News Room - Steel Industry

The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will step up enforcement from tomorrow on manufacturers and importers of construction materials and products who have yet to get them certified under the amended CIDB Act (Act 520), a CIDB official said Thursday.

Megat Kamil Azmi Megat Rus Kamarani, CIDB Senior General Manager, Operations Sector, said under the amended law, only construction materials that had received the Perakuan Pematuhan Standard (PPS), or Certification of Standards Compliance, can be used for construction projects in the country.

The PPS certificate is issued by CIDB to certify that the construction products comply with the relevant Malaysian Standards requirements.

The first of the materials and products to be enforced under the amended law are ceramic sanitaryware, ceramic tiles, steel frame scaffoldings, vitrified clay pipes and fittings, cold reduced mild steel wire for reinforcement of concrete, steel welded fabric for reinforcement of concrete, Portland cement and hydraulic cement.

The others are hot rolled steel bars for reinforcement of concrete, prefabricated timber roof truss systems, hot rolled non-alloy structural steel sections, precast concrete piles for foundation, steel wire ropes for lifts, iron and steel products, insulation materials, and float glass.

Two additions were made to the Standards and Codes of Practice in the amended CIDB Act to consolidate certification procedures with assistance from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department from Dec 1 last year.

"We have already enforced these requirements for imported materials at the point of entry. Now we will start enforcement on locally produced materials where we expect that in April we will further enhance our enforcement at construction sites and manufacturing plants to verify that they are using or manufacturing products that conform to standards," said Megat Kamil Azmi.

Contractors and manufacturers who do not comply will be liable for fines of up to RM500,000.

"With the amended Act, there is now actual accountability to ensure that their products conform to standards," he said.

Under the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP), the increased enforcement for product certification will meet requirements under the CITP's Quality, Safety and Professionalism thrust to help address issues pertaining to built environment quality and usage of sub-standard materials.