ALERT!!! – Renewal of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Green Card

For those who involved with construction industry and do require a CIDB Green Card, let us test our knowledge where we can actually renew the card online once it has expired. Is it, A, B, C or perhaps D?

A) https://www.mycidb.com/

B) https://cidb2u.my/

C) https://cims.cidb.gov.my/

D) All the above

Can you make a guess? Why not visit those websites mention above and make your own judgement.

The correct answer is C. It is the only authorised website that we can apply online for renewal of a CIDB Green Card.

Personally, I am sharing this is because I was trapped in one of the unauthorised website above for the purpose of CIDB Green Card renewal. Getting the card renewed every 5 years once made me thought that the system may have changed to something better. Unfortunately, I was not aware if the website I am applying at is the right place for me to apply or not. Please bear in mind the cost to renew from unauthorised party for a year is so much higher as compared to the real renewal cost. I was not aware of this too. I thought after all these years the cost to renew would have been increased. But actually until the day I recently renew it, the cost for a year is still the same, RM25 per year.

Click to access Kadar-Fees-Baru-PB.pdf

https://cidb2u.my/kadar-bayaran/

https://www.mycidb.com/kadar-bayaran

Based on my experience, the past 5 years system was that when we apply it online, made online payment and then we have to collect it in-person at the nearest CIDB office. This time around it is totally online application and the card will be posted to our postal address. The most important thing is that CIDB will not ask for full payment yet until they have confirmed through an email that all our personal particulars are correct and updated.

This is the reliable website to apply for renewal of CIDB Green Card, https://cims.cidb.gov.my/smis/regcontractor/index.vbhtml  

 Follow the application instruction on the website until it is completed. If we have difficulties in getting it done, there are many ways that we could reach CIDB;

1) Twitter platform – direct message CIDB Malaysia (@CIDBMALAYSIA): https://twitter.com/CIDBMALAYSIA

My conversation with CIDB after realising something is not right with my online CIDB Green Card renewal application.

I started to realise my application was not applied at the right platform after I have contacted CIDB Penang Office to ask about their operating hours for finger print validation. But the answer that I received was that they had never done that if I already made the payment in full. Once payment was successful, it means all particulars are intact and CIDB will prepare the renewal card and post it to me. So, an investigation needed to be done and the conversation with CIDB was my very first step in getting to know the truth.

2) Due to unauthorised party has made an application earlier on behalf of me, I cannot access the CIDB platform to apply for it. So, the next step taken was to get the earlier application terminated first. I have been using their Portal e-Bantuan @CIDB to get things sorted. (http://www.cidb.gov.my/index.php/my/eperkhidmatan/e-bantuan-my)

After verification has been done by CIDB, I manage to create new log-in application and log-in into the real CIDB renewal application at https://cims.cidb.gov.my/smis/regcontractor/index.vbhtml

This is the unauthorised application that was made earlier. I need to delete this application before I could apply for a new one. I notice my full payment which was made to the unauthorised party on 3rd March 2020 but the application submitted to CIDB was on 20th April 2020.

After deleting the unauthorised application, I have gone through the application process once again at the correct platform. I need to fill up details of; (i) Personal Information, (ii) Company & Experience, (iii) Academic, (iv) Safety Courses, (v) Skill Courses and (vi) Beneficiary. Once confirmation email received on the renewal application approved, payment need to be done to complete the process. I was also able to download a temporary CIDB Green Card pass while waiting for the actual CIDB Green Card to arrive which allows me to enter a construction site.

3) Contacting CIDB through email is also much helpful at crmcareline@cidb.gov.my. I have been contacting them through email in order to know what is CIDB’s action towards the unauthorised website that act as a third party to renew the CIDB card on behalf of users who are unaware. Below is their reply on my query.

Lesson Learnt – Every personnel who enters a construction site is required to have a CIDB Green Card. Getting it renew once expired is a must and without it we cannot enter any construction site legally. How we want to get it renewed is another state-of-the-art for me to explore and hope others will learn from it too. Be thorough in any action and please be careful.

Disclaimer: information as of 29 May 2020

#CIDBMalaysia #GreenCard #construction #quantitysurveyors

“CoVid19 – Is it a force majeure event” (RISM and PAM)

Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM)

https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://rism.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID19-ForceMajeureEventArticlerevFwmlogo.pdf&hl=en

Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM)

Click to access PAM_Advisory_Note_Covid-19_MCO_18.3.2020.pdf

BQSM – Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) – Experience Route

My Journey: Graduate QS / Provisional QS >>> Professional QS

April 2013, freshly graduated and started working as a graduate QS. I am full of energy and my motivation is at peak to achieve for registered QS. This is where it all begins for me.

I made my first application to go for Joint Test Of Professional Competence (JTPC) in Quantity Surveying from the BQSM by year end 2014. Highly motivated during that time to achieve it within 2 years. Considering the process was to prepare a 2 years of work diary, log book and report writing.

January 2015, I started to work on my work diary and log book for a year. Then by end of February 2016 I submitted the work diary and log book including report writing of the first year for an assessment. I did not do well in my first year work diary and log book writing. It was commented the area of experience was insufficient. I need to redo the first year writing again and not allowed to proceed to second year work diary and log book writing. I thought I had done good enough.

The point where I got back the comment was where my inner motivation was at the most bottom. It took me ages to get it started and getting my inner motivation back on track. With works at the office were piling up during that time, my attention to the JTPC work diary and log book had been distracted. I kept procrastinating it.

A year had pass and 2017 came in where JTPC has changed to APC with the structure of writing up work diary and log book still the same. I am still in the stage of slowly gathering back my inner self motivation to move forward in my career development as a registered QS.

May 2018, I made an initiative to attend a workshop on APC for one and a half day to carry forward my inner desire to be a registered QS. I wanted to complete what I had started before. From there onward I felt like I saw some light at the end of the tunnel to achieve my target. My working experience from April 2013 until that particular day I attended the workshop, May 2018, clock the 5 years of working experience.

During the APC workshop I was told to straight away complete the Critical Analysis (CA) report rather than doing all over again the work diary and log book considering my working experience already reach 5 years. It was the turning point from graduate route to experience route for the APC process. Can you imagine how long have I actually procrastinating my aim and ambition? I tried to fully utilise my time during the workshop to gather as much knowledge and information required. I prepared a draft of CA report, get it commented during the workshop for all of us attended the workshop to learn together and we even had a mock up interview session to get the feel of how a professional interview looks like. The workshop was properly structured for those Provisional QS who wants to proceed their journey to be a Professional QS.

Since then, I am back with high motivation of how I started to make my first step of getting into this journey. 6 months down the line I prepared my CA report. Although it is just a report not exceeding 3,000 words describing and critically analysing construction project experience, juggling between my job responsibilities and at the same time to focus on the CA report is such a challenging mission. But this time, I am determine to do whatever it takes to complete it and gain my Professional QS.

This CA report need to covers 2 area of professional experience. I have chosen the area of construction contract operation and post contract cost control which critically analyse into 2 different projects. I have breakdown the content of my CA report into:-

• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Candidate’s Experience
• 3.0 Permission Declaration
• 4.0 Area of Professional Experience
  • 4.1: Project 1 – Project Details, Project Role, Issue, Options, Recommendation, Recommendation Outcome, Reflection
  • 4.2: Project 2 – Project Details, Project Role, Issue, Options, Recommendation, Recommendation Outcome, Reflection
• 5.0 Declaration
• Appendices

The journey follow through with the first CA report submission in December 2018. By end of February 2019, I was called for an interview. This interview took about 45 minutes with 2 panels from the industry appointed by BQSM. I was asked about the projects that was written in the CA report. They want to know during the interview how did I attempt critically analyse problem in the projects that I handled and am I capable enough to be a Professional QS ethically. During the interview I was told by the panels that they want certain improvement in my CA report. There are rooms of improvement in CA report writing. During the interview session they were satisfied with my performance, Alhamdulillah. Only with the condition I make an improvement in my CA report and the journey for a Professional QS begins.

3 months after, May 2019, I submitted resubmission No.1 of my CA report with full hope that it goes well. Alhamdulillah, by August 2019, I received the news that I have been waiting for all these years to be a registered QS.

This is only the beginning of my journey as a Professional QS. There are still a lot of things I need to learn and explore in quantity surveying world. At one point I still cannot believe that I have made this far and I do not think I deserve yet to be a registered QS. InshaAllah, I will gradually grow my career development from a Professional QS to the next step of being a Consultant QS.

Below is the BQSM link that we could refer for the guideline of the journey from Provisional QS to Professional QS and finally Consultant QS https://www.bqsm.gov.my/index.php/en/download/2-tier/category/guideline-to-two-tier-registration

Project Vehicle and Project Equipment

Every government project there are vehicle and equipment allowance for the purpose of project running and observation.

This allowance can be referred to Pekeliling Perbendaharaan Malaysia PK 4.6 – Garis Panduan Perolehan Perkhidmatan Kenderaan Projek dan Peralatan Projek Untuk Pemantauan Projek Melalui Kontrak Kerja.

Vehicle for project purpose PK 4.6, M.S. 3/11 para. 4.3. Further vehicle specification can be referred to 1pp.treasury.gov.my.

Also on PK 4.6, M.S 5/11 is the project equipment criteria for project use. The extraction of para. 5.1 as below.

Board of Quantity Surveyors Malaysia (BQSM) Registration Route

• Provisional Quantity Surveyor
• Professional Quantity Surveyor
• Consultant Quantity Surveyor

(Disclaimer: Information as of August 2019)

#quantitysurveyors #provisionalQS #professionalQS #consultantQS #malaysia

Tender Document Cost

Have you ever wonder what is the cost should we sell a tender document in Malaysia? Especially a government project through an open tender.

We may refer to Pekeliling Perbendaharaan Malaysia PK 3.2 – Manual Perolehan Perkhidmatan Perunding Edisi 2011 (Pindaan Kedua) (PK 3.2) on the guideline of paper size and cost per piece of the paper. (PK 3.2, page M.S. 85/170, para. 11.11.2)

PK 3.2 MS 85/170 para. 11.11.2

PK 3.2 document can be downloaded from Portal 1PP Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia website at 1pp.treasury.gov.my.

From the cost breakdown we can build-up the total cost of a tender document and drawings for an open tender government project.

The Art of Certificate of Payment (COP) in Malaysia

6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation on 1st April 2015 creates new dimension in the preparation of COP. It takes depth to distinguish between work done on site until 31st March 2015 and work done from 1st April 2015 onward. Most ongoing projects during that time would be best to do a site valuation on 31st March 2015 or 1st April 2015. With site valuation done on the transition date, we can have proper recorded documentation in the future to refer for construction work done imposed with 6% GST and construction work done exclude 6% GST. Even when a project reaches end of Defect Liability Period (DLP) the release of retention sum would also need to be apportion between retention sum to be released with 6% GST and retention sum exclude 6% GST.

After 1,157 days of 6% GST implemented in Malaysia, on 1st June 2018 the GST percentage reduce to 0%. Once again the art of dealing with COP preparation is required. This time to separate between construction work done with 6% GST and construction work done with 0% GST. The best date to do site valuation for this transition is either on 31st May 2018 or 1st June 2018. Although the execution of 6% GST stops until 31st May 2018, still for any construction project its work done completed before 1st June 2018, it entitles for the release of retention sum with additional of 6% GST. Even the retention sum payment to be made after 1st June 2018.

Site valuation cut off date:-

31st March 2015 > 1st April 2015 – before GST to GST 6%

31st May 2018 > 1st June 2018 – from GST 6% to GST 0%

GST ‘holiday period’ = 1st June 2018 – 31st August 2018

From 1st September 2018 GST no longer applicable in Malaysia and it is replace with Sales and Services Tax (SST). With replacement of GST to SST, construction project no longer affected with SST in the preparation of COP. The amount approved in any COP is solely based on the site valuation done for each cycle, e.g., monthly or fortnightly.

Fast Track Project

Fast track project e.g. building a new factory project, involve works that are moving forward in quick movement. Nothing fancy on proper documentation e.g. any minutes taken during the meeting based on our handwritten notes that will be the one that we will refer and circulate for internal use. This shorten the time to achieve the work target of an outcome to the session/discussion.

Construction Management Team (CMT) are people who are based on site. As a consultant quantity surveyor we need to work closely with them in order to get supporting information in relation to payment certificate preparation to the contractor and preparation of the Engineer’s Instruction cost verification. As compared to government project, proper paperwork to complete each task is required and a lot to be done. The time frame to complete are ample. Anyhow, it still depends on how we work and attempt it. We may lose the time frame allocated without proper time management although the time is sufficient.

Factory project time frame to work on a task is limited. So we have to work with our heart and soul  especially when preparing the Certificate of Payment. Time management to produce Certificate of Payment should really be taken care because contractor has the right to question on their days to receive payment. For example, in the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) Contract stated that any claim submitted by contractor need to be processed for a certificate; either there should be a value to pay to the contractor or not.

BIG QUESTION???

HOW DO WE PREPARE GOOD CERTIFICATE OF PAYMENT?

WHY ALONG THE WAY THE TRACK AND PATH WE FOLLOW ARE OUT OF ITS WAY?

HOW MUCH PERCENTAGE OF TRUST DO WE PUT IN ORDER TO CONSIDER CONTRACTOR’S CLAIM?

ISN’T IT WHEN ONE SIDE IS PUSHING WITH CASH FLOW AND ANOTHER SIDE PUSHING WITH COMING CERTIFICATE OF PAYMENT (COP), WE TEND TO FALL INTO WRONG JUDGEMENT?

At the end of the day we may have made an over payment to them which comes to a conclusion we should reduce back their future COP. IT IS TOTALLY NOT A GOOD PRACTICE OF A QS!!!

Interim Payment

Could the Engineer rejects Contractor’s Interim Payment Application once quantity surveyor verification indicates that the work done claimed not telly as work done on site?

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) Conditions of Contract

Clause 58.2(1) The Engineer must issue an Interim Payment Certificate within 21 days of receiving the corresponding Contractor’s Interim Payment Application irrespective whether the Engineer agrees or disagrees with the amounts stated in the Contractor’s Interim Payment Application. Clause 58.2(2) To each of the amounts valued by the Contractor in the Interim Payment Application, the Engineer must certify the amounts which in his opinion the Contractor is entitled.

From Clause 58.2(1) & (2) of IEM Conditions of Contract it shows that Contractor’s claim submission could not be rejected although the work done claim is more than work done on site.

Is it a must for Contractor to submit the Interim Payment Application to the Engineer?

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) Conditions of Contract

Clause 58.1(1) At regular intervals fixed in the Appendix to these Conditions, the Contractor may submit to the Engineer the Contractor’s Interim Payment Application.

From Clause 58.1(1) of IEM Conditions of Contract it shows that Contractor is not obligatory to submit the Interim Payment Application to the Engineer by referring to the word used; ‘may’.

Info – Method of Interim Payment: (1) Time related   (2) Method related – Normally in Malaysia we would use the time related method in accessing the interim payment.

Discrepancy Between Documents

What does it mean with discrepancy between documents?

Discrepancy between documents could be defined as mistakes or errors between Contract Documents.

Example of Discrepancy Between Documents

– Under measurement in the Bills of Quantities

– Architectural and structural drawings are not tally

What happen when contractor discover discrepancy in Contract Documents?

1. When contractor come across with discrepancy in Contract Documents, they should tell the architect in writing about the discrepancy.
2. Architect will check and confirm the discrepancy. If there is any discrepancy, architect will issue Architect’s Instruction (AI) to correct the error and mistake.

What is the role of a quantity surveyor when there is a discrepancy?

1. Quantity surveyor will evaluate the discrepancy and advise on the cost implication either addition or omission.
2. If there is no cost implication, the AI will only be an AI to correct the mistake.

It is not a contractor’s duty to check on the discrepancy. It is the consultants order to make certain and find any discrepancy. PAM 2006 Clause 1.4 mentioned “If contractor finds discrepancy”. For example, a contractor completed a wall construction of 8 metre length but the correct length is 10 metre. length due to discrepancy between structural (wall 8 metre length) and architectural drawing (10 metre length). In this situation the contractor is entitle to claim for any demolition, additional and omission works if the discrepancy is not detected at earlier stage of construction. The contractor is entitle for claim because it is the contractor’s obligation to construct and comply works in accordance to contract within time frame.