(Source: Construction Industry Review and Prospect 2016/2017, CIDB)
Figure 1: Total Refurbishments Projects as 2007-2016
reasons that has resulted in poor statistical data in
the country. The Malaysian Construction Industry
Development Board (CIDB) is the only stakeholder
with compiled data for refurbishment related
information (Figure 1). Malaysian refurbishment
projects include various types of work and
significantly increases every year. Upgrading work
is seen as the major refurbishment work category in
the local construction industry compared with other
works. Unfortunately, this data does not include
illegal renovation works carried out by owners or
unregistered contractors; thus the actual value
of refurbishment works in the country is probably
much higher.
A recent survey indicated the following reasons
for the refurbishment of properties. First, for space
and conformity to the property owners’ tastes.
Next, refurbishment can be attributed to the age
of the building although deterioration might have
not set in yet. Some data and literature show
that most Malaysian buildings are refurbished
due to the age factor rather than based on the
building lifecycle or condition. The recent increase
in property prices has made it more practical,
attractive and worthwhile to spend money on
older properties without over-capitalising on them.
Moreover, many older properties are located in
quite valuable strategic locations so it is worth
keeping those properties.
Refurbishment Construction Waste
The increasing numbers of refurbishment projects
will increase the amount of construction waste
and material wastage. Malaysian construction
projects generate a lot of waste from natural
debris as well as human-made materials.
Additionally, illegal dumping and mismanagement
of materials have made the problem worse,
to the extent that in 2015 Malaysia produced
nearly 300 tons of construction waste daily, and
the amount is expected to increase further. The
Solid Waste Management Report by PEMANDU in
2015 showed that construction and demolition
waste generated by the industry had significantly
increased every year since 2007 and is expected
to reach 36,473 tons per day and 13.3 million
tons per year by 2020. (Figure 2).
Furthermore, the report predicted that 60%
of the total construction and demolition waste
generated will be dumped on private lands,
20% buried on sites and 15% dumped at official
landfills. Unfortunately, only 5% of construction and
demolition waste would be recycled ( Figure 3).
Refurbishment work possibly produces more
complex types of waste than any new construction
work because the processes involved is a
combination of new build and demolition works.
In refurbishment work, there will always be a high
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