Characteristics of Modular Construction: Meeting the Needs of Sustainability and Innovation Muhamad Faiz Musa 1 , Mohd Reeza Yusof 2 , Mohammad Fadhil Mohammad 3 , Rohana Mahbub 4 Construction Economics and Procurement Research Group, Centre of Studies for Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying 1,2,3,4 , Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia faeezzz@yahoo.com 1 Abstract—Industrialised Building Systems (IBS) is a construction process that uses building components manufactured in a factory or on site, transported and assembled into a structure using appropriate machinery and equipment with minimal workers on site. Modular construction is a novel innovation in Malaysia, contributes to sustainability and improves site safety in the built environment. Modular construction is a construction method that produces a building consist of modular units or modules, mass produce off site in a manufacturing facility. It includes the logistic and assembly aspect of it, done in proper coordination through detailed planning and integration. This paper is part of an on-going research on the adoption of modular construction through Industrialised Building System (IBS) approach in the Malaysian construction industry. The data and information presented is the review of the available relevant literature on this research topic. This paper incorporates an analysis of the definitions and characteristics of modular construction from all over the world. The identification and establishment of a clear definition and characteristics of modular construction from the analysis is essential so that people and industry players will understand what is the fundamentals of modular construction. Keywords - Industrialised Building System (IBS); Modular construction; Definition; Characteristics; I. INTRODUCTION In view of meeting the government’s ambition to transform the Malaysian construction industry into adopting the modern method of construction and being able to expedite the implementation of the IBS Roadmap and Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) 2006-2015, there is a call by the industry players for a proper and structured planning and implementation strategy for IBS to be established. In 2008, a circular from the Malaysian Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance denotes that the policy on full utilization of IBS to be imposed for all government projects in Malaysia [1]. CIDB launched IBS Roadmap 2011-2015 to replace the current roadmap launched in the late 2010 [2]. The policy is aimed to introduce high level intended outcomes in implementing the IBS. The new roadmap will be focusing on the adoption of IBS by the private sector. The four policy objectives were competency, quality, efficiency and sustainability. A sustainable IBS industry will contribute to the competitiveness of the construction industry and the adoption of sustainable agenda lead by the government. It is crucial towards the growth of the construction industry which will eventually affect the whole spectrum of the Malaysian economy. The goals for the IBS Roadmap 2011-2015 are to maintain the existing momentum of 70% in IBS content for public sector building projects. In addition, IBS Roadmap goals are to increase the IBS content to 50% for private sector building projects by 2015. The Malaysian construction industry is evolving towards greater use of innovative and modern method of construction techniques. The importance of the IBS has been highlight under the Strategic Thrust No 5: Innovation through R&D to adopt a new construction method in the CIMP 2006 – 2015 [3]. The IBS are categorised into prefabricated timber framing systems, precast concrete systems, formwork systems, steel framing systems, block work systems and innovative systems [4] [5, 6]. Modular construction can be categorised as a Modern Method of Construction (MMC) or offsite construction industry system. It is also known as volumetric construction. From the information gathered, modular construction has all the features mention in the CIMP 2006- 2015 and IBS Roadmap 2011- 2015 [7-9]. Modular construction provides quality building, efficiency, sustainability, competency and speed up in the time schedule. According to Lawson [10], the primary advantage of modular construction are: • Speed of installation on site, • Economy of scale in manufacturing of multiple repeated units, and 2014 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER 2014) 978-1-4799-3291-7/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 216