacturer, contractor and panel
erector is important. The design engineer must
be responsible for the design and certification
of the workshop detailing translated from
the structural detailing in accordance with his
design. The manufacturer normally engages a
third party to produce the shop detailing but in
some instances they produce it in house. It is the
responsibility of the manufacturer to inform the
structural designer on construction progress and
notify him of any changes made on site erection
and panel casting.
Building Component Manufacture and Quality
Control
In the factory, the casting of precast concrete
panels is done with stringent supervision and
quality control. Sufficient cover and reinforcements
are tied as required in the design. Concrete grades
ranging from 30 to 40 are normally used. Super-
plasticizer is used to achieve good workability.
All reinforced concrete works must be monitored
by a concrete foreman and a concrete steel fixer.
Completed panels are lifted after 18 hours and are
air cured for 24-28 hours before being delivered
to site.
Transportation to Site
Panels are brought to site by lorries or trailers.
Specially designed stackers are used to stack
the panels so as not to damage them structurally
during transportation. The panels are securely tied
or attached to the delivery vehicle by restraints
which do not damage them. Low friction material
should not be used as packing to support an
element. Slender members may require temporary
stiffening against lateral buckling. Casting of
panels is sometimes done on site simultaneously
with the factory.
Building Component and Erection
The erection sequence should be planned and
agreed between all relevant parties at the earliest
possible stage.
Overview of Mass Housing In
Malaysia
The issue of housing the mass population has
been the hot topic of conversation between all
parties involved from the top of Governmental
bodies down to the end users, the occupiers of the
dwellings.. Efforts have been encouraged by the
Government to encourage more affordable housing
to be built by both the public and private sector as
our nation edges towards developed nation status.
Designers have a moral and social responsibility to
address the issues involved in producing housing
designs that are affordable and fulfill the end user
requirements.
Housing especially for the lower income
group remains a top priority in the agenda for the
country’s development. The standard of housing for
these purpose needs to be given further thought
in the continuous development of better quality
housing for the population at large.
Generally, architects and planners with
the participation of the local authorities and
Governmental bodies should work together in
creating new ideas and concepts in housing
development.
Standard area and requirement for housing
The minimum size required for a habitable housing
unit is legislatively controlled by the Uniform By-
Laws, Malaysia.
The minimum build-up area for various
combinations of rooms to make up a housing unit
is as follows:-
Area Minimum size (sq m)
Living 11
First Bedroom 9.3
Second Bedroom 6.5
Third Bedroom 6.5
Kitchen 4.5
First Bedroom 1.5
Second Bathroom 1.5
In this instance, the minimum size of
a 3-bedroom / 2-bedroom housing unit with
approximately 20% of circulation area would be 49
sq m or 527 sq ft.
Normally, in the housing industry provided by
the private sector, the size of the built-up area is
determined by the selling price of the unit.
Divergent Dwelling Design
ALTERNATIVE
To solve the problem of rising demand for housing
, the current architectural strategy, namely the
convergent design system is found to be deficient
and an alternative design system must be utilized.
This is the divergent design system.
The convergent design system implies
extreme compartmentalization and dissociation
of internal elements, where service space is built
internally in a house, interlocking with its space
fundamentally, making said service space difficult
to interchange or dispose of .
The divergent design system meanwhile is
defined as an architecture where service spaces
are fixed externally to form dwellings of which
its internal service spaces can be changed to
accommodate different functions with minimum or
no disturbance to the core structure.
The proposed concept attempts to evaluate
the present norms of housing design without
sacrificing the built-up area, spatial layout and the
39
 INGENIEUR

Source: Adapted from HB Gan (2013)

Figure 2: Illustrations on the differences between convergent and divergent systems
comparison between Convergent Design System and Divergent Design System

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‟
The success of IBS construction depends
on close co-operation of the whole team.

improvement in the quality of design. In fact, there
is a possibility of increasing the internal spatial
layout and also improving the garden space/green
areas so that a greater percentage of the land
can be used for amenities without sacrificing the
number of units.
The unit plan design allows flexibility in
forming the basic unit configuration which then
responds to the nature of the site conditions.
A flexible unit plan is a key element in
adapting to the formation of a site layout plan.

Tropical Building Design Design of Unit Plans

– The Divergent Dwelling The layout design of the unit takes into consideration
the following:-
System • The spatial and functional arrangement
Four levels of housing design are utilized in this • The potential to expand space for increased
process occupant’s usage.
1. The design of unit plans • Maximizing natural lighting and ventilation.
2. The design of unit configurations • The continuity of the traditional housing
3. The design of sustainable strategies concepts into a modern contemporary
4. The design of structures and construction residential development.

comparison between Convergent Design System and

Divergent Design System
Convergent Design System (mass housing) Divergent Design System (molecular dwelling)

Convergent housing process. Components Divergent housing process. Attached externally.

enclosed within.
Each unit is interdependent on others, because
sharing wall and floor and common physical
barriers. Way of stacking is repetitive horizontally
and vertically. Very few can provide varieties of
architectural design layout.
Each unit is independent of the other. Can
change or renew units without much disturbance
or interference with others.
Open-plan. Occupants can redesign freely and
incorporate whatever changes they want to suit
own personal tastes and styles, by switching or
rearranging the components.

Inflexibility. Very difficult to modify and change.
Bathrooms, kitchen, living rooms, etc interlocked.
Allows flexibility. With changes possible for
switching toilets, kitchen, wash areas and living
areas, as well as introduction of new functions
in existing spaces. Switching component spaces
is possible.

41
 INGENIEUR
Convergent Design System (mass housing)
Does not solve problem at large. Every dwelling
is slightly different, and the convergent process
inhibits machine production. Mass production
can only be achieved in part prefabrication,
which does not solve housing construction to
a large extent. Any new products developed
in the market by advancement of science and
technology are difficult to be incorporated into
mass housing due to convergent, interlocking
elements of whole.
Developer can only wait for new schemes to
incorporate their ideas, deterring them from
progressing with their ideas further.
The circulation system – comprising paths to
ascend and descend a structure, as well as
to travel along a horizontal plane within the
structure – are largely fixed.
Even external access such as roads along the
periphery of the structure are fixed. Any changes
of paths entails not only the ejection of the path,
but destruction resulting in abortive work and
disturbance to the community.
The paths are largely convergent and rigid. It is
difficult to fit or introduce new paths into the
circulation system of the overall structure.
The structure is usually built with one particular
land use in mind. So any move to change the
land use entails either massive renovation for a
complete overhaul, or a total destruction of the
structure to be replaced by a newer one.
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Divergent Design System (molecular dwelling)
Allows for machine production. Standardized –
there is a unit constant that allows for machine
production and industrialisation. For example,
bathroom and kitchen dimensions are fixed for
mass production, though internal fittings and
appliances may vary from one unit to the other.
The purchaser has a wide spectrum of choice
with regards to products in the market. Hence
the architecture can comprehend the advances
of science and technology over time. Resulting in
faster production at economical rates – applying
little to get more result.
The manufacturing of the unit does not involve
excessive site labour. Installation is also done
with less time and cost. The period product
development to manufacturing to marketing is
relatively short.
Creation of instant pathways that can
change, revised, expanded with least
disturbance to other unit occupants.
Incorporation of vertical circulation with lifts and
escalators as external divergent components
to contribute to a complete network of three-
dimensional circulation.
This has increased efficiency by manifold
compared to two-dimensional suburban sprawl.
So molecular dwellings incorporate planning and
architecture into a single entity.
Facilitates and allows complete and overall
change of structural use for very different sectors,
with simple replacements of moveable parts. A
residential unit can be changed to commercial,
and a commercial to recreational purposes. For
example, by incorporating kitchen and toilet in
a residential space can be converted to a café.
 Convergent Design System (mass housing)
Since every structure has no connection with
the surrounding, this results in each structure
becoming an isolated island by itself.
This discourages any creation of bigger physical
community as any interaction between structures.
Any attempt to join up different structures
would likely result physical disharmony and
disproportion. Inefficient execution of planning
can hence result in slum areas and waste in
spaces available.
The process of mass housing discourages
the incorporation of science, technology and
industrialisation, as the structure is largely fixed
with its predetermined fittings.
Figure 3: Embedding aspects of IBS to 10 Principles of
Green Sustainability for Malaysian Housing Construction
Divergent Design System (molecular dwelling)
Put together, molecular units can become part
of a greater molecular community and even
molecular township.
One does not have to determine in advance the
overall makeup of a group of units, for the whole
community may just be cultivated or generated in
a naturally evolving manner. This programmable
dwelling pattern will enable a variety of
dwellings to be processed, to constantly renew
themselves owing to industrialisation and with
rational rearrangement of all available habitual
spaces and incorporation of machine production
resulting in the community that has no slum,
and where no redevelopment is necessary. No
part of it need ever be obsolete.
With its ability to have component areas
substituted, there is also greater flexibility
to introduce new technological devices and
equipment. It is also easier to modify each
existing component space, to make it adaptable
to a newer function, and open to new amenities.
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 INGENIEUR
RECOMMENDATION
The Divergent Dwelling System makes possible
the creation of dwellings, communities or even
townships which may grow old yet without
becoming obsolete, which may absorb the latest
ideas yet have a sense of history, communities
in which the population can live for generations
and which yet incorporate the potential of
change.
Migration to a sustainable ‘mentality’ requires
a lot of change in attitude, innovation, creativity,
research and support from many stakeholders.
The strategic direction, implementation
strategies and research and development have
to be driven in harmony. It is envisioned that all
initiatives mentioned need to be taken forward
simultaneously. Every stakeholder involved must
stand together and react as a team, not as an
individual champion.
The era of sustainability is currently taking
its stand, and the construction industry must
demonstrate that it can lead and take this forward.
Green technology is an important element under
the sustainability domain. Based on a research
by Lockwood (2007), there are ten principles
to be adopted if one wants to implement green
construction as shown in Figure 3. Embedding
aspects of economy viability, design principles and
environment within IBS manufacturing practices
framework into the 10 Principles of the Green
Way (Hamid et. al., 2011, Lockwood, 2007) will
bring synergy towards green construction and
implementation of sustainability in Malaysia.
REFRERENCES
Hamid. Z. (1993) Engineered Precast Concrete
System, Public Works Department Malaysia Senior
Officers Meeting 1993 - Shangri-La Hotel, Penang
Hamid, Z. A., Kamar, (2011), Aspects of off-site
manufacturing application towards sustainable
construction in Malaysia, Construction Innovation
Journal 12 (1), 4-10, Emerald.
HB Gan (2013), Molecular Architecture: THINGS TO
COME. GMA Publication.
Lockwood, C. (2007). Building The Green Way,
Harvard Business Review on Green Business
Strategy, Harvard Business School Press, USA.

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Malaysia
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45
 INGENIEUR
PROJECT REPORT

ECO-FRIENDLY HOUSES
IN JANDA BAIK
By Ar. Choo Gim Wah
Photographs: Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio

Two unique houses built on difficult terrain in Janda Baik,

Pahang prove it is possible to construct eco-friendly houses
in the deep forest with minimum interference to natural
surroundings.

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The Fan House
The Fan House is a three-storey house
located in the lush greenery of Janda
Baik forest in Pahang. It consists of
five bedrooms, six bathrooms with
approximately 6,800 sq. ft of enclosed and
terrace areas.
The site terrain gently slopes down
from the adjacent public road to the lower
platform. There are two existing platforms
on site. The first platform is approximately
46 ft down from the public road to the lower
platform.
The inspiration for this house came
from the natural contour of the sloping
yet curvilinear terrain and forested
surroundings. With the sculptural form in
mind, all the functions and requirements of
the owner are nicely incorporated. It’s not
the usual “form follows function” approach.
To minimize the earthwork and
interference of the existing slope, the house
hugs the terrain unobtrusively. Despite
the simple and modern look, the house’s
open plan living/dining and dry kitchen
areas are designed with high ceilings and
well lit interior spaces to allow natural air
ventilation within.
A slightly curved balcony spanning
55ft (17m) long and 9ft (2.7m) wide next
to the open living/dining areas allows the
dwellers to fully enjoy the fresh air and the
beautiful panoramic view of the forest.
The unobtrusive design blurs the
barrier between the outdoor and indoor
spaces.
As an architect, it was challenging to
design, construct and supervise the work
due to the shape of the building situated
on a very steep terrain while ensuring
minimum cutting of trees in the forest. All
the hard work and support from contractors,
engineers and workers have paid off; we
have overcome all these obstacles and
produced yet another beautiful landmark in
the deep forest.

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 INGENIEUR

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The Deck House

The Deck House is a 2 ½ storey house located in the

lush greenery of the Janda Baik forest, at the
foothill of Genting Highlands, Pahang. This house
consists of three bedrooms, three bathrooms with
approximately 4,000 sq. ft. of enclosed and outdoor
area.
The site terrain gently slopes down from the
adjacent public road on higher ground. The brief from
the client was to design a simple, unassuming and
‘modern’ looking house. The profile and section of
this house hugs the terrain with minimum interference
of the existing slope.
Despite its steel and glass look, the house
functions like a traditional tropical house with
high ceilings, well lit interior spaces, and sufficient
ventilation with windows on most walls and aluminium
louvres at the highest part of building for the hot air
to escape. Most of the building is designed with
steel and glass to achieve a lightweight feeling. The
foundation and the stumps of the building are made
of conventional reinforced concrete. The extensive
use of glass as the surrounding skin enables the
occupants to enjoy the surrounding forest view.

49
 INGENIEUR

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 Living in Janda Baik with the relatively
moderate climate allows the occupants to enjoy
outdoor activities and fresh air practically all day
long. Hence, extensive outdoor areas such as
deck to living/dining area and terrace to master
bedroom form a critical part of the building design.
To enter the house from car park/driveway,
one has to cross the steel and timber bridge. Upon
entering the house, there is a small entry hall with
a door to the master bedroom slightly on the right.
The master bedroom boasts 6.8metre wide (22 feet
wide) sliding glass doors which open to a generous
terrace outside. From the main entry hall, one can
walk down to the living/dining/kitchen located at
the lower ground floor via a steel/timber staircase.
This space is a majestic two-storey void enclosed
in glass with a full view of the surrounding forest.
The master bedroom above can also view the living
area via this void.
The living/dining/kitchen is designed as a
single open plan space connected to the highlight
of the house – a 10.5m (34.5 ft) long and a 6.8m
(22 ft) wide timber deck supported by a steel
structure underneath. The last 2.5m (8.2ft) of
the deck is cantilevered out from its supporting
beam to create the effect of an “infinity deck”. The
occupants of the house spend most of their time
on this deck. As most trees adjacent to building
are maintained, one can almost touch the leaves
of the trees from this deck.
Timber is used as the floor finishes for both
the living and the deck areas, thus merging the
living/dining and the deck through the full height
glass panels. This combination creates a single
and large open plan ‘infinity’ platform with an
undisturbed 3600 view of the forest. Furthermore,
the extensive use of timber has created an
extremely rich and warm feel for this space,
complementing the forest nearby.
Ultimately, this is a cosy and comfortable
house to live in; providing extensive outdoor spaces
for the occupants to enjoy the stunning green forest
within the relatively cool climate of Janda Baik; as
well as being designed and built with minimum
interference to the existing terrain.
51
 INGENIEUR

THINKING &
BUILDING “GREEN”
PROJECT REPORT

By Sam CS Tan,
Group Managing Director, Ken Holdings Berhad

The writer shares the energy-saving measures and environment-friendly principles behind KEN Bangsar,
a residential development that has earned the highest green recognition in Malaysia. He affirms that
reducing the energy footprint of a building requires mindset change towards green and sustainable
living for its occupants.

C
onventional thinking
dictates that to save
money, energy usage
should be minimised and the
use of air-conditioning or water
be as little as possible. But,
proper forward planning, together
with the evolution of technology
has come to a point where this
statement is not necessarily the
case. Here, KEN Bangsar is one
of the best examples.
When we started on KEN
Bangsar, we did not build or
construct with the aim of winning
any award nor cater to the criteria
of being a Green Building. The
project was developed and
constructed based on what we
felt were right principles. It has
also always been our philosophy
that we are not just building
a structure or home per se,
but that everything we do is to
“Develop Your Future”, which is
our tagline, and to create and aid
in sustainable, green living.
We always believe that
homes which are passively-
designed harness the use of
natural energy and resources,
which in the long run works to
maximises the thermal comfort
of a home. Such designs will Figure 1: KEN BANGSAR – Malaysia’s 1st Multiple Award-Winning
significantly improve the comfort High-Rise Residential Development

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Figure 4: Laminated low-E glass is used throughout the building, allowing for abundant natural daylight
into each unit. At the same time, the low-emissivity coating on the glass reduces heat and harmful solar
UV radiation into the units, thus decreasing the dependence on excessive air conditioning to cool the
interior.

in a home and reduces the need

for a cooling system.
In KEN Bangsar, passive
principles are utilised to achieve
optimum energy savings by
tempering interior temperatures
and maximising the natural
lighting advantages of the
building. Homes that are passively
designed harness the advantage
of our natural climate to maintain
maximum thermal comfort.
In Malaysia’s tropical
climate, building interiors are
conventionally kept cool by
air-conditioning units which
Figure 5: Large balconies and ledges that extend up to 1.5 metres
necessitate a high consumption around the façade of the building provide further shade against our
of electricity. Modern air tropical sun. Sliding doors and windows can be easily opened to
conditioners are now produced take advantage of the abundant breeze on the peak for ultimate,
with inverter technology, which natural ventilation.
uses a variable-frequency drive
to control the speed of the motor air conditioners, which use only compared against MS1525
and the compressor. This allows one compressor unit to power requirements, the estimated
the aircond unit to continuously multiple indoor units. The result annual energy savings yielded
regulate its thermal transfer is up to 60% in energy savings by these innovations are
flow (and hence its energy compared to conventional 489,124kWh, leading to
consumption) by altering the split-unit air conditioners. The further reduction in annual CO2
speed of the compressor in penthouses are further fitted emissions by 293,474kg.
response to cooling demand. with the latest energy efficient KEN Bangsar also boasts
KEN Bangsar is fitted with inverter-driven Daikin VRV II air- of KEN’s proprietary, innovative
with Daikin’s multi-split inverter conditioning systems. When cooling system, called ‘CHEEL’,

53
 INGENIEUR

GREEN AWARDS GALORE FOR KEN BANGSAR

KEN BANGSAR is a 15-storey residential building located on the peak of Bukit Bandaraya – the
highest point in Kuala Lumpur – in the affluent, progressive suburb of Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. It is
widely-recognised as the most environmentally-friendly residential project in the country due to the
numerous green initiatives that had been incorporated into the design philosophy and subsequent
construction of the building.
KEN Bangsar was duly
accorded several prestigious
awards, including the Green
Mark GoldPLUS Award from
the Building and Construc-
tion Authority (BCA) of Sin-
gapore, the first such award
ever accorded to a Malaysian
property. In 2010, KEN Bang-
sar was also the winner of
the Malaysian Green Building
Index (GBI) Gold Award, and
the recipient of The Edge’s Figure 2: Awards won by KEN Bangsar.
PAM Green Excellence Award 2010. In recognition of its status as the pioneering exponent in the
green building movement, KEN was also awarded the Best Green Developer 2010 title by New
Straits Times. In March 2011, KEN Bangsar was the recipient of the Citation award in the Residen-
tial Architecture – Multiple Houses category in the FuturArc Green Leadership Awards 2011. KEN
Bangsar also won the most prestigious award, the FIABCI Malaysia Property Award 2011 under
the sustainable development category.

Figure 3: A lot of effort has been pursued to obtain approval to beautify the
surrounding of the reservoir for the benefit of owners and the community of Jalan
Kapas. Extensive greenery accompanied by recycled tiles wall feature screen off
the area on the road leading into Ken Bangsar.

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in its reception lobby. The CHEEL
system recycles condensate
water from the building’s air-
conditioning units (which would
have otherwise been discharged
into drains) whilst an Aumada
Wizard heat pump harvests
waste heat from the air-
conditioning compressors. This
enables hot water to be recycled
and utilized for public areas of
the buildings, for example the
toilets on the ground floor. At the
same time, cool air discharged
from the heat pump is recovered
and piped to an aesthetically
pleasing, evaporative two-
storey high indoor waterfall to
facilitate natural ventilation.
This in turn provides residents
with improved indoor thermal
comfort by naturally lowering
the temperature of the double
volume lounge and lift lobby
where the waterfall is sited.
Figure 6: KEN’s proprietary, innovative cooling system - ‘CHEEL’.
Together with the wind
tunnel that was deliberately
designed into the lobby area
to exploit the clean, plentiful
breezes at the apex of the hill
and to maximise air circulation,
the CHEEL system produces an
energy savings of approximately
5,084kWh per annum. This
innovative use has eliminated
the need to install a 40HP
air-conditioning unit that
would otherwise have cost an
estimated RM5,000 per month
to run. The CHEEL waterfall
also has the added benefit of
providing a pleasant sensory
experience for visitors.
Apart from that, KEN
Bangsar was the first residential
building in the country to pre-
install energy efficient, 13-watt
compact fluorescent lights
for all units. As such, buyers
were saved the expense and
inconvenience of renovating
their ceilings to accommodate
additional lighting needs. All
penthouses are fitted with
lighting control systems,
which automate energy usage
throughout the three-storey
penthouses using timers and
dimmer switches to reduce
power consumption.
Not only taking into con-
sideration the end result, two
different zones — working and
resting — were created with tim-
ers set in each of them during
construction itself. Creating tim-
ers for the two zones effectively
ensure that electricity consump-
tion could be monitored and
wastage eliminated accordingly.
Proper and thorough planning
was also undertaken during the
life cycle of the project, and only
areas that required lighting were
illuminated.
55
 INGENIEUR

Figure 7: KEN BANGSAR’s

double volume lounge
utilizes the CHEEL system,
incorporated through
decorative waterfall wall.

collectively serve to reduce

overall electricity consumption.
Passive infra-red motion sensors
installed in public areas act to
Figure 8: Our definitive black and beige marble wall in the lobby activate lighting only when the
was constructed by reusing cut marble. In keeping with our green
presence of traffic is detected,
principles and belief, instead of discarding the marble pieces, cut
providing further energy savings
out of size and not reused in the building of the units, we have
recycled and reconstructed the odd-sized pieces to create an of 5,154kWh per annum. Energy
aesthetically-pleasing wall. saving lifts are used in the
building, ensuring that the lifts
go to sleep when not in use.
Energy efficient light On top of that, energy- With these efforts, the
fixtures have also been installed savings measures such as monthly electricity bill for the
in all common areas, including motion sensors in areas with common areas averages only
the car park, staircases and other less traffic, the dearth of air- RM2,000 per month, compared
external sections, yielding a total conditioning in the reception with other projects of a similar
energy savings of up to 70.55%. lobby and lift lobbies at all scale, which average RM8,000
Energy-efficient LED lights in the levels, light management per month.
building’s façade help save an via timers and the selection KEN Bangsar features an
additional 7,300kWh each year. of such lighting as T5 bulbs energy-efficient central water

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heating system which provides
an uninterrupted supply of hot
water to all units. The annual
energy savings from utilising a
central water heating system
instead of individual water
heater units in each residence is
estimated at 131,765 kWh per
year, with annual C02 emission
reductions of 56,000kg per year.
Water usage in the units
is similarly minimised via a dual
flushing system in the toilets.
In the common bathrooms,
hot water is provided by a heat
pump which harvests waste
heat from the air-conditioning
compressors, converting it into
hot water for public area toilets.
Malaysia enjoys an
average annual rainfall of
2,500mm or 100 inches of rain
per year. Taking advantage of the
abundant rainfall in the country,
Figure 9: KEN BANGSAR’s salt chlorinator pool eliminates common problems for swimmers caused by
chemical chlorination.
KEN incorporated a water
harvesting tank into its design
for the rooftop of KEN Bangsar.
Surface water from the roof is
collected in the tank and a drip
irrigation system with sensor
controls that is linked to the tank
releases rainwater to irrigate
the landscape throughout the
grounds of KEN Bangsar, thereby
reducing potable water usage
for landscape irrigation by 50%
and saving approximately 4m3 of
base potable water consumption
per day. In this manner, the usage
of potable water for landscape
irrigation is kept to an absolute
minimum.
The installation of water
efficient fittings and sanitary
ware also helps the reduction
of use of potable water in the
project. In KEN Bangsar, water-
saving fittings and sanitary
ware manufactured by Toto,
Dornbracht, Villeroy & Boch,
and Hoesch are being used and
these collectively reduce the
base annual water consumption
of the building by 50%. KEN
Bangsar penthouses enjoy
the luxury of the world’s most
technologically advanced WC,
the TOTO Neorest, chalking up
yet another first in the country.
The use of low-VOC (volatile
organic compound) paints in
KEN Bangsar ensures that the
indoor environmental quality is
preserved and this forestalls
the health and environmental
hazards caused by conventional
petroleum-based paints.
In KEN Bangsar, the
swimming pools are filled with
saltwater which, through the
process of electrolysis by the
chlorinator, converts natural
57
 INGENIEUR
Figure 10: KEN Bangsar is an exemplary project where we successful readapted the previous existing
construction. Instead of discarding everything from the existing structure, we put aside and reuse
materials that were still in good condition. The salvaged tiles were being reused to construct the feature
wall at the penthouse swimming pool.
salt into sodium hypochloride,
the sanitizing agent commonly
used in swimming pools. Apart
from reducing the carbon
footprint of the building (on-site
chlorine generation utilises far
less energy than commercial
chlorine plants), saltwater
chlorination eliminates the need
for excessive use of chemicals
whilst yielding the additional
benefit of reduced maintenance
costs. The saltwater pool also
eliminates common problems for
swimmers caused by chemical
chlorination such as stinging
eyes, rashes and unpleasant
chemical odors.
To alleviate the effects of
Malaysia’s tropical heat, KEN
Bangsar was installed with a
metal roof above the penthouse
units. This effectively creates
a double roof with double
insulation, affording the building
an extra layer of protection
against the impact of intense
solar heat radiation on its roof.
The metal roof incorporates
a layer of fibreglass wool and
another layer of high-density Dow
extruded polystyrene. The top
of the roof was further painted
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with SK Kaken Cool Tight heat-
insulating paint, thereby giving
the roof a u-value of 0.16W/
m2 and minimising residents’
dependence on air-conditioning
to cool down the interiors of
their residences.
In Malaysia, there is the
Sirim Ecolabel scheme, which is
the Government’s way of commu-
nicating a product’s environmen-
tal benefits to consumers. Under
this, products are independent-
ly tested and verified against
preset criteria before they are
qualified.
Singapore practises
its Green Labelling Scheme,
which was launched in 1992
and applies to most products,
except food, drinks and
pharmaceuticals. Post-testing,
the Green Label are applied to
products which meet the eco
standards specified by the
scheme and is recognised by the
international Global Ecolabelling
Network.
In essence, the more ticks
a product or property is awarded,
the greener that product is.
In conclusion, the practice
of reducing our energy footprint
need not be a tidal change.
Nor does it require technical,
scientific intervention to
happen. Many of us have
already adopted the use of
energy saving bulbs, which
operate on the same principle:
higher upfront capital costs in
return for (significantly) lower
energy consumption.
Ultimately, once one’s mind
is made up to keep to green,
sustainable living, it is ultimately
only a matter of selection. Pay
a little more initially and watch
the payback in cost savings. This
is all a symbiotic circle, though
not one which many people have
recognised just yet.
When making a decision,
we often always ask ourselves,
“What is in it for us?”
This is the very mindset we
adopt when building our proper-
ties. For every project we under-
take, we ask ourselves, “What
are we building for our buyers
and what is in it for them?”
As we continue to effect
change from top down, the
decision to consistently practice
a green and sustainable lifestyle
is much easier to make.
REIT Management & Pivotal
Role of the REIT Manager
By Dato’ Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip, CEO, Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd
THE BASICS OF REIT
Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT) operates under a highly
governed regime where interests
of unitholders are the outmost
priority. In Malaysia, the relevant
laws and guidelines governing
are the Securities Commission
Guidelines on Real Estate
Investment Trusts, Securities
Commission Licensing
Handbook, Capital Markets
Services Act 2007, Bursa
Malaysia Main Market Listing
Requirements.
A generic REIT structure
is illustrated in Diagram 1.
The parties involved in REIT
management are the REIT
manager whose role is to
manage and administer the
REIT in accordance with the
objectives and investment policy
of the REIT and the REIT Trustee
who acts in the interest of the
unitholders and has its role as a
custodian for all the assets of the
REIT. The REIT is constituted by
a deed made between the REIT
Manager and the REIT Trustee.
The relationships of both parties
are governed by this deed.
Depending on the REIT
structure, a REIT may be backed
by a Sponsor. A Sponsor has
two key roles to play; that is
to supply pipeline assets to
the REIT for continuous growth
and to incubate assets before
the assets achieve the optimal
INVESTMENT
Diagram 1: A generic REIT structure
Sponsor Unit holders
(if applicable)
Investment Distributions
in Units
Acts on behalf
Management
services
of unit holders
REIT Manager REIT Trustee
Management
Fees
Trustee Fees
Regulators
Indirect Agents
(MRMA, APREA)
Diagram 1: A generic REIT structure
Source: Sunway REIT
level to be injected into REIT. management track record and
The indirect agents such as high level of integrity.
Malaysian REIT Managers The key differentiating
Association (MRMA) and Asia factors that distinguish REIT
Pacific Real Estate Association managers are:
(APREA), being the external 1. Clearly defined sustainable
parties, act as promoters for growth plans
the Malaysian REITs (M-REITs) 2. Strong corporate governance
industry. 3. Transparency in disclosures.
It is crucial for a REIT
KEY ATTRIBUTES OF A REIT manager to have clearly defined
MANAGER growth plans and strategies to
ensure sustainability in growth
REIT management in essence of the REIT over the medium to
is more complicated than most long term horizon. This increases
people think. The fundamentals the growth visibility and better
of REIT management encompass appreciation of the business
a broad spectrum of areas as model by investors.
illustrated in Diagram 2. Strong corporate
The basic skills of a governance provides the
strong REIT manager are framework for setting and
measured by management pursuing objectives to reflect the
strength, experience, expertise, context of the social, regulatory
59
 INGENIEUR
Diagram 2: Key attributes of REIT Manager difference. The REIT Manager,
Diagram 2: Key attributes of REIT Manager
being the landlord of the
Management
properties collects rental from
Strength Integrity its tenants. The rental income
(experience, skill set) after deducting all the operating
expenses and expenses related
to the funds is distributed
Key attributes of REIT Transparency in to unitholders as income
Growth Plan Manager Disclosures distribution, commonly known as
distribution per unit (DPU).
The skills set of REIT
Manager is recognized based
Engagement with
Corporate Regulatory on his/her ability to enhance
Governance Bodies value for existing assets under
Source: Sunway REIT

management and accompanying

growth strategies to create value
to unitholders in terms of DPU
and market environment. facilitate institutional investors and total return.
It involves the alignment of in making informed investment In general, REIT managers
interests amongst stakeholders. decisions, providing access are broadly classified into three
Strong corporate governance to management is crucial categories, Passive Manager,
enhances transparency, for investors to have better Conventional Manager and Value
procedures and processes, understanding of management’s Added Manager (as per Diagram
systems and controls as well as growth plan and strategies. 3). A Passive Manager acts as
risk management. For instance, In addition, high levels of a rent collector and exercises
enhancing board of directors’ transparency and timely prudent cost management.
aggregate experience and dissemination of information The manager may occasionally
skill set through professional across all communication undertake asset management
background brings diversity to channels is essential for initiatives (AMI) such as rental
the board in decision making. investors to be abreast of the reversion, optimization of
Related party transaction latest developments of the tenancy mix and operational
is an area of high scrutiny by REIT. It is essential to ensure efficiency enhancement. A
investors. Corporate governance that minority interests are passive REIT Manager will
in this area may be enhanced not neglected. These can be usually continue managing the
by implementing clear policies achieved through a robust properties that were injected
and procedures in respect of investor relations framework. into the portfolio since inception
making full disclosures and Lastly, continuous and highly unlikely to undertake
obtaining relevant approval engagement with regulators and further acquisition activities.
where applicable. industry associations such as This management style provides
Strong corporate MRMA and APREA via dialogues high level of income certainty
governance is not merely to is necessary to brainstorm ideas and predictability to investors,
satisfy investors. It acts as a and issues pertaining to the however growth prospects may
protection and enhancement industry for further improvement be minimal. Investors investing
of investors’ value which and growth of the industry. in these REITs should expect
essentially relates to gaining steady return from distribution
trust from stakeholders. REIT MANAGER COULD MAKE with limited upside from capital
Investors around the globe THE DIFFERENCE appreciation.
expect seamless communication A Conventional Manager’s
where information is transparent In REIT management, it is the role expands beyond the
and readily available. In order to REIT Manager that makes the functions of the Passive Manager.

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 Diagram 3:
Diagram 3: The
Therole
roleand
andskills
skillsofofREIT
Passive Manager
1. Rent collector
2. Exercise cost management
3. Undertake asset
management initiatives
(“AMI”)
4. No acquisition
Minimal growth prospects,
steady DPU
Source: Sunway REIT
A Conventional Manager generally
undertakes more active roles in
the management of the REIT in
the pursuit of achieving organic
growth and inorganic growth.
In addition to AMI activities, a
Conventional Manager attempts
to unearth the full potential of
the properties through asset
enhancement initiatives (AEIs).
Examples of AEI activities
encompass reconfiguring of retail
space, increasing net lettable
area (NLA) by converting non-
income producing, low yielding
rental areas and common areas
into lettable space as well as
embarking on refurbishment
exercises. AEI activities will lead
to additional rental space and
potentially higher rental rates,
thus translating into organic
growth of the REIT. A Conventional
Manager endeavours to achieve
inorganic growth by acquiring
REITManager
manager
REIT Managers
Conventional Manager
1. Rent Collector
2. Exercise cost management
3. Undertake AMIs
4. Undertake asset enhancement
initiatives (“AEI”)
5. Acquiring matured assets with
steady income stream every
now and then
Moderate growth prospects,
steady with some growth in DPU
mature assets with a steady
income stream from time to
time. A REIT operating under
such management style offers
moderate growth prospect
where investors are likely to
enjoy steady income streams
with some upside in capital
appreciation.
The third management
style goes beyond conventional
REIT management functions. The
Value Added Manager adopts
a holistic approach involving
extended roles of traditional
property management. A Value
Added Manager undertakes
active AMIs and AEIs to maximize
the full potential of the properties
and simultaneously embark on
proactive capital management to
achieve the optimal debt profile
that matches its short to medium
term financing requirements.
A well implemented capital
Value Added Manager
1. Rent Collector
2. Exercise cost management
3. Undertake active AMIs
4. Undertake active AEIs
5. Proactive capital management
6. Active acquirer (including acquiring
non-performing assets)
Strong growth prospects, enjoy growth
in DPU
management programme
reduces refinancing risk
and may potentially lead to
substantial savings in interest
expense which will flow directly
to the distributable income for
unitholders.
A Value Added Manager
demonstrates his/her growth
strategy by embarking on active
acquisitions. The acquisition
trail expands beyond the
conventional strategy of
acquiring mature assets with
a steady income stream. This
category of REIT manager
acquires distressed assets
or non-performing assets at
bargain prices and subsequently
turns around these assets. The
value creation for a successful
turnaround asset is tremendous
which leads to a quantum leap in
income as well as appreciation
in the capital value of the asset.
61
 INGENIEUR

Diagram4:4:Comparison
Diagram Comparisonof
ofwithholding
withholding tax
tax regime
regime between
between M-REITS and S-REITs
M-REITs and S-REITS

Type of Unitholders Malaysia Singapore

Resident / non-resident individuals 10% NIL
Resident companies No withholding tax – 17%
income tax at 25%
Non-resident companies 25% 10%
Resident / non-resident institutional 10% 10%
investors

Source: Sunway REIT

REITs managed by a Value
Added Manager typically offer
higher growth prospects where
investors enjoy growth in DP
and potentially gains in capital
appreciation. That said, the
flipside of this strategy is the
accompanied risk in acquiring
distressed assets.
It is crucial for investors
to understand one’s investment
objective and select the REIT
manager with the accompanying
investment style that matches
their investment objectives.
REGULATION AND POLICIES
Since the inception of the first
REIT in 2005, regulators have
played a pivotal role in supporting
the growth of REIT industry in
enhancing the competitiveness
of M-REITs vis-à-vis regional
players. Whilst some regulations
are at par with the regional REIT
markets, there is definitely room
for further improvement.
1. Withholding Tax – Room for
relaxation
The most discussed topic
is definitely with regards to
withholding tax. Diagram 4
outlines the withholding tax
structure for M-REITs and
Singapore REITs (S-REITs). In
the Budget 2012 announcement,
the withholding tax for Malaysia
was extended for five years to
December 2016 however there
was no revision in the withholding
tax rate. In comparison
to Singapore, Malaysia’s
withholding tax rate is still less
attractive for individual and non-
resident corporate. Non-resident
companies investing in S-REITs
are offered a concessionary
tax of 10% until March 2015.
The lowering of tax rate for this
category is aimed at attracting
foreign investment into S-REITs.
In the context of Malaysia, non-
resident companies are taxed
at 25% which makes it less
compelling for foreign corporate
to invest in M-REITs.
In Singapore, retail inves-
tors enjoy tax exemption on with-

Diagram5:5:Comparison
Diagram Comparisonofofgearing
gearinglimits
limitsbetween
between M-REITsand
M-REITS andS-REITS
S-REITs

Malaysia Singapore
Total borrowings should not exceed 50% of Total borrowings should not exceed 35% of the
the total asset value of the fund. total asset value of the fund.

The gearing limit may increase to a maximum

of 60% if a credit rating from Fitch Inc,
Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s is obtained.

Source: SC Guidelines for REITs and MAS Code on Collective Investment Schemes

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62 VOL
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holding tax. Meanwhile, retail
investors investing in M-REITs
are subject to a 10% withholding
tax. Although retail participation
in M-REITs is low at this stage,
relaxation of withholding tax in
the individual category may also
encourage more retail partici-
pations in M-REITs. Essentially,
REITs are a good investment for
retail investors for the long term
as it enjoys stable dividends in-
come with potential capital ap-
preciation.
2. Gearing Limit - Provide for
higher debt headroom
Diagram 5 depicts the
permissible gearing limits set
by the respective jurisdictions
for Malaysia and Singapore. The
permissible gearing limits for
M-REITs are capped at 50% of
total assets value while S-REITs
may increase its gearing to a
maximum of 60% if a rating by
Fitch Inc., Moody’s or Standard
and Poor’s is obtained.
In our view, the Government
should consider relaxing the
gearing limits to be at par with
Singapore. A move from 50%
gearing limit to 60% provides
flexibility for debt headroom
to facilitate acquisitions via
debt. Debt funding is typically
speedier and “cheaper” than
equity financing. The additional
10% allowance will benefit
M-REITs with sizeable asset
under management.
3. Private placement and
issuance of new units - Strive
for speedier process
In Malaysia, the process for
private placement and issuance
of new units exercise without a
mandate in place typically takes
between eight and ten weeks.
Diagram 6: Comparison of issuance of new units (without a general
Diagram 6: Comparison of issuance of new units (without a general mandate)
mandate)
The typical timeline for issuance of new units (subject to change depending on circumstances)
FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE ONLY
Issuance of new units in Malaysia *
(Without general mandate from unitholders)
Submission to SC for
approval for issuance of new
Bursa’s approval of Notice period to
EGM Pricing, placement,
unitholders’ circular & unitholders for issuance and listing
units & increase in fund size additional listing application issuance of circular of new units
4 - 6 weeks 2 weeks 1 day 2 weeks
Estimated Duration : 8 - 10 weeks (excluding preparatory time)
* If the exercise involves property acquisition, an additional 2 weeks is required for submission to SC for valuation purpose
Issuance of new units in Singapore
(Without general mandate from unitholders)
Notice period to Placement & Settlement &
unitholders for
EGM
Pricing Listing
Issuance of circular
14 days 1 Day 1 week 3 Days
Estimated Duration: 4 weeks (excluding preparatory time)
Source: Sunway REIT
Diagram 7: Comparison of issuance of new units (with a general
Diagram 7: Comparison of issuance of new units (with a mandate)
mandate)
The typical timeline for issuance of new units (subject to change depending on
circumstances) FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE ONLY
Issuance of new units in Malaysia (up to 20% approved fund size with mandate)*
Stage 1 : Pre-Placement Bursa’s approval of Stage 2: Execution of placement
Submission to SC for
approval for issuance of
unitholders’ circular &
additional listing
Pricing, placement, issuance and
listing of new units
new units & increase in
fund size
application
4 - 6 weeks 2 weeks
Estimated Duration: 2 weeks for execution of placement (excluding preparatory time of 4 weeks)
* Under updated REIT guidelines issued in Dec 2012, it is compulsory for REIT to hold AGM and REIT may obtain
mandate at the AGM
Issuance of new units in Singapore
(Up to 20% approved fund size with general mandate)
Offering Circulars lodged Announce successful Approval in Settlement &
with MAS, Bookbuilding bookbuilding & final principle for listing Listing of new
and pricing price from SGX units
T T+1 T + 6 Day T + 9 Day
Estimated Duration: Within 10 market days (excluding preparatory time)
Source: Sunway REIT
In Singapore, the process is compressed timeline provides
half the time as compared to the REIT manager with more
Malaysia. The main difference is flexibility in timing to catch
the time allocated for authority windows of opportunity in view
approval and issuance and of the volatile equity markets.
listing of new units. The timeline Similarly, the timeline
is illustrated in Diagram 6. for the private placement and
The move to shorten issuance of new units for
the timeline for the necessary REITs with existing mandate is
approvals bodes well for speedier in Singapore compared
REITs for speedier completion to Malaysia as illustrated in
of the corporate exercise. A Diagram 7. Investors prefer
63
 Diagram
Diagram8:8: Comparison
Comparisonof
of development exposurebetween
development exposure betweenM-REITS
M-REITs and
andS-REITS
S-REITs

Malaysia Singapore
The exposure to real estate under The total contract value of property
construction does not exceed 10% of total development activities undertaken should not
asset value (after the acquisition) provided exceed 10% of total asset value.
that:
1) No substantial dilution in EPU during
construction period
2) Purchase agreement to take into
consideration of construction risks
3) Favourable prospects upon completion

Source: Sunway REIT

speedier issuance of new units
from the day of placement
in order for the investors to
make the necessary decision
in tandem with equity market
‟
In the consider allowing this as a
new provision in the Securities
Commission Guidelines on Real
foreseeable Estate Investment Trusts.

condition. CONCLUSION

4. Development Exposure –
future, REIT M-REITs have enjoyed exponen-
Allows greater flexibility tial growth in recent years. Mar-
In Malaysia, greenfield develop-
ment is not allowed. However
management ket capitalizations of M-REITs
have leaped from RM356 million

M-REITs may be involved in real
estate under construction with
an exposure of not exceeding
10% of total asset value provid-
ed that:
i. No substantial dilution in
DPU during the construction
period
ii. Purchase agreements to
take into consideration of
construction risks
iii. Favourable prospects upon
completion
In Singapore, REITs are
permitted to take up to 10% of
total asset value of development
activities including greenfield
development. (refer to Diagram
8)
as a business
is expected to
flourish and
prosper.
In matured REITs markets,
limited acquisition opportunities
have led to REITs venturing into
development activities. As the
property market in Malaysia
matures, authorities should
in December 2005 to just below
RM35 billion in August 2013.
The growth momentum
in M-REITs has placed M-REITs
on the radar screen of foreign
investors resulting in higher
foreign participation in M-REITs
which contributes positively to
the overall growth of the capital
market in Malaysia.
With the emergence of
more players in the M-REITs
space in the foreseeable
future, REIT management as a
business is expected to flourish
and prosper. This will lead to
higher level of professionalism,
compliance and corporate
governance.

64 VOL 56 SEPTEMBER 2013

DISCIPLINARY HEARING –
CASE STUDY
T
he Respondent was charged with
contravening Regulation 31 of the
Registration of Engineers Regulations
(RER) 1990 (Revised 2003). The charge
focused on Subsection (a) and (b) of Regulation
31; viz. that the Respondent directly or
indirectly (a) supplanted or attempted to
supplant the Complainant, and/or (b) intervene
or attempted to intervene in or in connection
with C&S engineering work of any kind which to
the Respondent’s knowledge had already been
entrusted to another Engineer.
FACTS OF THE CASE
The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM)
received a complaint from an Engineer (the
Complainant) against another Engineer (the
Respondent) regarding a Project “Cadangan
Pembinaan Pembangunan Kedai, Pangsapuri
Kos Sederhana dan Apartment Kos Sederhana
Rendah dan Bangunan Perniagaan”. The facts
of the case were as follows:
(i) The project was a State Government
related project under the entity StateGov
which had appointed a developer FirstDev
to design and build the project.
(ii) FirstDev had appointed the Complainant
as C&S and M&E Engineers for the project
in 1996. The Complainant had been
working for almost 10 years until FirstDev
abandoned the project. At the time of
abandonment some building blocks were
completed while others were partially built.
(iii) In 2006 SecondDev, a new developer
engaged by StateGov requested the
Complainant to provide C&S and M&E
drawings for estimation and proposals
to take over the project. After SecondDev
had successfully taken over the project,
the Complainant was requested to quote
ENGINEERING & LAW
their consultancy services and fees.
(iv) In March 2007, the Complainant found
that SecondDev had appointed another
consultant, the Respondent for the C&S
works. The Respondent had commenced
works on the partially completed buildings
at the site.
(v) The Complainant had NOT given a Letter
of Release to the project as fees were
outstanding. They had also given drawings
to SecondDev but SecondDev had not
paid them for engineering input for the
drawings.
(vi) The Complainant had explained and written
to SecondDev and the Respondent that
they needed to be compensated in order
for the Letter of Release to be issued but
both SecondDev and the Respondent had
not agreed and had not responded.
(vii) On the other hand, the Respondent
claimed to have been informed by their
client SecondDev that the Complainant’s
appointment was by the previous
developer, FirstDev, and not by SecondDev
or StateGov. As such, the Respondent felt
that the Complainant was not contractually
connected to the project and that was the
basis of the Respondent providing the
consultancy services to the project.
Pursuant to the complaint the Board
appointed an Investigating Committee (IC) to
carry out an investigation. The findings of the
IC were as follows :
(i) The Respondent was aware and agreed
that he took over a partially completed
project.
(ii) The Respondent was aware of the
Complainant’s earlier role as the Engineer
for the project.
(iii) There was no letter of release from the
Complainant.
65
 INGENIEUR
(iv) The Respondent claimed that since
there was no agreement between the
second developer SecondDev and the
Complainant, the need of a Release Letter
did not arise.
(v) As the Respondent had knowingly taken
over a project in which the engineering
services had been rendered by a first
engineer whose services had not been
properly terminated, the IC was of the
view that there was a case for the Board
to pursue.
(vi) The IC recommended that the Board
conduct a hearing on the complaint as the
Respondent had breached Regulation 31
(a) and (b) for supplanting and intervening
thereby contravening Section 15(1)(g) of
the REA.
RESPONDENT’S DEFENCE
The Respondent stated in his defence as
follows:
(i) He had received some drawings from
SecondDev. Although the drawings carried
the Complainant’s markings, he did not
know if SecondDev had obtained the
drawings from the owner StateGov or from
the Complainant, and thus it raised the
question of who owned the property rights
to the drawings. If the drawings were the
property of StateGov, then it would be
alright for the Respondent to use.
(ii) The Respondent had no communication
with the Complainant except on one
occasion when the Complainant called to
say that the Respondent was supplanting.
On his part, he fully believed that the
second developer SecondDev had no
contract with the Complainant and hence
any communication with the Complainant
should be through SecondDev. He
also stated that he has a letter from
SecondDev confirming that there is no
agreement between SecondDev and the
Complainant. Notwithstanding that, he
had asked SecondDev to settle with the
Complainant.
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(iii) The Respondent is aware of the BEM
Circular No. 1/2006 on “Guidelines
for an Engineer taking over the work of
another”. However, he believed that if a
Local Authority allows the new Engineer to
submit drawings, then it is OK. He stated
that the general practice in Malaysia on
the issue of whether one can submit or
not, is to refer to the Local Authority. The
acceptance of submission by the Local
Authority is an indication that all is well.
(iv) He reiterated that he had no intention to
go against the guidelines in the Circular,
but there were some provisions which
were not clear, e.g. the words ‘engineering
work’ in his opinion must mean that there
is a contract or agreement between the
client and the Engineer, i.e. the Engineer
should have an agreement before he can
participate in any work.
(v) Notwithstanding that, the Respondent
had asked SecondDev to settle with
the Complainant, as in the context of
maintaining good relations, he wanted
a fellow consultant to feel comfortable.
The Complainant believed that he was
supplanting but he himself did not believe
so. To him, he was not taking over from
the Complainant, rather he was doing an
uncompleted job.
DELIBERATION
The Respondent was charged with
contravening Regulation 31 of the RER 1990
(Revised 2003). The charge itself focused on
Subsection (a) and (b) of Regulation 31; viz.
that the Respondent has directly or indirectly
(a) supplanted or attempted to supplant
the Complainant, and/or (b) intervene or
attempted to intervene in or in connection with
C&S engineering work of any kind which to the
Respondent’s knowledge has already been
entrusted to another Engineer.
The key element of Regulation 31(a)
is that the Respondent had supplanted the
Complainant i.e. taken the place of or replaced
the Complainant in the Project; while the
key element of Regulation 31(b) is that the
Respondent had knowledge that the work he
was intervening in, had already been entrusted
to the Complainant.
The evidence showed that the Respondent
was aware of a prior submitting engineer when
he testified that he had received drawings
with the name of the Complainant as the C&S
Consultant. This evidence is important as it
showed that the Respondent had the knowledge
and knew the identity of the prior submitting
engineer, and such knowledge was important to
prove Subsection (b).
With regards to Subsection (a), all the
parties involved acknowledged that the Project
which the Respondent became involved in
was essentially the same Project that the
Complainant was the Consultant some ten
years earlier. The project owner was the same,
but the developer appointed by the owner was
different. In his defence, the Respondent had
argued that his client SecondDev (the 2nd
developer) was different from the Complainant’s
client FirstDev (the 1st developer), and there
was no work contract or agreement between
SecondDev and the Complainant. Hence he
was not taking over from the Complainant, but
rather he was doing an uncompleted job for a
different client.
The Discipline Committee (DC) deliberated
on this issue and noted that the work involved
and the project owner were the same. In addition,
all the parties involved had acknowledged that
some work was already done before the 1st
‟
developer FirstDev abandoned the project.
The Discipline Committee (DC) deliberated on this
issue and noted that the work involved and the project owner
were the same. In addition, all the parties involved have
acknowledged that some work was already done before the
1st developer FirstDev abandoned the project.
Further, SecondDev had given the Respondent
some drawings prepared by the Complainant.
Based on the evidence, the DC concluded that
the Complainant was the first Engineer for the
project and they had not been discharged or
terminated from the job. The Complainant had
also not issued any Letter of Release to any
other Engineer to take over the job.
The DC then looked at the issue raised
by the Respondent that he was doing an
uncompleted job for a different client. The
Board’s Circular No 1/2006 - “Guidelines for
an Engineer taking over the work of Another”
defines ‘client’ under Section 2.4 as “the Client
shall include the ‘registered proprietor’ …… for
the development of the land and/or buildings.
‘Registered proprietor’ can be …….. or any
other legal entities whose names and/or legal
identities are endorsed on the title of the land
…. and/or buildings.” Based on this definition,
as the land owner SecondDev is the same, the
DC concluded that the client for the job is the
same.
Hence the Respondent in taking over
the same job for the same client without a
Letter of Release from the first Engineer had
thus supplanted or replaced the Complainant;
satisfying the key element of Regulation 31(a).
As the issue of client had been examined
earlier, the DC concluded that the key element
of Regulation 31(b) has been satisfied.
Thus, the DC concluded that the key
elements of the Charge have been fulfilled/
satisfied and found the Respondent GUILTY as
charged.
67
 INGENIEUR
Newly Emerging Methods
ENGINEERING & LAW
Of Contract Procurement
In Malaysia: An Overview
1
By Ir. Harbans Singh K.S.
T
he Government has recently put into
motion its Economic Transformation
Programme (ETP) which has a number
of ‘entry point projects’ (EPPs) that are meant
to act as a driver of economic growth in the
country. Whilst most of these projects will be
undertaken through the traditional procurement
routes such as turnkey, design and build, etc.
or the Public Private Partnership (PPP) models,
some of the larger ones will adopt new models.
Of these new models, the two prominent ones
that are dealt with in brief here below are those
involving the ‘Swiss Challenge System’ and the
‘Project Delivery Partner’ (PDP).
Very little is known in the public domain
about both these models although projects
involving billions of Ringgit are being undertaken
along these routes; the Klang Valley Mass
Rapid Transit (KVMRT) project being the
most well known illustration. Except for an
occasional press statement or announcements
by listed companies undertaking the same,
very little information is made available to the
public notwithstanding the immense size and
consequential impact these will have on the
public for generations to come.
Swiss Challenge System
Wikipedia defines a ‘Swiss Challenge’ as2:
“… a form of public procurement in
some (usually lesser developed) jurisdictions
1 B.E. (Mech) S’pore, LLB (Hons) London, CLP, DipICArb, P.E., C. Eng., Advocate and Solicitor Malaya
(Non-Practising).
2 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/swiss_challenge
3 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/swiss_challenge
4 i.e. the Government or Government agency or Government Linked Company (GLC).
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which requires a public authority (usually an
agency of government) which has received an
unsolicited bid for a public project (such as a
port, road or railway) or services to be provided
to Government, to publish the bid and invite third
parties to match or exceed it.”
It goes on to define a ‘Swiss Challenge
System’ as:
“…. a new bidding process to help private
sector initiatives in core sector projects. It’s an
offer made by the original proponent to the
Government ensuring his process to be best (in
terms of effectiveness including both the factors,
cost and time) by his initiative as a result of his
own innovative approach or on the demand of
the government to perform certain task. The
Swiss Challenge System, like the Bonus System,
further allows third parties to make better offers
(challenges) for a project during a designated
period with simple objective to discourage
frivolous project, or to avoid exaggerated project
development costs. Then accordingly, the original
proponent gets the right to counter-match any
superior offers given by the third-party.”
The following salient points should be
taken note of in regard to this system3:
• It can be initiated either in answer to a
request from the owner4 to perform certain
tasks or by the proponent on its own volition
making an offer to the owner as a result of
its own innovative approach;
• The owner then selects the particular
method to be employed in implementing the
Swiss Challenge System;
• The first option involves the owner offering
the original proponent an advantage in
a competitive bidding process due to its
initiative and work done pursuant to the
said initiative;
• The second option permits the owner to
purchase from the original proponent the
intellectual property rights for the project
concept and then use a competitive bidding
process in which no bidder has a predefined
advantage to award the project; and
• Where the owner has difficulty in finding the
right balance, it is not uncommon to adopt
a hybrid system combining elements of the
Swiss Challenge System and the Bonus
System.
The system has had mixed results in
different jurisdictions in view of its limitations,
implementation and problems with legal validity.
Hence, it cannot be said with certainty that
it can achieve the many attributes that have
been touted by its promoters. In the Malaysian
context, it has been made known by the PDP
of the KVMRT project that the owner of the
KVMRT has ‘agreed to grant the PDP. (through
its nominated company which shall have the
same shareholding as the PDP) a right of Swiss
Challenge to match the best evaluated tender
bid in respect of the underground work packages
...5. Whether the Swiss Challenge System is
being, or will be adopted for other Government
projects; be these at the Federal or State level
is relatively unknown at the moment. But with
the push for PPPs in the ETP of the Government,
it is undeniable that the practitioner in the
engineering/construction industry is likely to
encounter more projects involving this form of
public procurement.
Project Delivery Partner (PDP)
The PDP method is being used currently in at
least two Entry Point Projects (EPPs) i.e. the Klang
5 See http://www.com.my/content
6 See http://www.mmc.gamuda.com.my/project-delivery.html
7 by the Land Public Transport Commission in Star Newspaper of 19th December 2011.
Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Project and
the ‘River of Life’ Project. Both projects are part
of the Government’s Economic Transformation
Programme (ETP) meant to create the Greater
Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley zone that will
purportedly act as a driver of economic growth.
It is stated that the PDP method was motivated
by its alleged success in projects overseas; the
UK Cross Rail and London Olympic Park projects
being cited as two notable examples. However, as
stated before, despite its immense importance,
not much is known in the public domain as to
the specific ambit and workings of the PDP
model as used locally. Recourse thus had to be
made to information made available in the public
domain through press articles, announcements
made by the companies involved and particular
web sites.
A starting point is the following excerpt
from one of the PDP’s website6:
“…. As PDP our primary function is to
ensure the successful completion of the MRT
within the pre-determined target cost and date.
With PDP, the Government is ensured of a
smooth implementation of the massive project.”
The following summarises the PDP’s role
within the massive MRT project:
1. Oversee the overall performance of the
Design Consultants and Work Package
Contractors
2. Manage the procurement process for all
construction work packages jointly with the
Government of Malaysia
3. In the event a contractor or sub-contractor
does not meet pre-determined work package
requirements, the PDP will step in at no risk
to project delivery cost and time; and
4. To undertake all preparation, submissions
and obtaining all approvals for the execution
of the project.
Further elucidation can be garnered
from the following December 18, 2011 media
release7:
“….. the PDP plays the role of a project
manager but with the added responsibility of
69
 INGENIEUR

having to deliver the project within the agreed
time and cost. Any cost overrun and project
completion which are basic common risks in
projects will be borne by the PDP. The PDP is
not a turnkey contractor and the project will
be divided into work packages which will be
awarded individually through open tender. The
Government will make the final decision on
the awarding of contracts. The PDP will not be
allowed to tender for any of the work packages
except for the tunneling works. The Government
felt that an exception should be made as the
PDP is the only local construction company that
has experience in major tunneling works ……
Nevertheless, the PDP will still have to compete
for the work package with other companies and
the award will be given on the basis of merit.”
From the above-mentioned excerpts,
press announcements by the relevant PDPs8
and other information available in the public
domain, the following essential features of the
PDP model, as developed for the stated local
EPPs can be crystallized:
• It is not a method of project procurement
but merely a method of “managing” the
same;
• The PDP is one of the parties in the project
set-up; the others being the principally owner,
the consultants9 and the work packages
contractors;
• The Owner is the Government or a wholly
owned Government linked company (GLC)
e.g. the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn
Bhd;
• The PDP is either a single or a jointly
controlled entity of construction companies;
• The Owner’s scope of responsibility
is generally confined to obtaining the
necessary approvals for the Project e.g. EIA
approval, etc. providing possession (and
possibly, access) to the site, making the
necessary payments, etc. Much depends on
the particular PDP agreement involved;
• The Owner does neither give site possession
nor makes payments direct to the work
packages contractors but only to the PDP
who in turn transmits these onwards to the
latter. So in this sense there is no privity of
contract between the Project Owner and the
work packages contractors;
• The PDP’s principal responsibility is the
delivery to the owner of the fully completed
and functional project within the agreed
target cost and completion date.
• The PDP is responsible for the design of
the Project in accordance with the owner’s
requirements. The works are divided into
packages and awarded to work packages
contractors through competitive bidding
exercises administered by the Owner.
• The work packages contracts are awarded by
the Owner but the PDP is liable for the due
performance of these contractors. In this
respect, the PDP is responsible for managing,
dealing with, coordinating, supervising and
interfacing all the contractors.
• Since the PDP is responsible as the system
integrator of the entire Project, it has to step
in and deliver the works should any of the
work packages contractors default or fail to
perform.
• In this respect, the PDP generally carries
“single point responsibility” for the
performance of all the works but also
accountability for all aspects of the project
as set out in the PDP agreement.
• The “single point responsibility” extends
even to the issues of claims and disputes10
whereby the work packages contractors are
not permitted to proceed directly against

8 See also MMC’s Stock Exchange Announcement (10/2/2012) http://www.mmc.com.my/content.asp,

Article ‘Are PDPs in too sweet a spot?’ by Risen Jayaseelan, Starbiz Tuesday 8 March 2011 and Article
‘A little education please: What does the project delivery partner of a multi-billion ringgit project do?’ by
Errol Oh, Star 21 December 2011.
9 including the Independent Checking Engineers (ICE), Value Management Consultants (VMC), etc.
10 Including those involving for payments for work done. This becomes especially important in the light of
the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (Act 746) provisions.

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 the Owner but only against the PDP. In the
event that they do proceed directly, the PDP
is required to indemnify the Owner against
such claims and proceedings.
• The consideration paid to the PDB under the
PDP agreement is a fee which is usually a
percentage11 of the agreed target cost of
the project. The latter generally comprises
the aggregate sum of all the awarded work
packages, the amount of contingency12
allowed and the amount of reimbursibles13
incurred by the PDP in performing its
services.
• Should the final project cost exceeds the
agreed target cost the PDP is generally
liable for the cost overrun. The latter is
recovered by the reduction of the fee based
on an agreed formula stipulated in the PDP
agreement.
• If on the other hand, the PDP fails to complete
the project by the agreed completion date,
it is liable to pay the owner Liquidated and
Ascertained damages at the rate stated in
the PDP Agreement.
• Further liabilities of the PDP include those
arising from claims brought by or disputes
with the work packages contractors after
the contingency has been exceeded and the
PDP has no recourse to the owner in respect
of such excess.
• The PDP is generally prohibited from
tendering for any of the work packages
unless as expressly allowed for in the PDP
agreement. In certain PDP14 Agreements,
the PDP15 may be given a right using the
“Swiss Challenge System”16 to make bids
for certain work packages; and
• In the said situation, should the PDP17 be
awarded the work package contract, the PDP
is not permitted to manage and supervise the
contract concerned; this being undertaken
usually directly by the Owner. But the PDP
still remains responsible for the overall
delivery of the project.
Conclusion
In a similar vein to the “Swiss Challenge
System”, the PDP system is novel and relatively
untested on the local scene, its touted plus
points and advantages are rather speculative
and subject to much conjecture18. Whilst
admitting, it might have produced positive
results in other jurisdictions e.g. the Cross Rail
and London Olympic Park projects in the UK, it
is uncertain whether the same model is being
used in Malaysia. Even if the same model is
being employed, it is also not known if suitable
amendments have been made to customize it
for the local conditions. For practitioners, the
failure to engage the major industry players
in terms of input or consultation before
implementing the PDP model for such important
and money-wise major projects speaks little
of the Government’s oft repeated “mantra” of
transparency and accountability. Be that as
it may, the die is cast and for better and for
worse, industry practitioners and the public
in particular will have to wait and accept the
end results; be these positive or burdensome.
What is however clear is that together with the
“Swiss Challenge System”, the PDP method
will feature prominently in the Government’s
‘mega’ projects in future as these seem to be
the vogue not only with the politicians but also
the ‘heavyweights’ of the local construction
industry.

11 Which can vary from 5 - 10% although in certain cases it is around 6%.
12 Both the Owner and the PDP are allowed to use the contingency.
13 This can be a firm figure and include the PDP’s Overheads, fees for engineering consultancy, site
investigation, topographical surveys, etc.
14 For example, the KVMRT PDP Agreement.
15 or through its nominated company in which it has substantial shareholding.
16 as previously discussed.
17 or its nominated company.
18 See article by Risen Jayaseelan, ‘Are PDPs in too sweet a spot?’, Starbiz Tuesday 8 March 2011.

71
 INGENIEUR

Where Engineers Excel

The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM),
formed in 1972, is a statutory body
constituted under the Registration of
Engineers Act 1967. BEM falls within the
ambit of responsibility of the Minister of
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The content in this magazine, written mainly
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41
73
 INGENIEUR

Dala Bamboo Village,

Myanmar - Temporary
PHOTO FEATURE

Homes After Cyclone

By Fong Chew Sing, ATAM, AAT(ASEAN)

Dala Town in Myanmar was badly affected by Cyclone Nargis in 2008. In this area, a village has been
rebuilt using mainly bamboo. The Bamboo Village is now equipped with shops, temple, common well
and playground but relatively poor infrastructure and shabby houses.

houses, common-user well with

hand pump, playground, UNICEF
/AMI office, etc.
At the time of visit in June
2013, almost all houses were
built with bamboo except the
temple as well as a handful
of houses which had been
converted to timber houses.
The Myanmar Irrawaddy delta Roads were basically earth
region took a hard hit when tracks with sand bags laid for
Cyclone Nargis swept through the convenience of pedestrians
the area causing loss of human during the monsoon season.
life and damage to houses. Only the main access roads were
Emergency rescue and temporary paved with gravel and some with
habitat works were initiated to concrete.
resettle surviving victims.
The writer visited one
affected area called Dala Town
which is situated just across the
Rangoon River from Yangon city.
The resettled village is called
Bamboo Village by locals as the
houses were built with bamboo
which is available locally and
easy to construct. UNICEF was
the main driving force among
organisations that assisted and
provided bamboo for surviving
victims to construct their
temporary shelters. The Bamboo
Scenes of a ferry that serves as market place where local produce
village is complete with shops, and vegetables are traded. Locals pay 50 kyats (RM0.15) but
stores selling bamboo for those foreigner pay USD 2 for one way trip from Yangon Pansodan jetty
who wish to repair or extend their opposite the Strand Hotel to Dala jetty.

6
74 VOL
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Bamboo Village, Dala

Entrance to Bamboo Village A better paved road in the village

One of the few bamboo stores in the village selling A house under renovation. Attap leaves are
bamboo pieces for house repair or extension commonly used as wall panel.

Upgraded house using bamboo panels instead of National League for Democracy Party office (Aun
attap leaves that are more commonly used. San Suu Kyi) at the centre of village

75
 INGENIEUR

Simple food stall Secondary road

Simple house but well ventilated Some houses facing better paved road

Road side drinks stall Another typical bamboo house

6
76 VOL
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Leisure Lifestyle

Generally poor but happy community. Author was greeted with smiles and curious looks from the children
and elderly enjoying their leisure time.

77
 INGENIEUR
Water Supply & Other Services

Community well that is hardly used – villagers Mobile water conveying tank
prefer rain water harvesting source except during
dry spell

Rain harvesting system still the preferred choice UNICEF office at center of village

Hope for Change

It’s been five years since Cyclone Nargis’
wreckage in 2008 but the Bamboo village has
hardly changed since the resettlement. The Dala
town is still relatively rural with poor infrastructure
and utilities. However, there was news that a bridge
may be constructed across the Rangoon River from
Rangoon city itself. This may spur economic growth
in the region giving another route to the Irrawaddy
Delta. Bamboo Village, Dala may then benefit from
the spillover of economic activities given its close
proximity to the city proper.
Contrasting Rangoon landscape on opposite side
of Rangoon River

6
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 ENGINEERING NOSTALGIA
THE CAUSEWAY
Source: “The Causeway”, jointly published by National Archives of Malaysia and
National Archives of Singapore

View of the Causeway taken from the operating cabin showing a passenger train
from Singapore on the temporary railway track, December 1923.

Work in progress to reclaim and widen the

Causeway at the Johore end, February 1989.

79
 INGENIEUR

Construction of cofferdam at
the east end of the lock and
concreting of apron in progress,
June 1921. Both locals and
Europeans worked together to
complete the Causeway.
The Causeway, June 1924. This image was taken
from Woodlands, Singapore.

A derrick crane installing culverts at the Johore

end of the Causeway.

Progress work at south (Woodlands) end of the

Causeway in June 1921.

Magnificient view of the Johore Straits

and the Causeway at dawn.

“The Causeway” can be purchased from

the National Archives of Malaysia at
RM120.00
6
80 per56
VOL
VOL copy.
55 SEPTEMBER
JUNE 2013 2013
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 INGENIEUR

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

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

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6 VOL
VOL 56
55 SEPTEMBER
JUNE 2013 2013
82
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