Implementation of resource recovery practices among Malaysian construction stakeholders

Most of the construction stakeholders around the world especially in developing countries are not really aware of the Resource Recovery approaches in contemporary construction projects. Previous studies reported that Resource Recovery issues received less attention from the construction industry stakeholders compared to construction costs and time related issues. However, this trend has changed due to the depletion of non-renewable resources, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming with much effort now being directed to ‘build greener’ construction projects through proper application of the Resource Recovery approach. This study examined current application of Resource Recovery approach among Malaysia’s construction stakeholders. Primary data were gathered from 122 questionnaires returned by Malaysian construction stakeholders that included consultants, contractors and clients . The analysis revealed that the adoption of Resource Recovery was only mildly practiced by the Malaysian construction stakeholders

Kajian baseline sistem binaan bangunan berindustri (IBS): perspektif pemaju perumahan negeri Kedah dan Perlis

Sektor pembinaan berasaskan industri atau ’Industrialised Building System’ merupakan salah satu daripada inovasi di dalam teknologi pembinaan bangunan.Sistem ini diyakini dapat membantu di dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang melibatkan kualiti dan produktiviti binaan serta permasalahan berkaitan dengan penggunaan tenaga buruh asing di dalam sektor pembinaan.Namun penerimaan oleh pihak yang terlibat terhadap sesuatu teknologi adalah merupakan suatu yang rumit terutamanya yang melibatkan teknologi baru.Justeru itu kajian ini dijalankan bagi membincangkan sejauhmana kadar penggunaan ‘Industrialised Building System,’ faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan halangan terhadap penggunaan teknologi ini serta kelebihan dan kekurangannya.Tujuan kajian ini juga adalah untuk mendapatkan persepsi pemaju perumahan di negeri Kedah dan Perlis berkenaan dengan IBS yang merangkumi pengetahuan organisasi pemaju mengenai IBS, sumber rujukan, potensi penggunaan pada masa hadapan serta halangan-halangan yang dihadapi. Di akhir kajian turut mencadangkan beberapa alternatif kearah pertingkatkan tahap penggunaan IBS khasnya di sektor pembinaan di negeri Kedah dan Perlis

Factors Affecting Systematic Implementation of Reduce and Recycle in Construction Industry

Most of the stakeholders involved in the construction industry, particularly from developing countries have less emphasis on environmental care primarily involves the reuse and recycle of building materials in their construction projects. Previous studies prove environmental aspects have been neglected by the major stakeholders of the construction industry compared with issues related to cost and time. This study focuses on identifying the current adoption level of reuse and recycle practice among Malaysian contractors, the factors that are required for the successful implementation of systematic reuse and recycle and to identify the relationship between the selected factors and systematic implementation of reuse and recycle. The questionnaires were distributed to class A contractors that registered with the Contractor Service Centre (PKK). Currently, most of the contractors are concerned about reuse and recycle of the construction materials

Patent protections, challenges and applications of nanotechnology

The primary focus of this paper is to highlight the importance of nanotechnology in terms of patents, challenges and applications. The nanotechnology has become a “key value driver” and significant role in the modern economy. The study contains an extensive review of existing literature related to patent issues, challenges and applications of nanotechnology. One of the challenges is when a nano-based product or process been recognized as a viable patented product. Chances for the patented nano-based product to be marketed is comparatively high as compared to non-patented product.It carries the weight as a high quality product, new, has better requirements, and can be very practical to be used. Patenting is a useful tool to protect its inventor, especially in an industry such as nanotechnology that is constantly producing new findings that eventually lead to the generation of commercialized products.Manufacturers of nano-based product often see the process of filing a patent is time consuming, yet once being granted, the effort would be very much worthy.It is timely to consider issues pertaining nano patenting as a main feature among various parties involved for forecasting a better solution for the betterment of mankind.Authorities should grab opportunities related to nanotechnology and treat it as a new source of wealth combined with the protection provided by patent. Suggestions and recommendations are elaborated in details

Integrated project delivery framework for sustainable campus development: A qualitative study on JPP UUM

At present, the frameworks to improve construction design team integration have seldom included the solution for sustainability challenges within design for buildings.This challenge is even greater in achieving sustainability in campus universities such as UUM, where high volume of users and activities has made it more imperative to promote green buildings that reduce energy and water consumption while having a minimal carbon footprint.Therefore, in response to that challenge this paper investigates how the delivery team, responsible for the design and construction of a project, can be integrated to work together more efficiently and effectively. The process will involve a comprehensive review of secondary sources of data, including reports, principles, tools and guidelines that particularly relate to the best practice of team integration such as Design and Build, Concurrent Engineering (CE), Partnering, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).The review of these practices will contribute to the development of a conceptual guideline/framework for improving campus sustainability, particularly in the early stage (planning and design) of UUM construction projects, which will be validated through qualitative methods in an on-going research project.The outcome or result of this research will meet and support the requirement of construction, maintenance, and operation process for ‘JPP UUM’ towards sustainable building/campus in the future

Case studies of occupational safety and health management in construction site : contractor's perspective

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994 was introduced in Malaysia to foster, stimulate and improve safety and health in the workplace, especially on construction sites. The main objective of OSHA is to increase employer or organization caring attitude towards safety and health of their employees in addition to emphasizing job security measures are effective. However, at present, the accident rate in the construction sector is seen alarming. This is because the construction industry is a unique industry with the involvement of people from various fields and a construction project should be completed within a limited time. This study discusses about the practices, issues, and strategies applied in the management of occupational, safety and health from the perspective of the contractor. This study used a qualitative method where an interview was conducted in a contractor who is experienced in the construction industry. The results of this study found that there were a number of occupational health and safety practices are implemented as base security, safety and health meetings, education and training, site safety inspections, and personal protective equipment. The main problem that contributed to the problems faced by the accident is due to the attitude of the workers and the low level of awareness among employees. Several strategies have been carried out such monitoring work on a regular basis in addition to emphasizing the educational aspects of security in addition to provide more effective training

The importance of project manager, project team towards and project related factors towards Environmental Management Practices (EMP) success

Most of the construction stakeholders around the world especially in developing countries are not really aware of the Environmental Management Practices (EMP) for their construction projects. Previous studies reported that EMP issues received less attention from the construction industry stakeholders compared to construction costs and time related issues.However, this trend has changed due to the depletion of non-renewable resources, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.Based on these issues, construction stakeholders worldwide have given wider attention to EMP in their construction projects. Many efforts are being directed to build greener construction projects through proper application of EMP.The focus of this research is to introduce the concept of EMP in achieving sustainability in the Malaysian construction industry. The main objective of this research is to identify the importance of Project Manager and Project Team role for the successful implementation of EMP in the Malaysian construction industry.By using the survey method, questionnaires were sent to the Malaysian construction stakeholders that included consultants, contractors and clients, and 122 questionnaires were analysed. This study found that most of the construction stakeholders agreed that project team commitment, project manager’s leadership skills and communication system effectiveness are very important to ensure the success of EMP.The results further demonstrate that three of the independent variables - Project Manager and Project Team Competency, Project Management aspects, and Procurement Related Factors have significant relationships with EMP Success

Construction Firm Readiness towards Implementing Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)

The Malaysian government has taken the initiative of implementing Industrialised Building System (IBS) in which components are manufactured in mass production under a controlled environment (on or off site), transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works. It is hope that IBS can improve the performance of construction industry. However, one of the main barriers in Malaysian IBS implementation is lack of integration among stakeholder involved during the project delivery stage. In order to overcome this barrier, a new collaborative procurement or project delivery namely as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) which is using a multi-party contract (more than two parties selected) has been introduced. Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is defined as a project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all project participants to optimise the results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication and construction. Although, many researchers have argue the importance of IPD in project delivery process, but the readiness of construction industries must be established. This research has used a quantitative research process that involved a few phases including literature review stage, data collection stage, framework development stage, validation and recommendation stage. This research is to obtain data based on multidisciplinary IBS stakeholders perspectives, respondent include project managers, resident engineers, architects and contractors are among the potential candidates. Respondents that directly involved in the construction industry mentioned that their firms are willing to change and implement IPD. The firms readiness recorded at the moderate mean value. It can be noted that each firm involved as respondents are ready to implement

Research on the potential for academicians to work from home: Research in a Malaysian public university

The year 2020 has witnessed the world being swept by the Covid-19 pandemic that has greatly changed the social and economic landscapes of many countries globally. Among the changes brought upon by this pandemic involves the way one works. With the spread of this pandemic, residents in many areas have begun to benefit from the use of various technologies in many activities, including sales and purchase, and performing work in order to minimise from being exposed to activities outside the house. This research was performed with the aim to look at the potential of implementing a work from home programme among the academic staff in a public university in Malaysia. A questionnaire was distributed to observe the feedback regarding the implementation of this programme, and it was revealed that almost all academic staff believed that this programme can be established for academic staff and they stated their readiness to be involved and support the implementation of such a programme

Success Factors of JIT Integration with IBS Construction Projects– A Literature Review

The Just-In-Time (JIT) philosophy has been used for many decades to increase productivity through waste elimination process. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the body of knowledge by addressing the issue of transportation, logistic and material delivery in Industrialized Building System (IBS) construction projects. This paper through literature review aims to highlight this issue by investigate the key success factors for integrating JIT and IBS in the Malaysian construction industry. Suggestion on how the concept of JIT can contribute for improving the performance of transportation and material delivery activities in IBS projects will be concluded