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'Use Structural Steel in Projects'

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 00:00 CST

By OOI TEE CHING

THE Malaysian Structural Steel Association (MSSA) hopes construction projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) would use more structural steel, which helps to speed up work.

"When using structural steel in projects, contractors can achieve time savings of up to 30 per cent, directly reducing costs of finance and labour," MSSA president Tan Sri Zaini Omar.

"We hope the Government under the 9MP will consider using more structural steel when building schools and clinics," he said.

Zaini, the former director general of Public Works Department, was speaking to reporters after officiating at the opening of MSSA Convention and Exhibition 2006 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The two-day seminar on "Industrialised Building System (IBS) - A synergy between Steel and Component-based Construction" saw 20 exhibitors showcasing their latest steel products and technologies.

He also witnessed the signing ceremony of a collaboration between the association and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak to promote the benefits of using more steel structures in buildings to engineering undergraduates.

Examples of buildings that incorporate considerable steel structures are the Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Menara Maju along Jalan Sultan Ismail and the Customs Department officers quarters in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya.

MSSA members source steel structures from steel millers who in the last two years suffered along with contractors with the lack of government construction jobs.

Also present at MSSA's seminar was Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) chief executive Datuk Hamzah Hassan.

"Currently, there are some 227,000 foreign construction labourers. We aim to trim that figure to 35,000 in four years time by having at least 50 per cent of government jobs under the 9MP to use the IBS," Hamzah said.

IBS is defined as building systems in which structural components are manufactured in a factory, transported and assembled into the structure with minimal additional site works.

The five common types of IBS are pre-cast concrete framing, steel formwork systems, steel framing systems, pre-fabricated timber framing systems and blockwork systems.

"In promoting IBS, we're also promoting usage of steel formwork and steel framing systems," Hamzah said.

According to Malaysian Construction Industry Directory 2005- 2006, out of the 109 IBS suppliers and manufacturers, 18 companies make steel frames and panels. Among the big suppliers are Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd and Blue Scope Steel (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Source: Business Times; Kuala Lumpur

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