The Critical Review on the Malaysian Construction Industry

Abstract

The construction industry is a very important part of Malaysian economy. The government’s aim is to make the industry more productive, efficient and safe. However reports and researchers on Malaysian construction industry showed little evidence of success on the efforts to improve productivity of the industry. This paper sought to provide an understanding on the characteristics of the Malaysian construction industry and further understand the issues/problems related to the industry. The paper is based on critical literature synthesis on the Malaysian construction industry. It is identified that the characteristics and current practices in the Malaysian construction industry has led to serious problem. Malaysian construction industry is identified as being fragmented, having high dependency on unskilled foreign labour, poor application of technology and problems on the implementation of policy. The issues identified by this literature synthesis will form a basis for future research on the Malaysian construction industry.

Keywords: Construction industry, Malaysia