Selection criteria frameword for choosing industrialized building systems for housing projects

Abstract

An Industrialized Building System (IBS) has been accepted as an innovation strategy to assist in overcoming key problems in the Malaysian housing sector. The manufacturers and producers of IBS have claimed that their systems have a multitude of advantages and benefits. The selection criteria used to choose the appropriate type of IBS for housing projects have been identified as one the critical issues in the decision-making process at the conceptual stage of using IBS. The criteria such as cost, time and quality play a major role in the selection tasks. Through a literature review, this paper highlights the criteria that have been considered in the adoption of IBS in the UK and in the Malaysian construction industry. It also reviews existing choosing types of IBS. It is concluded that a wide perspective and an extensive variety of factors may contribute to the impact of the effectiveness of the decision-making process associated with the selection of type of IBS. These include the structure and design, site
\norientation, safety, client perspectives, environmental issues and sustainability, organizational issues and risk. This paper recommends that a structured and holistically approach in decision-making for selecting the type of IBS is important and needed in housing projects and in the Malaysian construction industry.