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Malaysia’s industrialised building system (IBS) has been increasingly adopted for sustainable development by the country’s construction industry. However, although it has been used for commercial building projects, its application to sustainable infrastructure development has been limited to date. This study aims to examine the drivers and challenges involved.

A preliminary conceptual framework was initially developed based on a systematic literature review. Semi-structured interviews involving 20 participants were undertaken to gain insightful thoughts from the construction practitioners to discover the perception towards IBS application in the construction industry, the applicability of IBS, particularly in infrastructure projects, the strategies of IBS delivery and the sustainable potential of its application. A two-round Delphi study was conducted with 15 experienced and knowledgeable panellists to further identify, verify and prioritise factors developed from the literature review and interview findings. Then, the results were synthesised and triangulated to demonstrate a holistic insight.

The results show the main drivers to be better productivity, quality, environmental, safety and health, constructability design and cost, policy and requirements, with the main challenges being project planning and cost-related issues, inexperience and industry capacity.

The study’s main contribution is in systematically determining the practical implications involved in applying the IBS to sustainable infrastructure developments in Malaysia and other similar developing countries.

As a strand in industrialization movement in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, prefabricated construction (PC) has gained widespread popularity due to high efficiency, energy saving, low environmental impacts, safety and other advantages of PC. Well-managed supply chain can further leverage the advantages of PC. However, there is a lack of more systematically overview of the prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC). This paper aims to comb the current status and look into the future direction of PCSC by reviewing the existing research.

In total, 131 articles related to prefabricated construction supply chain management (PCSCM) from 2000 to 2022 have been collated to (1) conduct a bibliometric analysis by using VOSviewer, including the literature sources, keywords co-occurrence, co-authorships, authorship citation and country active in the field of PCSCM; (2) classify and summarize the status of research in PCSCM through qualitative discussion and (3) point out the future research directions.

In total, 131 articles are carried out for bibliometric analysis and in-depth qualitative discussion, the visualization maps and the main research themes in the field of PCSCM are obtained. The results show that supply chain intelligentization and informatization are hot topics. Finally, future research directions that should be paid attention to in the field of PCSCM are pointed out.

This study can help project managers understand the current status and problems of PCSC operations and provide a basis for future management decisions.

Compared with previous studies, this study adds the dimension of “article authorship” to the quantitative analysis and discusses the research themes in the field of PCSCM in a comprehensive manner. In addition, this paper deeply discusses the main research topics from both the specific contents and research methods adopted.

Industry 4.0 is exacerbating the need for offsite construction (OSC) adoption, and this rapid transformation is pushing the boundaries of construction skills towards extensive modernisation. The adoption of this modern production strategy by the construction industry would redefine the position of OSC. This study aims to examine whether the existing skills are capable of satisfying the needs of different OSC types.

A critical literature review evaluated the impact of transformative technology on OSC skills. An existing industry standard OSC skill classification was used as the basis to develop a master list that recognises emerging and diminishing OSC skills. The master list recognises 67 OSC skills under six skill categories: managers, professionals, technicians and trade workers, clerical and administrative workers, machinery operators and drivers and labourers. The skills data was extracted from a series of 13 case studies using document reviews and semi-structured interviews with project stakeholders.

The multiple case study evaluation recognised 13 redundant skills and 16 emerging OSC skills such as architects with building information modelling and design for manufacture and assembly knowledge, architects specialised in design and logistics integration, advanced OSC technical skills, factory operators, OSC estimators, technicians for three dimensional visualisation and computer numeric control operators. Interview findings assessed the current state and future directions for OSC skills development. Findings indicate that the prevailing skills are not adequate to readily relocate construction activities from onsite to offsite.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first studies that recognises the major differences in skill requirements for non-volumetric and volumetric OSC types.

Building information modelling (BIM), lean construction (LC) and prefabricated housing construction (PHC) have individually aroused great attention from academia and industry. However, the integration of LC and BIM in PHC projects has not been sufficiently explored. This study aims to assess the current status of the implementation of BIM and LC in China’s PHC sector given, firstly, that China is a developing country characterised by the world’s largest population and a huge housing market, and secondly, that although China’s PHC is strongly supported by the government, the adoption of BIM and LC in PHC varies.

A mixed approach (questionnaire survey and interviews) is adopted in this study. A total of 127 valid questionnaires were collected. This is followed by interviewing 12 interviewees who are key stakeholders in PHC and hold managerial positions.

The findings of the questionnaire survey show that BIM is more prevalent than LC in PHC projects in China. In addition, the adoption of LC exhibits more maturity in stages associated with production and manufacturing, and logistics and transportation, whereas BIM has seen wider adoption in design and construction. The interviews validated the factors that influence the implementation of BIM and LC in PHC projects in China.

The study uses a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis framework to clarify the opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of BIM and LC in China’s PHC and proposes strategies.

Off-site construction (OSC) has been regarded as a clean and efficient production approach to help the construction industry towards sustainability. Different levels of OSC technologies vary greatly in their implementations and adoptions. Compared to low OSC level technologies have been applied widely, the adoption of high OSC level technologies (HOSCLTs) in practice remains limited. The adoption mechanism for HOSCLTs by firms has not been clear, hindering their promotion. This study aims to explore the mechanism combining subjective and objective adoption for HOSCLTs.

This study developed an integrated model illustrating mechanism for HOSCLTs adoption based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), which has strong capacity to explain potential adopters' subjective intentions to adoption, and the task-technology fit (TTF) theory, which well describes the linkages between the task, technology and performance in technology adoption. The proposed model was then empirically evaluated through a survey of 232 practitioners in the Chinese OSC industry using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that both task characteristics (TAC) and technology characteristics (TEC) positively affect TTF of HOSCLTs. TAC, TTF, firm conditions and stakeholder influence have significant positive effects on perceived usefulness (PU), which further positively influence attitude towards adoption. TEC and firm conditions are significantly related to perceived ease of use (PEU). TTF, PEU and attitude towards adoption are good predictors of behavior intention to HOSCLTs adoption. PEU only significantly influences adoption intention and is not observed to influence attitudes and PU, unlike prior research on common OSC adoption.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring HOSCLTs adoption in the industry based on distinguishing the levels of OSC technologies and supplementing an integrated model for explaining the mechanism with the combination of subjective and objective adoption. The study also provides useful insights into understanding and promoting HOSCLTs adoption for policy makers and stakeholders actively involved in the OSC field.

The purpose of this study is to explore existing literature on Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Malaysia and examine the perception of practitioners about the potential of BIM applications in reducing construction waste and enhancing productivity.

First, using 244 bibliographic data extracted from the Scopus database, the paper used scientometric analysis and VOSviewer mapping technique to assess the most impactful publication literature on BIM in Malaysia to identify the existing research gaps. Second, using a structured questionnaire, a total of 100 questionnaires were distributed to practising practitioners who incorporate BIM in the delivery of their projects. Descriptive analysis using cross-tabulation in SPSS software, radar chart, relative importance index and Pearson’s correlation were used to analyze the data.

The research gaps are in the fields of construction projects, buildings, energy efficiency, lifecycle and housing. The findings of the survey indicate that quantity take-off, clash detection, site utilization planning, digital fabrication as well as 4D stimulation were the main BIM applications used among the practitioners in Johor and Selangor.

By assessing the state-of-the-art of BIM and BIM applications in this region, the practical implications of this study provide useful insights to construction stakeholders, funding organizations, policymakers, research institutions, professionals, journal editors, reviewers and researchers to understand the overall trend of BIM in Malaysia and its usage.

This paper is the first to use science mapping using scientometrics to reveal the current BIM research in “Malaysia only”. Relying on the identified gaps, the study further examined the usage of BIM applications in Malaysian construction projects.

Total factor productivity (TFP) change is an important driver of long-run economic growth in the construction sector. However, examining TFP alone is insufficient to identify the cause of TFP changes. Therefore, this paper employs the infrequently used Geometric Young Index (GYI) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to measure and decompose the TFP Index (TFPI) at the firm-level from 2009 to 2018 based on Malaysian construction firms' data.

To improve the TFPI estimation, normally unobserved environmental variables were included in the GYI-TFPI model. These are the physical operation of the firm (inland versus marine operation) and regional locality (West Malaysia versus East Malaysia). Consequently, the complete components of TFPI (i.e. technological, environmental, managerial, and statistical noise) can be accurately decomposed.

The results reveal that TFP change is affected by technological stagnation and improvements in technical efficiency but a decline in scale-mix efficiency. Moreover, the effect of environmental efficiency on TFP is most profound. In this case, being a marine construction firm and operating in East Malaysia can reduce TFPI by up to 38%. The result, therefore, indicates the need for progressive policies to improve long-term productivity.

Monitoring and evaluating productivity change allows an informed decision to be made by managers/policy makers to improve firms' competitiveness. Incentives and policies to improve innovation, competition, training, removing unnecessary taxes and regulation on outputs (inputs) could enhance the technological, technical and scale-mix of resources. Furthermore, improving public infrastructure, particularly in East Malaysia could improve regionality locality in relation to the environmental index.

This study contributes to knowledge by demonstrating how TFP components can be completely modelled using an aggregator index with good axiomatic properties and SFA. In addition, this paper is the first to apply and include the GYI and environmental variables in modelling construction productivity, which is of crucial importance in formulating appropriate policies.

Prefabricated products are continually entering the building construction market; yet, the decision to use prefabricated products in a construction project is based mostly on personal preferences and the evaluation of direct costs. Researchers and practitioners have debated appropriate measurement systems for evaluating the impacts of prefabricated products and for comparing them with conventional on-site construction practices. The more advanced, cost–benefit approach to evaluating prefabricated products often inspires controversy because it may generate inaccurate results when converting non-monetary effects into costs. As prefabrication may affect multiple organisations and product subsystems, the method used to decide on production methods should consider multiple direct and indirect impacts, including nonmonetary ones. Thus, this study aims to develop a multi-criteria method to evaluate both the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabrication solutions to facilitate decision-making on whether to use prefabricated products.

Drawing upon a literature review, this research suggests a multi-criteria method that combines the choosing-by-advantage approach with a cost–benefit analysis. The method was presented for validation in focus group discussions and tested in a case involving a prefabricated bathroom.

The analysis indicates that the method helps a project’s stakeholders communicate about the relative merits of prefabrication and conventional construction while facilitating the final decision of whether to use prefabrication.

This research contributes a method of evaluating the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabricated products. The research underlines the need to evaluate the diverse benefits and sacrifices that stakeholder face when considering production methods in construction.

The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how industrialized house building (IHB) could support productivity developments for housebuilding on project and industry levels. The take is that fragmentation of construction is one explanation for the lack of productivity growth, and that IHB could be an integrating method of overcoming horizontal and vertical fragmentation.

Singe-factor productivity measures are calculated based on data reported by IHB companies and compared to official produced and published research data. The survey covers the years 2013–2020 for IHB companies building multi-storey houses in timber. Generalization is sought through descriptive statistics by contrasting the data samples to the used means to control vertical and horizontal fragmentation formulated as three theoretical propositions.

According to the results, IHB in timber is on average more productive than conventional housebuilding at the company level, project level, in absolute and in growth terms over the eight-year period. On the company level, the labour productivity was on average 10% higher for IHB compared to general construction and positioned between general construction and general manufacturing. On the project level, IHB displayed an average cost productivity growth of 19% for an employed prefabrication degree of about 45%.

Empirical evidence is presented quantifying so far perceived advantages of IHB. By providing analysis of actual cost and project data derived from IHB companies, the article quantifies previous research that IHB is not only about prefabrication. The observed positive productivity growth in relation to the employed prefabrication degree indicates that off-site production is not a sufficient mean for reaching high productivity and productivity growth. Instead, the capabilities to integrate the operative logic of conventional housebuilding together with logic of IHB platform development and use is a probable explanation of the observed positive productivity growth.

While most efforts to combat climate change are focussed on energy efficiency and substitution of fossil fuels, growth in the built environment remains largely unquestioned. Given the current climate emergency and increasing scarcity of global resources, it is imperative that we address this “blind spot” by finding ways to support required services with less resource consumption.

There is now long overdue recognition to greenhouse gas emissions “embodied” in the production of building materials and construction, and its importance in reaching targets of net zero carbon by 2050. However, there is a widespread belief that we can continue to “build big”, provided we incorporate energy saving measures and select “low carbon materials” – ignoring the fact that excessive volume and area of buildings may outweigh any carbon savings. This is especially the case with commercial real estate.

As the inception and planning phases of projects offer most potential for reduction in both operational and embodied carbon, we must turn our attention to previously overlooked options such as “build nothing” or “build less”. This involves challenging the root cause of the need, exploring alternative approaches to meet desired outcomes, and maximising the use of existing assets. If new build is required, this should be designed for adaptability, with increased stewardship, so the building stock of the future will be a more valuable and useable resource.

This points to the need for increased understanding and application of the principles of strategic asset management, hitherto largely ignored in sustainability circles, which emphasize a close alignment of assets with the services they support.

Arguably, as the built environment consumes more material resources and energy than any other sector, its future configuration may be critical to the future of people and the planet. In this regard, this paper seeks to break new ground for deeper exploration.