Buletin Ingenieur

POLLUTION PREVENTION AND RIVER WATER
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT – A PROACTIVE TOOL FOR
POLLUTION AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION
HOLISTIC APPROACH TO URBAN STORM-WATER
POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
NEW DRAWING REQUIREMENTS FOR
WATER SUPPLY LAYOUT PLAN
THE BRIDGE BUILDERS – MARVELS OF ENGINEERING
LEMBAGA
JURUTERA
MALAYSIA
THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA LEMBAGA JURUTERA MALAYSIA
KDN PP11720/9/2003 ISSN 0128-4347 VOL.23 SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2004 RM10.00
Environment

B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 1
contents Volume 23 September-November 2004
LEMBAGA
JURUTERA
MALAYSIA
7
44
56
2 President’s Message
4 Editor’s Note
Announcement
Cover Feature
6 Pollution Prevention and River Water Quality
Improvement Programme
8 Environmental Audit – A Proactive Tool For
Pollution And Accident Prevention
13 Holistic Approach To Urban Storm-Water
Pollution Management
19 Economic Approaches In Addressing
Environmental Issues
Update
22 New Drawing Requirements For
Water Supply Layout Plan
23 New Regulations Under
Environmental Quality Act 1974
Engineering & Law
24 Supervision: An Overview
Feature
36 The WTO And The South: Implications And
Recent Developments (Part 2)
42 The Bridge Builders – Marvels of Engineering
50 The Role Of Sewage Treatment In
Public Health (Series 2)
Engineering Nostalgia
56 Milestones In Malaysian Engineering:
Merdeka Stadium 1957
13

Members of the Board of Engineers Malaysia
(BEM) 2003/2004
President
YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Ir. Hj Zaini Omar
Registrar
Ir. Ashari bin Mohd Yakub
Secretary
Ir. Dr. Judin bin Abdul Karim
Members of BEM
YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Ir. Md Radzi bin Mansor
YBhg. Datuk Ir. Santhakumar Sivasubramaniam
YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Hj. Abdul Rashid bin Maidin
YBhg. Datu Ir. Hubert Thian Chong Hui
YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Ashok Kumar Sharma
YBhg. Datuk Ir. Md Sidek bin Ahmad
YBhg. Datuk Ir. Hj. Keizrul Abdullah
YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Kok Soo Chon
Ir. Ho Jin Wah
Ir. Yim Hon Wa
Ir. Prof. Ow Chee Sheng
Ir. Mohd Aman bin Hj Idris
Ir. Hj. Abu Bakar bin Che’ Man
Ir. Prof. Abang Abdullah bin Abang Ali
Tuan Hj. Basar bin Juraimi
Ar. Paul Lai Chu
Editorial Board
Advisor
YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Ir. Hj Zaini Omar
Chairman
YBhg Datuk Ir. Shanthakumar Sivasubramaniam
Editor
Ir. Fong Tian Yong
Members
YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Ashok Kumar Sharma
Ir. Prof. Madya Dr. Eric Goh Kok Hoe
Ir. Prof. Ishak bin Abdul Rahman
Ir. Prof. Dr. Ruslan Hassan
Ir. Prof. Dr. K. S. Kannan
Ir. Nitchiananthan Balasubramaniam
Ir. Mustaza bin Hj. Salim
Ir. Md Amir bin Kasim
Ir. Dr Lee Say Chong
Ir. Chan Boon Teik
Ir. Choo Kok Beng
Publication Officer
Pn. Nik Kamaliah bt. Nik Abdul Rahman
Assistant Publication Officer
Pn. Che Asiah bt. Mohamad Ali
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BEM invites all registered engineers to contribute
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Over the past decades, there has been an
increasing awareness and concern for the
environment and how its deterioration as a result of
impact from human activities could deplete and
destroy our natural resources as well as seriously
affect the quality of human life. Our dependency on
natural resources, whether renewable or non-renewable,
results in the continuing degradation of
the environment. As the exploitation of natural
resources for development is inevitable, the focus has been on a long-term
sustainable use of these resources and development without
permanent residual impact on the environment. Expanding populations
urgently require more food, water, energy and land and where there are
few alternative resources, one cannot afford to wait for long term benefits,
and as such, finds investments in environmental protection unattractive.
In the past, it would seem that engineering in its various fields – be it
civil, structural, mechanical or chemical – would run contrary to the
aims and objectives of environmental protection and conservation. Most
aspects of engineering would be related to various forms of development
and construction that would have potentially lasting and damaging impact
on the environment and its resources. However, over recent years, there
is growing realisation that engineering not only has a role to play in
environmental protection but also a responsibility to ensure that
development does not have long-term serious impact.
It is now realised that engineering design in its various forms in
development can greatly assist in alleviating and reducing potential
impact on the environment, and this is true of most if not all aspects of
engineering. The construction of infrastructure facilities – buildings, roads,
bridges, jetties, airports, etc. – all involve the various branches of
engineering - civil and structural, mechanical and electrical. These
involvements can contribute tremendously to carefully thought-out
designs and specifications that will have a lesser or zero impact on the
environment without sacrificing or comprising the overall objectives of
development. Chemical engineering is vital in the design of industrial
systems that optimize the chemical processes without generating toxic
wastes; and where toxic wastes are inevitable, in the treatment of such
wastes and pollutants in sewage treatment facilities and landfills, and
industrial emissions. Priorities must be set in order to combine
environment and development, and in demonstrating the economic value
of an environmental concern. The option of no project or a 100%
environmentally sound development is unrealistic and the challenge for
engineers at this point in time is to recognise their role and responsibility
in providing technical expertise in balancing benefits and cost in
development and in the alternative ways of achieving the desired results.
On that note, it is worthwhile to reiterate that there should be no
conflict of interest between the environment and development. The
ultimate challenge now is to use engineering to help reduce as well as
provide solutions to environmental issues that arise as a result of
development.
TAN SRI DATO’ Ir. HJ. ZAINI BIN OMAR
President
BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA
KDN PP11720/9/2003 ISSN 0128-4347 VOL. 23 SEPT-NOV 2004
President’s Message

Editor’s Note
The Environment is apparently a more popular theme among our
contributors of articles. This interest is understandable given the emphasis
on this subject by the public and private sectors. At the present time alone,
there are several environmentally-related national seminars and activities
in the capital city.
Given the popularity of this subject, the Publication Committee may
repeat this theme on a yearly basis as we understand that there are more
issues and policies under study that may be of interest to practicing
engineers.
Meanwhile, give a thought to the December issue on ‘Facility
Management’ as more pages will be added on to bring festive cheer to
readers.
Ir. Fong Tian Yong
Editor
World Engineers’
Convention 2004
(WEC 2004)
Date: November 2-6, 2004
Venue: Shanghai International
Convention Centre, Pudong, Shanghai
For further details, please contact IEM
Secretariat at 03-7968 4001/4002 or
sec@iem.org.my
Event Calendar
JURUTERA PERUNDING LC
SDN. BHD.
(141864-T)
Mechanical & Electrical
Consulting Engineers
130C, Jalan Thamby Abdullah, Brickfields,
G.P.O. Box 12538, 50782 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (603) 2274 9900, 2274 9895, 2274 9896
Fax: (603) 2274 9909
E-mail: jplc@po.jaring.my
Publication Calendar
The following list is the Publication
Calendar for the year 2004 and 2005.
While we normally seek contributions
from experts for each special theme, we
are also pleased to accept articles
relevant to themes listed.
Please contact the Editor or the
Publication Officer in advance if you
would like to make such contributions or
to discuss details and deadlines.
December 2004: FACILITY MANAGEMENT
March 2005: CONSTRUCTION AND THE LAW
June 2005: ENERGY
September 2005: WATER
December 2005: ENVIRONMENT
Announcement

Pollution Prevention And
River Water Quality
Under the Environmental
Quality Act (EQA) 1974
environment means the
physical factors of the
surroundings of human beings
including land, water, atmosphere,
climate, sound, odour, taste, the
biological factors of animals and
plants and the social factor of
aesthetics.
To date, various water pollution
prevention and abatement
regulations had been formulated to
prevent and control the discharge of
effluent from polluting point sources.
In combating water pollution and
enhancing the quality of our inland
waters, besides the enforcement
activities carried out in accordance
with the requirement of those
pollution prevention regulations, the
Department of Environment (DOE)
also monitors the quality of the river
water. The river water monitoring
programme was initiated in 1978,
with the initial aim of establishing
water quality baselines, and
subsequently to detect water quality
changes and to identify the causes
of pollution. Out of the 189 rivers in
the country 120 river systems were
chosen to be included in this
programme based on their beneficial
uses and economic importance. A
total of 926 river water quality
monitoring stations were established
within these 120 river basins. The
appraisal of the water quality in each
river basin is based on the Water
Quality Index (WQI) consisting of
parameters such as dissolved oxygen
(DO), biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD), chemical oxygen demand
(COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3N),
suspended solids (SS) and pH.
River Water Quality Status
The trend of water quality (1990–
2003) for the 120 river basins is as
shown in Figure 1. The number of
polluted rivers was observed to be
increasing from seven in 1990 to 13 in
1999 while the number of clean rivers
had decreased from 48 in 1990 to 35 in
1999. Results of the analysis showed
that the deterioration of river water
quality in the country was due mainly
to discharges of sewage and domestic
waste water; animal farming; land
clearing and earthworks; agricultural
and manufacturing activities. Domestic
waste water; surface runoff from urban
areas; discharges from restaurant, wet
markets and food courts; pollution from
agricultural and land clearing activities;
suspended solids and silts from
earthwork and sand mining are the
main non-point polluting sources
(NPS).
This deteriorating trend of river
water quality had prompted DOE to
look into more effective means of
improving them in a holistic manner
so as to sustain their beneficial uses.
Programmes to speed up the
improvement of water quality for
polluted rivers were then initiated.
Systematic and progressive measures
need to be done in order to enhance
the river water quality to a clean
status or to achieve at least the Class
II level.
Pollution Prevention and
River Water Quality
A programme known as the
Pollution Prevention and River Water
Quality Improvement Programme was
initiated with a view to rehabilitate
rivers with serious pollution problems
to ultimately meet its beneficial uses.
By Hajah Rosnani Ibarahim, Director General of Environment,
Lee Choong Min, Director, River Division, DOE
cover feature

BEM
enhancement of water quality and the
river system for beneficial uses such
as water supply, recreational and
tourism products are to be formulated.
Thirdly, the accepted action plans will
then be presented to various
responsible agencies for funding
application and allocation for
implementation and finally the
operational and maintenance plans to
ensure conservation and
sustainability of the achieved water
quality.
Findings of the studies carried out
on Sungai Segget, Sungai Tebrau, and
Sungai Langat Basins clearly
identified that sewage remains as the
main single source of pollution in
term of organic pollution loads. Non-point
pollution sources and industries
are other major contributors to
pollution of Sungai Langat. These
findings led to the assumption that a
similar trend may occur for many
other river basins of similar land use
within their catchment areas.
The action plans for pollution
prevention and river water quality
improvement of Sungai Langat,
Sungai Segget and Sungai Tebrau
have been completed in the year 2002.
Among the measures proposed in the
Action Plans included: industrial
pollution control measures;
upgrading of existing large sewage
treatment plants; building new
modern mechanical treatment plants
to cater for the increasing number of
population; in-stream measures
include gross pollutant traps (GPTs)
placed at strategic locations to arrest
floating solid waste prior to discharge
into rivers; legal and institutional
measures; as well as environmental
awareness campaigns.
Conclusion
The effectiveness of the River
Pollution Prevention and Water
Quality Improvement Programme in
all the selected river basins through
intensification of enforcement
activities, particularly on sewage
treatment facilities and industrial
sources, to ensure compliance with
the stipulated discharge standards
supported by public awareness
campaigns has resulted in the
increase in the number of clean rivers
since the implementation of the
programme in the year 2001 as
shown in Figure 1. With further close
co-operation and concerted efforts
among the implementing agencies
and the general public, we can
prevent river pollution and improve
its water quality and provide a
significant contribution towards
protecting one of our vital natural
resources. The industries also need
to play their roles in carrying out
efficient management and put in
place appropriate measures to
prevent and minimize pollution of
the rivers. This integrated effort is
of vital importance for water can act
as a limiting factor in the pursuit of
sustainable development if it is not
properly managed.
Among the key objectives of this
Programme are:
(i) To identify all the point sources
and non-point sources of
pollution in the subject river
basin and to determine the
pollution loads and their impact
on water quality of that river;
(ii) To prepare and to implement
plans of action for the
rehabilitation and improvement
of river water quality from the
polluted/slightly polluted
category to clean category
according to the water quality
classification for purposes of
potable water supply, recreational
activities and tourism; and
(iii) To conserve and continuously
maintain the clean status of river
water quality after the
rehabilitation and quality
improvement works have been
completed.
A total of 26 river basins as shown
in Figure 2 were identified; six rivers
were initially selected for detailed
feasibility studies in the rehabilitation
programme.
The six river basins are Sungai
Langat, Sungai Segget, Sungai
Tebrau, Sungai Melaka, Batang
Rajang and river systems in Cameron
Highlands. Studies for the Sungai
Langat, Sungai Segget and Sungai
Tebrau Basins have been completed
in 2003. The study on Sungai Melaka
commenced in 2003 and will be
completed in 2004. while studies on
rivers in Cameron Highlands and
Batang Rajang Basins began in early
2004 and will be completed in 2005.
For the other remaining 20 river
basins, DOE continues to embark on
its enforcement and awareness
programmes.
Formulation of Action Plans
The Pollution Prevention and
River Water Quality Improvement
Programme has four stages of
activities. Firstly is the detail study
of the river basin in terms of pollution
sources and impact on the quality of
the water in the basin. Secondly,
based on the findings of the study
action plans to reduce, prevent and
abate pollution; action plans for
cover feature

Environmental Audit –
A Proactive Tool For Pollution
And Accident Prevention
By Ir. Dr. Chong Hock Guan, CEO and Principal Consultant, GMP Environmental Consultants
cover feature
With many environmental
accidents happening these
days, we should be more
proactive to find ways to prevent
accidents. One of the ways is the
effective use of environmental audits
to regularly check an organisation’s
environmental management and
practices.
Most engineers know the word
“Environmental Audit”, but not many
know its importance and benefits.
Some have a misconception that
environmental audit is a fault-finding
exercise and a waste of time. Coupled
with inexperienced auditors with poor
understanding and application of
audit methodology, many
environmental audits are conducted
in a sub-standard manner, merely to
satisfy the needs of certification or
contractual requirements.
Concepts Of Environmental Audit
Contrary to what most people
believe, environmental audit is
actually fact-finding work. A proper
and systematic environmental audit
will definitely yield benefits, and
some of these benefits include:
Highlight positive efforts made in
environmental performance
Identify potential environmental
accidents
Initiate corrective and preventive
action to avoid accidents and
disasters
Ensure compliance with
environmental legislation
Improve efficiency
Reduce wastage and improve cost
savings
Enhance corporate image of the
organisation
Increase confidence of customers
in the processes and products
Educate and motivate the
workforce
Demonstrate management
commitment to environmental
control
Improve the working environment
– making the place safer and
healthier
Encourage “self-regulation”- thus
reduce the burden of enforcement
So, what is “environmental audit’?
Environmental audit can be
defined as “a measure of
environmental risks, and an
assessment of environmental
opportunities”. The popular
management concept – “What gets
measured, gets done” – is well applied
here. This means, audit should have
measurement involved, and audit
tools, which can measure
quantitatively, will be able to measure
the environmental performance
effectively.
Legal Requirements
The Environmental Quality Act
(EQA) 1974 of Malaysia specifies
requirements on environmental audit;
as contained in Section 33A
Environmental Audit noted below:
(1) The Director General may require
the owner or occupier of any vehicle,
ship or premises, irrespective of
whether the vehicle, ship or premises
are prescribed under Section 18 or
otherwise, to carry out environmental
audit and to submit an audit report
in the manner as may be prescribed
by the Minister by regulations made
under this Act.
(2) For the purpose of carrying out
an environmental audit and to submit
a report thereof, the owner or occupier
so directed shall appoint qualified
personnel who are registered under
subsection (3).
(3) For the purpose of this section,
the Director General shall maintain a
list of qualified personnel who may
carry out any environmental audit
and submit a report thereof.
In addition, Section 51 of the EQA
1974 further states:
(1) In addition to and not in
derogation of any of the powers
contained in any other provision of
this Act, the Minister after
consultation with the Council may
make regulations for or with respect
to - (t) regulating environmental audit
and the submission of an audit report
and the appointment of qualified
personnel to assist the Director
General in carrying out an
environmental audit of any vehicle,
ship or premises, irrespective of
whether the vehicle, ship or premises
are prescribed under section 18 or
otherwise, and their manner of
operation, and prescribing the fees
chargeable
Environmental audit in the EQA
1974 is defined as “a periodic,
systematic, documented and objective
evaluation’ to determine –
(a) the compliance status to
environmental regulatory
requirements
(b) the environmental management
systems, and
(c) the overall environmental risk of
the premises.
It can be interpreted that the Act
requires three types of the
environmental audit to be done
notably:

cover feature
Compliance Audit
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
Management Systems
Audit
Risk Audit
As noted below, these are
three of the many other
types of environmental
audit.
Types Of
Environmental Audit
The main types of
environmental audit can
be categorised as:
1. Compliance Audit –
mainly to check on
compliance with the legal
or corporate requirements
2. E n v i r o n m e n t a l
Management Systems
Audit – The International
Standard, ISO 14001
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
Management Systems-
Specification with
guidance for use specifies
clearly such a
requirement. This audit
checks the whole
management system with
regards to the
requirements of ISO
14001 Standard. Figure
1 shows the ISO 14001 EMS model.
3. Risk Audit – This type of audit
evaluates the level of environmental
risks with regards to the operation and
activities in such organisation.
4. Due Diligence Audit – This is
used by organisations or banks to
evaluate environmental conditions
when dealing with merging,
acquisition or divestment of
properties.
5. Environmental Impairment
Liability Audit – an essential pre-requisite
for organisations to obtain
insurance to cover the liability
resulting from environmental
pollution and impact.
6. Environmental Marketing Audit
– such an audit is used by
organisations to check that their
products are in conformance with
consumer and legislative
requirements.
7. Energy Audit – Since energy
production involves natural resources,
this type of audit covers the collection,
analysis and interpretation of energy
audit. The results are cost savings and
efficient use of energy.
8. Certification Audit – This
involves assessment against an agreed
standard prior to issuance of certificate.
9. Environmental Performance
Audit – checks on environmental
performance, including continual
improvement in reducing
environmental pollution.
10. Audit on Contractors and
Suppliers – examines the
environmental activities of its
contractors and suppliers, in particular,
in reference to their compliance to
environmental legislation and
standards.
11. Product Audit – This usually
checks the product life-cycle, from
conception to final disposal, to ensure
all processes and raw materials used
are in-line with environmental
requirements.
12. Cleaner Production Audit – Also
called Waste Minimization Audit. This
audit finds the processes involved in
reducing and eliminating the use of
toxic chemicals, which aims to result
in less pollution and toxic wastes
produced.
As there are many types of
environmental audit, every
organisation has to be clear on and
specific which type of environmental
audit it needs.
Systematic Environmental
Audit Methodology
A systematic environmental audit
consists of three main stages:

Facts
Audit
Findings
Site
Inspection
Document
Review
Verification
Interviews
Interviewing
Knowledgeable Persons
Verification of Responses
GMP ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSULTANTS
cover feature
1. Pre-Audit
Pre-audit deals with preparations
prior to the audit on-site. The work
include:
communicating with the site
personnel on the audit
obtaining background information
about the site
defining the scope and intent of
the audit
determining the type of audit
selecting audit team members
preparing the necessary equipment
– audit checklists, personal
protective equipment and other
audit tools
making preparations on logistic,
accommodation and
transportation if needed, and
sending a letter of notification to
the site to confirm the audit on-site
2. On-Site Audit
This is the main bulk of the
audit, and is done in the ‘auditee’.
Auditee is defined as the
organisation being audited. This
phase comprises five events in
sequence, they are:
(i) Opening meeting – This is the
first formal event at the site, and
should be attended by audit team
and the management of the auditee.
Usually the top management will
address the audience first, and the
audit team leader will then inform
the management on the agenda and
the methodology of the audit.
(ii) Familiarization tour – The audit
team members are accompanied by
key personnel of the auditee to visit
the site briefly in order to be familiar
with the nature of operations and
the environmental concerns. It
should be noted that this is not site
inspection. This event is not needed
if the audit team members are
familiar with the site.
(iii) Interviewing the knowledgeable
persons – This is the essence of the
on-site audit, whereby key
personnel are interviewed to obtain
facts in response to the audit
questions. Figure 2 shows the
importance sequence of events for
this on-site audit technique.
(iv) Verification – The facts obtained
from the knowledgeable persons are
verified. There are three techniques
of verification:
Document review – this exercise
examines the manual, procedures,
work instructions, records and
supporting documents
Verification interviews –
involves interviewing employees
randomly to check the
implementation of systems in
place.
Site Inspection – all physical
installations at the site are
checked against the standards
and good environmental
practices.
A combination of any three
verification techniques can be used,
with the main intent of confirming
evidence of the facts obtained.

(v) Closing Meeting – Audit findings
and conclusions are presented by the
audit team leader to highlight
“Noteworthy Efforts” (conformities)
and “Areas for Improvement” (non-conformities).
Recommendations
should be provided by the audit team,
though they are not binding.
3. Post –Audit
This is mainly report writing and
follow up after the submission of
report. The report is confidential, and
should be factual with key findings
from the audit, notably with sections
on Noteworthy Efforts and Areas for
Improvement. Recommendations for
improvement should be included,
unless specifically requested to be
excluded by the client.
A good audit report should
contain the following sections:
Cover Letter
Executive Summary and
Score Sheet
Working Copy
Findings from Site Inspection
Summary of Verification
Interviews
Conclusion and Suggestions for
Action
Depending on the contractual
requirements, usually two copies of
the reports are submitted to the client,
with a copy extended to the auditee.
The client may pose questions after
reading the audit report, and the audit
team leader must be prepared to meet
the client and the auditee’s
representatives to make presentations
of the findings and to answer specific
questions.
Audit Tool
A good audit tool consists of
checklists that are accurate and
reliable so that competent auditors
using the tool and working
independently would reach similar
audit findings from evaluating the
same audit evidence. A good audit
tool should preferably have a
qualitative or quantitative
measurement of the audit results. GMP
ISO 14001 Audit Scheme® is one such
tool which has been widely used in
industries for measuring quantitatively
the audit results of environmental
management systems (EMS).
Figure 3 shows that using the
GMP ISO 14001 Audit Scheme®, the
overall audit results can be
measured quantitatively against the
EMS Standard from a scale of 0-
100%. Figure 4 shows the detail
results for each component of ISO
14001 in achieving the overall
results in Figure 3.
Responsibilities Of Auditors
Environmental auditors, whether
internal or external auditors, are
professionals. As such, proper codes
of ethic or principles should be
followed.
ISO 19011: 2002 Guidelines for
Quality or Environmental
Management Systems Auditing states
clearly the principles for auditing as
noted below:
Ethical conduct: The foundation
of professionalism. Trust, integrity,
confidentiality and discretion are
essential to auditing.
Fair presentation: the obligation
to report truthfully and accurately.
Audit findings and conclusions
should be accurate substantiated
with facts and evidence.
Due professional care: the
application of diligence and
judgment in auditing.
Independence: auditors should be
unbiased and free from conflict of
interests.
Evidence-based approach: the
rationale method for reaching
reliable audit conclusions in a
systematic audit process.
Audit team members should be
competent with the following criteria
(based on ISO 19011:2002 for EMS
Auditors):
(a) Entry qualification – the
minimum entry qualification is
secondary education, though a
university/college qualification is
preferred.
(b) Qualified in specific knowledge
and skills – these can be achieved
via university education or
external training. For an
environmental management
systems auditor, the training
syllabus should include:
Audit principles and
methodology
Management systems - ISO
14001 EMS Standard
Environmental engineering
and technology
Organisation’s operation and
general business process
Environmental law
At least 40 hours of training is
needed for the above courses.
(c) Environmental related work
experience – at least two out of
a total of five years for those with
Figure 3 - Audit Score using GMP ISO 14001 Audit Scheme®
Areas for
Improvement
Noteworthy
Efforts
5-7 July 2004
EMS Standard
100%
22.7%
Baseline EMS Audit Result for AAA Sdn Bhd
cover feature

GMP ISO 14001 AUDIT SCHEME
Figure 4 - Graph on Details of Audit Score
GMP ISO 14001 AUDIT SCHEME - GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION
Audited Site : AAA Sdn Bhd Date : 5-7 July 2004
BASELINE EMS ISO 14001 AUDI T
PERFECT SCORE
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
GMP Environmental Consultants
AVERAGE
100%
0.0%
33.3%
20.0%
33.3%
42.9%
0.0%`
50.0%
SCORE PERCENTAGE
14.3%
33.3%
0.0%
16.7%
0.0%
25.0%
20.0%
37.5%
0.0%
0.0%
4.1
4.2
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.3.3
4.3.4
4.4.1
4.4.2
4.4.3
4.4.4
4.4.5
4.4.6
4.4.7
4.5.1
4.5.2
4.5.3
4.5.4
4.6
Infancy Developing Maturing Advanced Desired
ISO 14001 CLAUSE
22.7%
secondary education, and at least
two out of a total of four years
for those with university/college
qualification.
(d) On-the job training and
experience – minimum four
complete audits for a total of at
least of 20 days.
In Malaysia, the Society of
Environmental Auditors Malaysia
(SEAM) was set up in 1998 to gather
the environmental auditors in
Malaysia and to provide them with
information networks regarding the
development of environmental audit
and environmental management.
Conclusion And The Way Forward
While there are many benefits
and need for environmental audit,
challenges still exists which must be
resolved. Some factors that can be
considered to ensure success of
environmental audit in Malaysia
are:
Enforce the use of environmental
audit through Environmental
Audit Regulations by the
Department of Environment.
Enforcement imposed by the
Government will increase the
practice of environmental audit.
Increase awareness on the
importance and benefits of
environmental audit, through
talks, training, campaigns,
promotions and bulletins.
Recognise and promote
environmental auditors as
important professionals in the
development of the nation.
Provide incentives to
organisations practicing good
environmental audits – this can be
done through awards and tax
incentives.
Train more environmental
auditors to encourage the proper
application of environmental
audit.
There are tremendous
opportunities for environmental audit
to grow in Malaysia. Both the public
and private sectors have respective
roles to play to ensure the success of
environmental audit in Malaysia.
REFERENCES
1. Chong H.G., December 1999,
Environmental Audit from the
Perspective of A Consultant, Bengkel
Audit Alam Sekitar, Department of
Environment, Malaysia.
2. Chong H.G., March 2004,
Environmental Audit Training
Manual (Edition 9), GMP
Environmental Consultants,
Malaysia.
3. International Organization for
Standardization, 1996, ISO 14001:
Environmental Management Systems
– Specification with Guidance for
Use, Switzerland.
4. International Organization for
Standardization, 2002, ISO 1901:
Guidelines for quality and/or
environmental management systems
auditing, Switzerland. BEM
cover feature

Holistic Approach To
Urban Storm-Water
Pollution Management
By Ir. Prof. Dr. Ruslan Hassan, Environmental Research Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Much work is needed in restoring
the physical, chemical and
biological integrity of the
country’s water. For far too long
the emphasis on water quality
control has been on point sources
of pollution with organic
pollution being the major type of
pollution being monitored. The
receiving streams seem to be not
getting better despite the
numerous efforts. Many streams
still had water quality problems
that did not allow them to
support even partial designated
use because they were impaired
by non-point sources with wet-weather
runoff as the main water
pollution problem. This paper
deals with the application of the
holistic systems approach to the
urban water systems. The three
main strategies: watershed based
planning, pollution prevention,
and management, and increased
individual and collective
responsibility are briefly discussed.
Finally, some recommendations
are forwarded to address the issue
of non-point pollution from
storm runoff.
One of the essential elements
of sustainable development
is recognition of the
economic value of
environmental resources. For years we
have calculated the gross national
product on the basis of production or
harvest only. It is as though we
exclude the value of land and
equipment from the estates’ net worth,
or remove the manufacturing plants
from the car producer’s balance sheet.
Plate 1: The Urban
Environment with
Squatters and Flood
Problems
The World Resources Institute notes
that such economic policies around
the world have. “... create [d] the
illusion of economic development,
when in fact national wealth is being
destroyed.’ Understanding the true
long-term value of the environment
builds support naturally for
sustainable development to preserve
the country. Public opinions now
seem sympathetic to environmental
concerns and they see that water
pollution as more serious than any
other environmental problems, and
they also express concerns about
drinking water supplies.
Integrated water management
calls for a water system to be treated
as a single, cohesive system in which
the uses and functions of water are
linked to the source, quality, and
quantity of water available. Within a
water system, such as an ocean, lake,
river, stream, or wetland, there are
cover feature

cover feature
four basic elements: groundwater,
surface water, and water quantity and
water quality. The interaction between
these elements affects the entire water
system. Water systems are a
functional component of nature,
urban areas, industry, agricultural
production and recreation.
HOLISTIC APPROACH
A holistic approach considers
human health, water supply and
ecological concerns. There is a
management, pollution prevention
and increased individual and
collective responsibility for protecting
water resources. The natural flow of
the water cycle calls for a holistic
approach to restoring water quality.
Water resources are sufficiently
threatened to demand analysis of all
related problems.
The holistic approach views the
parts of the urban wastewater systems
- surface runoff, wastewater flow in
the pipes and through the treatment
plant, and receiving water, for
example as one entity. In the past,
these elements were interpreted as
being separate pieces having fixed
boundaries. Using the approach, the
risk of floods could be decreased, the
system’s pollution load on the
environment during rain could be
minimised, and engineers could
achieve better operational control
using computer simulations and real-time
control.
To solve water pollution problem,
management concepts must reflect
this approach. When analysed with a
holistic approach, water management
problems revolve around crucial
issues far beyond the water
profession. The influence of humans
on the water cycle is a function of
demographic development, cultural
heritage, economic distribution, and
social circumstances. The problems of
pollution are related to the very roots
of society in the broadest and most
basic sense.
Laws and Legislation
Most water related laws in
Malaysia were enacted a long time
ago (Water Act 1920) when water
could still be regarded as being
plentiful in supply. The
responsibilities for water pollution
control are shared in unclear terms
between Federal and State agencies
with overlapping legislation. Water
pollution issues are currently
distributed among the State, Federal
and Concurrent Lists; ‘Factories’ are
enumerated in the Federal List, ‘Public
Health’ is listed in the Concurrent List,
and ‘Water’, ‘Rivers’ and ‘Public
Nuisances’ are in the State list. Under
conditions such as this, it is legally
difficult to directly impose a national
standard for water quality control and
management.
NON-POINT SOURCES
OF POLLUTION
Although storm-water quality is
highly variable, mean storm-water
conditions can be evaluated to
determine key differences between
typical storm-water and river water
(Paulson, 1993). The storm-water here
is defined as the storm-water runoff,
surface runoff and drainage. The
runoff from just the urban and
industrial areas typically possesses
pollutant concentrations rivaling
those of the industrial wastewater
discharges; as much as 30 % of water
pollution streams can come from
storm-water discharges.
Potential pollutants such as
vegetation, that makes up to 80% of
the non-particulate solids in runoff,
are still looked on as ‘natural
material’, that belongs in the
landscape and mistakenly by
extension in the drainage system.
Leaf litter is not at all natural in the
ies that reach urban drainage
systems. Under natural processes the
vast majority of the material remains
in the forest floor layer, holding
runoff for slow release and gradually
decaying to return nutrients to the
soil. However, now many drop leaves
onto roofs, paved areas and
manicured lawns. They are washed
into drainage systems where they can
deplete oxygen in waterways and
create odours and water soluble
compounds that impact on aquatic
life.
Litter is unsightly, environmentally
damaging and can cause blockages
to stormwater management systems.
For instance, drink cans made of
aluminium are chemically reactive,
highly toxic in some phases and
may degrade in the low pH of
anaerobic zones. Medical and
sanitary waste and glass bottles,
usually in fragments, are a
hazardous feature of bottom muds.
A high proportion of all litter, sinks
to the bed where it binds the surface
Plate 2: Solid wastes in river water Plate 3: Dead fish in a river

Plate 4(b) : The estuary becomes the final of development destination of rivers.
cover feature
Plate 4(a) : A river always receives the brunt
or becomes embedded in sediments,
to disrupt the activity of bottom
dwellers.
Plastics now dominate the
stormwater litter stream and can take
over a century to decompose. If an
aquatic animal dies after swallowing
plastics, it decomposes long before the
litter, which floats on to threaten more
animals. Polystyrene also floats down
stormwater drains and into the sea. It
can lodge in gills and obstruct the
guts of susceptible species.
Litter Composition
Plastics now dominate the
stormwater litter stream and likely to
remain so if present lifestyles and
attitudes are maintained. In gross
pollutant traps for an urban area such
trends are indicated as shown in the
Figure 1 below.
It was found that constituents with
higher concentrations in storm-water
than in average river water (non-storm
event) included suspended
solids (three to six times) dissolved
organic carbon (three to five times);
ammonia (five to 20 times), dissolved
phosphorus (ten to 100 times) and
metals, including manganese, iron,
copper, lead and zinc (five to 50
times). The pH conditions for storm-water
and river water were generally
similar.
There were two separate incidents
causing water supply companies in
UK to notify the customers to boil
their drinking water following
unexpected increase in the cases of
Cryptosporidiosis (Ruslan, 1997). The
Crypto organism was discovered in
water samples following a special
programme of testing carried out by
the water company in cooperation
with the local health authority. The
protozoan ingested as an oocyst and
excreted in the faeces is usually
overlooked and not identified. Their
transmission from host to host by the
faecal-oral route suggests the
possibility of waterborne
transmission. Crptosporidium, found
in farm animals (cattle, goats, dogs,
pigs and cats) excrement is usually
passed from animals into the land and
then washed into the waterways.
A study conducted by Quek (1998)
revealed that the levels of pollutants
entering the Putrajaya lakes were high
in Total Phosphorus(TP), Total
Figure 1: Representative Litter trapped in urban Storm-Water Drains

Nitrogen (TN), ammonia, BOD5, total
coliform, faecal coliform, iron,
manganese and mercury. The levels
of TP concentrations were between
0.13 and 0.18 mg/L, which are higher
than Class IIB standard of 0.05 mg/L.
The TN concentrations ranged from
0.65 to 1.27 mg/L The land uses for
the upstream catchments include
colleges, institutions, golf courses,
farming and agricultural.
From the Sungai Tekam
Experimental Basin 1986 study
(Ruslan, 2000), it was found that there
were changes in water quality
measurements such as conductivity,
suspended solids, turbidity, calcium,
iron and magnesium after
deforestation. Calcium, magnesium,
conductivity were significant and
parameters like total suspended solids,
turbidity and nitrate nitrogen
exceeded the stipulated standards.
In the absence of sufficient data
on metal form and toxicity, total
concentrations provide a conservative
measure. Class B criteria are more
appropriately applied to dissolved,
rather than, total metal
concentrations. Total metal
concentrations include several
forms: particulates and dissolved,
inorganically or organically
complexed (called bound), and free.
Bioavailability and toxicity vary
with the form of the metal. The most
bio-available forms that are toxic to
aquatic life are free metals and some
weak inorganic complexes. Metals in
the environment, particularly in
storm-water runoff, are usually
present in particulate and strongly
complexed (organic) forms, with only
a small fraction of the total metal
concentration being bio-available.
Impact To The Environment
and Health
A polluted river that flows
through a river basin indicates that
the ecology of the river basin is
disrupted arising from improper land
management which results in
pollutants being released to the river
and ultimately ending up in the sea.
Relatively modest increases in the
concentration of nitrogen and
phosphorus may be sufficient to
trigger algal blooms as a consequent
of eutrophication. In addition to
being unsightly and smelly, masses
of blue green algae can literally
choke the life out of a lake or pond.
The large concentrations of algae
built up, respire and decompose dead
algal cells causing lakes to be devoid
of fish.
The Cryptosporidiosis is an
infection, which produces immuno-competent
humans, a self-limited flu
like gastrointestinal illness that
resolves spontaneously in one to four
weeks. In immuno-compromised
patients, Cryptosporidiosis may
produce severe and prolonged
diarrhoea for which there is no
chemotherapy contributing to
mortality.
The toxicity of copper though
typically present in the least amount
in storm-water (order of 10-7M) is the
most toxic to aquatic life followed
by zinc and lead. But because of the
higher concentrations of zinc (10-6
M) and together with the addition of
larger dissolved and bio-available
fractions, metal toxicity from zinc
may be more significant than copper
and lead.
cover feature
Plate 5 (a) : Siltation/Sedimentation Basin
Plate 5(b): Turfed Slope of more than 50mm thickness (BMPs)

STORM WATER MANAGEMENT
The overall goal of storm-water
management programme is to reduce
the discharges of pollutants. Although
these discharges are dependent on the
wills of Nature, society must believe
in the vision that we should live in
harmony with healthy natural
systems. Much work is needed in
restoring the physical, chemical, and
biological integrity of the country’s
waters. The holistic approach applied
will have to be guided by three
strategies: watershed-based planning,
pollution prevention and increased
individual and collective
responsibility for the protection of
water resources.
Watershed-Based Planning
And Management
Watersheds are the logical
hydrological unit within which to
plan, implement and evaluate
pollution prevention efforts. Although
water is a State matter, nature does
not recognise political and state
boundaries.
Water resources must be managed
to sustain environmental values and
the health of the economy. Water
resource protection efforts should
focus on environmental results within
appropriate hydrologic units or
watersheds. Statewide watershed
planning and management must be
implemented which includes the
implementation of agricultural best
management practices to improve the
water quality in a given watershed.
Management plans should be
developed to set priorities regarding
resource allocation and minimum
operating standards for various
sources of impairment in the
watershed.
Pollution Prevention
Society will generate less pollution
if it reduces its consumption of
resources and recycles these materials.
In addition, pollution prevention will
be enhanced by including several
measures, which promotes continuous
improvement in pollution prevention
from agriculture, manufacturing, land
development, energy, transportation,
commercial activity and household.
Prevention is an especially important
cover feature
strategy for controlling runoff from
urban areas.
Despite education, awareness and
street cleaning programmes, large
amounts of gross pollutants are
reaching and degrading waterways.
For reducing gross pollutants impacts,
some steps include:
Preventive measure (education
and awareness) including drain
labeling. Working with
manufacturers to reduce
packaging and encouraging
recycling.
Removal of gross pollutants (street
cleaning).
Capture of gross pollutants in the
drainage system.
Bio-remediation of pollutants
(mainly applicable to nutrients and
heavy metals).
Remedial clean-up methods.
Before a particular stormwater
treatment technique or treatment train
can be determined, characteristics of
the catchment area, objectives for the
receiving waters, soil and
groundwater requirements have to be
considered.
Storm-water runoff from
commercial-residential will generally
decrease the water quality in the
receiving waters. To ensure that
contaminants in the runoff will not
exceed pre-determined levels, a
source control programme with the
following objectives should be carried
out.:
Identify and correct illegal
connections to the storm-water
drainage systems
Identify business activities that
might contribute pollutants to the
storm drains and work with those
businesses to control the release
of those pollutants
Reduce the likelihood of accidental
spills of chemical or petroleum
products by encouraging spills
control practices; and
Increase the industries operators
awareness of the link between
their activities and the
introduction of contaminants into
storm drains
The source control programme
must not be a typical command and
control but to educate the industries
on proper waste management
through site visits and mailing of
information to encourage them to
keep contaminants out of the storm
drains.
Increased Individual And
Collective Responsibility
Protecting water resources will
succeed only if citizens adopt a
heightened sense of responsibility.
Each member of the society should
contribute to the cleanup costs and
pollution prevention relative to their
contribution to the pollution.
Education, incentives, and regulation
will encourage responsible
behaviour. Environmental education
plays an important role in educating
the public and industries. It is from
environmental education that helps
build demand from the public on
what industries they prefer. It is also
from environmental education that
the population will learn to
understand the concept of
conservation and be able to apply
simple conservation measures in
their daily lives.
For storm water pollution
prevention plan management in an
organisation, it is critical that
employees become familiar with it.
The better the training given to the
employees, the more successful the
storm-water management
programme will be. In time, training
will benefit both the industry and
community as well.
Under the programme, all
employees need to be informed of
the components and goals of their
employer’s storm-water prevention
plan, which must include:
A pollution prevention committee
A risk assessment/material
inventory
A preventive maintenance
programme
Spill prevention and response
procedure
A storm-water management
programme
A sediment and erosion control
plan
Employee training programmes
Visual inspections
Record keeping and internal
reporting procedures

A comprehensive planning
process that will involve public
participation must be included in a
storm-water management plan. The
process may be imposed on a system-wide,
watershed, or jurisdiction basis
or on individual outfall. In addition,
where necessary, there will also be
interstate coordination to reduce the
discharge of pollutants from the
system to the maximum extent
practicable, as well as control
techniques, system design and
engineering methods, and other
provisions as appropriate.
DISCUSSION
The great diversity of storm-water
discharges and their associated impact
is a key problem, which complicates
the assessment and control. Storm-water
varies according to geography,
duration and intensity of the storm
event, ambient environmental
conditions along the course of storm-water
runoff, and the conditions of
receiving waters impacted by the
runoff. Because this inherent
variability makes it difficult to define
‘standard’ or ‘typical’ storm-water
discharges, or to develop standardised
impact assessments. The authority
should establish a range of conditions,
rather than a single means of
assessment. This would allow for more
realistic assessment of variable storm-water
discharges and help ensure that
storm-water control programmes
reflect the actual nature of the
problem.
To assess storm-water impact, the
authority should not rely on existing
water quality assessment criteria and
the techniques designed to measure
problems associated with
conventional municipal and industrial
discharges. Unlike storm-water
discharges, these conventional
discharges are qualitatively and
quantitatively predictable and usually
occur in locations where monitoring
equipment can be easily sited.
Techniques that can take into account
the characteristics of the receiving
water after the storm event, that is,
increased stream-flow and short-term
acute discharges of toxic should be
used for assessing storm water
impacts. Scientifically valid and
defensible monitoring and control
requirements, which address the
unique nature of storm-water, will
require time to develop.
The overall goal of storm-water
management programme is to reduce
the discharge of pollutants. A
framework such as product life cycle
allows a systematic approach to
pollution prevention that considers
each stage in the life of product from
raw materials to finished product, use,
resource recovery and disposal.
Analysing a product in terms of its
life cycle helps identify environmental
impact and risks associated with its
manufacture and use.
Reducing pollution at the source
entails a change in traditional
business and management
approaches. Education of future
business managers will focus on
changing attitudes and values in such
a way that makes it easier for them
to factor pollution prevention
considerations into their decision
making. A key element of the
management plan with the goal of
reducing the discharge of pollutants
is public participation, which must
include extensive public education
activities to assist communities in
understanding the importance of this
programme and their impact on it.
CONCLUSION
A holistic approach considers
human health, water supply and
ecological concerns. Even if the point
source of pollution has been
controlled or completely eliminated,
it will be dwarfed by the non-point
pollution. Approaches to water
resource protection must emphasise
avoiding or minimising pollution and
source degradation rather than
mitigating the effects of releasing
pollutants into or disturbing
ecosystem. Water resource protection
efforts should focus on environmental
results within the appropriate
hydrologic units or watersheds, with
success and failure in attaining water
resources goals regularly reported to
the public. In general, controlling wet
weather runoff remains a high
priority. While the sources may be
familiar or simple to understand, the
solutions are complex. It requires best
management practices and controls
at critical overflow points.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1 Policies and programmes should
adopt a holistic resource
protection perspective, taking into
account the interconnections of
quality and quantity of surface water,
groundwater, and aquatic and related
land resources.
2 Every water environment project
requires participation by the
beneficiaries, as well as the
benefactors. A programme to educate
the community on the benefits of
source control for reducing the
impairments of receiving water by
storm-water runoff must be
incorporated in the storm-water
management plan.
3 Programmes to protect water
resources should include a mix
of voluntary and mandatory
approaches, and
4 All levels of Government and the
private sector have a role in
working together to plan water use,
conservation and protection with the
level of Government most appropriate
to the problem principally responsible
for the solution.
REFERENCES
Drainage and Irrigation Dept.: (1986).
Sungai Tekam Experimental Basin: Final
Report, July 1977 - June 1986.
Paulson, C. and G. Amy: (1993).
Regulating Metal Toxicity in Storm-water,
Water Environment Technology, pp.
44 - 49, Water Environment Federation.
Quek, K.H. (1998): Water Quality
Monitoring and Evaluation Programme
for Putra Jaya Lake and Wetlands.
Proceedings: Seminar on Putrajaya Lake
Water Quality Management, MARDI,
Seremban.
Ruslan Hassan: (1997). UK hit by Crypto
Outbreaks: Are We Ready? No. 7, Jurutera,
Bulletin of the Institution of Engineers
(IEM).
Ruslan Hassan: (2000). Environmental
Pollution: Assessment and Management,
Univision Press, p.200. BEM
cover feature

Economic Approaches In
Addressing Environmental Issues
By Y.M. Raja Dato’ Zaharaton bt. Raja Zainal Abidin, Director General of the Economic Planning Unit,
Prime Minister’s Department
Given the rate of Malaysia’s
economic growth in the
past 30 years, and the fast
pace by which our society
is developing, the magnitude and
array of environmental problems are
becoming more complex and
challenging. Although the natural
environment has certain ameliorative
properties, the pace of change has
been so rapid that their carrying
capacities might soon be exceeded if
left unchecked, and raise issues of
sustainability. At the core of these
problems lie social attitudes and
customary practices that have treated
environmental conditions as if it were
an unlimited resource, a free good,
or something that could renew itself.
Increasingly, that is no longer the
case.
Laws and enforcement by
themselves no longer can ensure that
environmental resources are used in
a sustainable manner if the core
concern is merely cost-effectiveness.
New approaches and methodologies,
which are more effective and more
efficient, are required to deal with
environmental issues. Many
developed countries have resorted to
using economic instruments (EIs) to
an increasing extent to address
environmental issues. Economic
approaches are based on the premise
that those who pollute should pay for
cleaning up the mess generated. The
idea being that by doing so, we
provide an “incentive” to the polluter
to pollute less, as consequently, they
will pay less. This is commonly
referred to as the polluter pays
principle. It must be underlined,
however, that based on experience of
the developed countries, EIs are
usually only successful, if
implemented as tools to complement
and support existing legislation.
In the case of Malaysia, the
Government pronounced in recent
years that EIs would be used as a
policy tool to supplement and
complement existing command and
control measures in addressing
environmental issues. For instance,
the Third Outline Perspective Plan
(OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan
(8MP) have stated:
OPP3: The Government will continue
to implement the Polluters Pay
Principle, and intensify enforcement
efforts to ensure that environmental
laws and regulations are complied
with. However, these measures will
be complemented by the use of
innovative economic and tax
instruments, including the removal of
distortions and barriers that impede
the efforts in improving
environmental quality and optimal
natural resource use.
8MP: Efforts will also be channelled
at promoting environmental
performance measurements and
market-based instruments as well as
engaging communities in addressing
environmental and natural resources
issues.” In addition it states, …
increasing the use of fiscal policy in
pursuit of environmental objectives
and promoting the use of appropriate
market-based instruments and self-regulatory
measures among
industries.
It is within this policy context that
the Economic Planning Unit (EPU)
undertook a three-year study with
technical assistance provided by the
Danish International Development
Assistance (DANIDA) programme, to
look into the feasibility of introducing
EIs in Malaysia. Several
demonstration projects were launched
to explore in detail the
implementation of EIs in various
areas, and the results and lessons
learned have been documented in a
handbook (see www.epu.jpm.my).
What is an Economic Instrument?
Traditionally, people see
environmental resources such as
water, land, air as a public good, free
of charge, which can be used without
having to be paid for. This attitude
often results in overuse and even
abuse, contributing to pollution and
environmental degradation, which
will affect human health and
economic growth. Usually, when the
Government wants to regulate the use
of these resources, it introduces a law
or regulation. However, enforcing
laws usually demands huge
manpower resources and is often
costly to administer. Hence, the
attraction of an alternative or
supplementary approach that uses the
market as a means to control
“polluting” behaviour and
consequently regulate pollution.
Simply put, EIs are market-based
mechanisms that are designed to
influence people’s behaviour. For
instance, incentives (e.g. subsidies)
reward desired behaviour; similarly,
disincentives (e.g. taxes) penalise
undesired behaviour. In principle, EIs
attempt to ensure the polluter pays
for the environmental mess that they
have created or caused.
The main premise of the concept
of EIs is that a change in prices will
cause consumers and producers to
modify their consumption or
production behaviour. Therefore, EIs
can help to integrate environmental
considerations into economic policies,
thus promoting sustainable
development and thereby improving
cover feature

Table 1: Economic instruments in environmental protection
the quality of life. EIs have been
shown to have the following
advantages:
Help change consuming and
producing behaviour towards a
more sustainable use of resources;
Encourage economic efficiency
and productivity;
Adaptable to specific issues; and
Reduce bureaucracy required for
enforcement approaches.
Different Types Of EIs
An economic instrument for
environmental management is
normally directed at a specific
environmental problem, and
essentially targeting a change in
behaviour or attitudes towards the
environment. Some types of
instruments are presented in Table 1,
along with some Malaysian case
problems that were part of the
demonstration projects as
documented in the EI Handbook.
Usually, there are several types of
options available that can be
incorporated into various sectors to
achieve the desired behaviour effects.
Framework For Developing EIs
In order to effectively implement an
economic instrument, it needs to be
well designed with the input of
relevant stakeholders or interested
parties. Figure 1 illustrates a roadmap
for developing and designing an EI
based on international experience, as
well as lessons drawn from the
demonstration projects conducted in
Malaysia over the past three years.
Challenges In Implementing EIs
There are many challenges to
implementing EIs in Malaysia. High
on the list is the issue of awareness
of the potential of this innovative tool
by all, be they Government officers,
the corporate sector, professionals and
especially the public. They have to
be convinced not only that the new
approach works, but that it is
inherently fair, as it aspires only to
make the polluter pay, and attempts
to address the perennial “free-rider”
problem.
Category Types Demonstration Projects
in Malaysia
Taxes, charges, cess,
user fees
Subsidies and incentives; fiscal
incentives/allowances; grants/
funds for environmental
development
Deposit Refund (D-R) System
Performance Bond
Market creation
Emissions trading
Voluntary initiatives;
eco-labelling;
recognition schemes
Cess for pesticides
Cess for lubricant waste oil
Sales tax for tyres
Incentives for recycling, such as old
newspapers, bottles
Deposit refund scheme for pesticides
Used in the mining industry to
persuade miners to restore the land
after they have been mined
Several timber certification cases tested
and adopted
Charges and taxes are imposed on products
or activities to change behaviour. Charges
are payments for the use of resources,
infrastructure and services. They are
collected by service providers (or public
agencies) to recover costs of services, as well
as to maintain the system. Taxes are
commonly used to generate revenue for
general use, and to achieve equity goals. A
cess is a tax that is collected for a specific
purpose.
These include subsidies, grants, soft loans
and fiscal incentives that are used to
encourage compliance with environmental
objectives and to promote the use of
technology, products, or resources that are
less damaging to the environment.
This D-R system is meant to encourage the
return of a recyclable item to the
manufacturer.
Advance payment as a guarantee that
manufacturing and developing conditions
are met.
Applied to resources that are difficult to
divide physically and extend beyond local
boundaries, such as air, water and fishery.
By limiting these rights, and devising a
mechanism for the trading of these rights, a
market is created that will price these rights.
Voluntary actions initiated by industry,
mainly in the form of information disclosure
such as eco-labelling, energy efficiency
performance rating, recognition schemes
and environmental reporting.
cover feature

Procedural Framework Output
In particular, the Malaysian
public’s understanding of the cost of
environmental protection needs to be
enhanced. In this regard, the
importance of transparency in
implementing new taxes, cess, user
charges or fees must be ensured
justified in order to reduce objection
to its implementation. People must
understand why they are paying this
kind of tax or additional charge, and
how the revenues would be used,
particularly for environmental
abatement and mitigation of
degradation.
Having said that, the Government
has to be sensitive to the socio-economic
implications of the new
taxes, charges and fees. Socio-economic
effects need to be
comprehensively analysed so that its
full ramifications are understood, and
socially inappropriate effects removed
from their design.
Above all, EIs must be simple to
implement. Taxes or charges must be
easy to collect, preferably from as few
sources as possible. It must cost less
to collect than the revenue it generates.
An audit trail must be designed along
with a system for adjudication to
enable complaints to be handled
efficiently and judiciously. In addition,
it should close the loop so that there
are no ways to escape from the
intended burden of taxes and charges.
All these measures would require
continuous efforts to build awareness,
capacity and understanding of all
stakeholders of how the “newly”
created “environment” market
operates, analysis of the environmental
and economic effects of unmitigated
“bad” environmental behaviour, and
the benefits of taking appropriate
action. Furthermore, assuming that the
capacity has been built and agencies
are now ready to implement, there is
still the need for certain
“superstructure” changes. In
particular, the legal and property rights
framework will have to be reviewed.
Quite often, the environment suffers
from what economists call “a tragedy
of the commons”, a situation where
property rights are poorly defined, and
enforcement requires more resources
than is available. The desired change
is to attain the situation whereby the
cost of environmental degradation is
internalised.
CONCLUSION
The Government has initiated
work on EIs in order to increase the
effectiveness of protection and
conservation of scarce environmental
resources, many of which are under
threat. The Government cannot do
this without co-operation and help
from the public, industry, and the
many professionals involved in
development, who would be in a
good position to ascertain the
timeliness and efficacy of
introducing EIs in particular
situations. The message of these
policies is clear: polluters must pay,
and those that can avoid polluting
activities will benefit. The natural
environment, as in our air, water soil
and land, must be given the
necessary protection so that they can
be used in a sustainable manner.
EIs are another set of tools
available at our disposal. Being
relatively new to Malaysia, we will
need to build our understanding of
it as well as the capacity needed to
design effective and fair EIs. The
challenges are many, but as shown
by the demonstration projects, EIs
can be adapted to apply to the
Malaysian situation and hopefully
these initiatives will encourage
greater use of this efficient tool in
addressing environmental issues in
Malaysia.
Pilot Project
- Review Current Practises
- Conduct Rapid Assessment Survey
- Research how industry/market operates
- Legal Review
- Institutional Review
- Consultative Process (Ministry-Level)
- Submit to National Development Planning
Committee via EPU
- Announcement
- Supervision
- Calculation
- Collecton
- Control
- Sanction
Define Problem
Establish
Working Group
Economic Analysis
Develop Options
Design Instrument
Finalise
Recommendation
Formalise
Decision
Implementation
Evaluation
Draft terms of reference
for Consultant
Background Paper
Option Paper
Proposal to Ministry/
Gov. Agency
Desicion/Approval
by Cabinet
Evaluation Report
Figure 1. Framework to develop and design an economic instrument
BEM
cover feature

Suspension Of Work:
An Overview
Water Resources Management In
Malaysia – The Way Forward
By Ir. Harbans Singh K.S., BE (Mec) S’pore, P.E., C. Eng,
LLB (Hons) London, CLP, DiplCArb
Suspension represents a contingency that can be
made available to both parties to the contract in
certain defined situations whereby the progress
of the work can be temporarily halted. The
reasons for such freezing of rights and obligations under
the contract are many and are furthermore dependent upon
the identity of the particular party invoking the said
mechanism. In practice, the common grounds giving rise
to suspension vary from issues connected with financial
matters 2 at one end of the spectrum to the vagaries of the
weather at the other end. Despite its importance in the
implementation of a typical contract, little or no emphasis
has been placed by local drafters of conditions of contract
3 to expressly empower the parties to exercise the right of
suspension. Even where prudent draftspersons have
envisaged its application, such rights are usually one-sided
i.e. permitting only the employer and not the
contractor to invoke such a remedy. Perhaps it is timely
for the engineering/construction industry to give due
recognition to the above-mentioned contingency by
incorporating express stipulations vis-à-vis the subject
at hand; a move that definitely will not stultify but on
the contrary will auger well for the balancing of the rights
between the parties. In Malaysia, such a shift in thinking
is reflected in some standard forms, such as the CIDB
Standard Form of Building Contract (2000 Edition) 4, the
Putrajaya Conditions of Main Contract 5 and the IEM.ME
1/94 Forms 6. However, it is necessary to take the exercise
one step further by affording all parties to the contract
reciprocal rights to the like effect.
MEANING OF SUSPENSION
Synonymous with the term ‘postponement’, suspension
has been variously defined in different texts; some
common dictionary examples are listed hereunder:
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 7
holds the word ‘suspension’ to mean:
‘…. the act of officially stopping something from
continuing for a period of time ….’
Mozley and Whiteley’s Law Dictionary ascribes a rather
concise meaning 8 as reflected herebelow:
‘…. a temporary stop or cessation of a ……. right’
Drawing upon the above definitions, it can be concluded
that the word ‘suspension’ entails the following meanings
and consequences within its ambit:
By suspending the works under the contract, the parties
merely stop or cease all work related activities on a
temporary basis. The contract, inclusive of all rights
and obligations thereunder, however subsists during
the period of suspension;
In a similar vein, by suspending the contract itself there
is a moratorium on all facets, rights and obligations
under the contract inclusive of the performance of all
work related activities. In essence, the ‘suspension of
the contract’ is, prima facie, wider in scope and effect
than the limited ‘suspension of works’ under the
contract only; and
The alternative description of ‘postponing’ works or
the contract has fundamentally a similar meaning and
effect as suspension. It involves either the ‘works’ or
the rights and obligations of the respective parties being
held in abeyance for the period of suspension.
SUSPENSION: PRINCIPAL TYPES
Logically, both the parties to the contract should be
able to exercise the power of suspension, if and when
necessary. This is subject to the express terms of the
agreement that they have entered into. Hence, in the
engineering/construction industry, the parties who may
be vested with such powers include the employers, main
contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and the like.
1. Director, HSH Consult Sdn. Bhd.
2. See Channel Tunnel Group Ltd. v Balfour Beatty Con-struction
Ltd. Others [1992] 2 All ER 609, [1993] 32
Con LR1.
3. Including the standard forms
4. Clause 19
5. Clause 58.0
6. Clause 29
7. At P 1453
8. 9th Edn. by J.B. Saunders at P 332.
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In the context of an ‘employer-main contractor’
agreement the main types of suspension that can be
encountered in practice include, inter alia, the following:
A. Employer Ordered Suspension
This species of suspension represents the bulk of
the suspensions effected in the industry as express
provisions permitting their realization are not only
included in standard forms of conditions of contract
but also enshrined in the many ‘bespoke’ forms used.
B. Contractor Invoked Suspension
In the local context, though rarely practiced in
agreements employing the standard forms of conditions
of contract, its usage in projects involving larger
institutional employers utilising ‘bespoke’ forms of
conditions of contract is slowly increasing in frequency.
C. Contractor Requested Suspension
More commonly seen in agreements where only
the employer is given the power to suspend works e.g.
‘package deal’ types of contracts, nominated sub-contracts,
etc., under this species of suspension, either
the contract provisions expressly permit the contractor
to request the contract administrator to allow works
to be suspended on particular grounds e.g. need to
reassess the design, adverse weather affecting quality/
safety of work, etc. or the contractor persuades the
contract administrator to order suspension ‘for the
proper construction and completion of the works’ 9.
D. Constructive Suspension
Strictly, this applies where any act or omission of
the employer has the effect of impliedly halting the
contractor from undertaking his obligations or
suspending the works for an unreasonable time 10. A
local example of this is clause 29.1 of the IEM.ME 1/
94 Form where the contractor is deemed to be instructed
to suspend work if he is prevented by the engineer
from delivering or erecting Plant in accordance with
the programme.
GENERAL RULE ON SUSPENSION
It is trite law that unless there is an express term
permitting suspension enshrined in the contract, parties do
not have a right to either:
Suspend work under the contract, or
Order work to be so suspended
Hence, in essence, there is no right at common law to
effect the above 11. The only other permissible way to effect
suspension is by the variation of the contract through
mutual consent.
The consequences of the abovementioned general rule
include, inter alia, the following:
The employer does not have a power to order the
contractor to suspend work under the contract unless
there is an express term in the contract empowering
him so to do 12;
Likewise, a contractor cannot suspend work under
the contract if he so desires in the absence of an
express provision permitting him to do so. The
Channel Tunnel Group Ltd. v Balfour Beatty
Construction Ltd. Others 13;
Should the contractor proceed with the suspension
of work, this may constitute a breach of contract on
his part e.g. in failing to proceed ‘regularly and
diligently’ with the work: Canterbury Pipelines Ltd. v
Christchurch Drainage Board 14. Such a breach may
further entitle the employer to determine the
contractor’s employment provided there is an express
term making provision for the same and the said
ground is one of the default’s stipulated therein e.g.
clause 25.1(i) and (ii) PAM ‘98 Forms (With and
Without Quantities) Editions;
There must be actual and not just a virtual suspension
of work: JM Hill Sons Ltd. v Camden LBC 15.
Furthermore, a mere threat to suspend work has been
held on the facts not to constitute a repudiatory breach
of contract: F. Treveling Co. Ltd. v Simplex Time
Record Co. (UK) Ltd. 16; and
In situations, where the contractor desires to respond
appropriately to the employer’s alleged defaults e.g.
failure to pay on interim certificates, etc. in the
absence of express provisions permitting him to
suspend works, other than arbitration and/or
litigation, the only option he may have is to determine
his employment under the contract: DR. Bradley (Cable
Jointing) Ltd. v Jefco Mechanical Services 17. This
matter was further explored in the New Zealand case
9. See ‘The ICE Design and Construct Contract: A Commentary’
by. B. Eggleston at P 235.
10. See ‘Law and Practice of Construction Contract Claims’ by
Chow Kok Fong at P 170.
11. See also ‘100 Contractual Problems and Their Solutions’ by
R. Knowles at P 87. See also Kah Seng Construction Sdn.
Bhd. v Selsin Development Sdn. Bhd. [1997] 1 CLJ Supp. 448.
12. See ‘An Engineering Contract Dictionary’ by Vincent
Powell-Smith at P 546.
13. [1992] 2 All ER 609, [1993] 32 Con LR 1.
14. [1979] 16 BLR 76.
15. [1980] 18 BLR 31
16. [1981] Unreported.
17. [1989] Unreported. See also Kah Seng Construction Sdn.
Bhd. v Selsin Development Sdn. Bhd. [1997] 1 CLJ Supp.
448.
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of Canterbury Pipelines Ltd. v The Christchurch
Drainage Board where the court of appeal stated: 18
‘In such cases, if the contractor cannot or does not
wish to rescind and cannot prove impossibility or its
equivalent, he will be left with whatever remedies
regarding the recovery progress payment may be
available to him under the contract’.
In view of the above judicial pronouncements spelling
out the court’s approach to this matter, the issue of
suspension must be handled with due circumspect and
vigilance.
EXPRESS CONTRACTUAL PROVISIONS
General
From the foregoing discussion it is apparent that most
standard forms of conditions of contract make no provision
whatsoever for the eventuality of suspension,
concentrating instead on determination or termination of
employment. Only as of recent have the newer standard
forms attempted to specifically incorporate suitably drafted
clauses to cater for the suspension of works; notable
examples of which are as listed herebelow.
CIDB Standard Form of Contract For Building Works
(2000 Edition): The main provision is clause 19 entitled
‘Suspension’.
IEM.ME 1/94 Form for Mechanical and Electrical
Works: The applicable express provision is clause 29:
Suspension of Works, Delivery or Erection.
PUTRAJAYA Conditions of Main Contract: Under the
instant form, the issue of suspension is dealt with
vide clause 58.0 19.
Comments on the Provisions
Cognisance should be taken of the following matters
pertaining to the express contractual provisions:
Except for clause 19 CIDB Form (2000 Edition), clause
29 IEM.ME 1/94 Form and clause 58.0 Putrajaya
Conditions of Main Contract, the rest of the common
local standard forms of conditions of contract e.g.
the JKR Forms, the PAM ‘98 Forms, the IEM.CE 1/89
and CES 1/90 Forms, the Putrajaya Conditions of
Nominated Sub-Contracts, etc. have no express
contractual provisions covering the issue of
suspension. Hence, for the latter forms neither the
employer has an express power to order suspension
nor the contractor the right to suspend works under
the contract;
Even where express stipulations have been enshrined
in the conditions of contract, it is obvious that these
are blatantly one-sided i.e. they are intended to
empower only the employer to suspend or order
suspension of the works. The contractor has no similar
rights although under sub-clause 29.1 of the IEM.ME
1/94 Form, the contractor has a limited avenue of
suspension under the so called ‘deemed’ or
‘constructive’ suspension provision. However, even
the latter is of very restricted nature and application;
The common express provisions as listed hereabove
essentially encompass the following facets of the
suspension mechanism:
1. The power of the contract administrator to order
suspension;
2. The circumstances or situations in which such
power can be exercised;
3. The formalities pertaining to the ordering of the
suspensions;
4. The procedural requirements vis-à-vis issues
consequent to the suspension such as
responsibilities of the contractor, cost and time
implications, effect of prolonged suspension and
resumption of work following suspension.
5. Miscellaneous formalities and procedural
requirements.
Prima facie, the said express provisions give the
contract administrator an apparently wide or
unfettered power to order suspension of work in terms
of scope, timing and manner.
The duty of compliance to a properly issued or
contractually valid suspension order is on the
contractor; and
The form of the suspension order is envisaged to be
in an express mode i.e. through a formal instruction
issued by the contract administrator. However, the
IEM.ME 1/94 Form vide sub-clause 29.1 makes
provision for the so called ‘deemed’ suspension order
in the limited circumstances spelt out in that sub-clause.
However, such a mode is unique only to the
said IEM Form.
PRINCIPAL PURPOSES FOR SUSPENSION
General
Contrary to popular belief, suspension is, and remains
a convenient mechanism at the disposal of the contracting
parties to address specific issues during the currency of
the contract without incurring liability for breaching the
contract in any way. In most instances, suspension affords
18. [1979] 16 BLR 78.
19. Entitled ‘Suspension of Works’.
engineering law

the parties the necessary opportunity to take a ‘breather’
i.e. freeze the contract or hold it in abeyance whilst
reflecting upon or reassessing particular issues before
resuming or restarting the contract with the benefit
obtained therefrom.
The necessity for such an eventuality arises in most
contracts either by chance or by design. Specific
problems occurring during the progress of the works
e.g. the breakdown of the contractor’s quality assurance
system, the reassessment of the design by the
consultants, etc. may compel a suspension to be
effected. Factors beyond the parties’ control e.g.
governmental policy changes, legislative amendments,
etc. may on other occasions trigger a requirement for
an appropriate postponement of rights and obligations
under the contract inclusive of the progress of work.
Be that as it may, in the final analysis, there are in
most contracts compelling grounds or reasons for both
the employer and the contractor 20 at one time or another
to initiate or resort to the suspension of works.
Although there are in specific instances common
reasons or grounds for effecting the same, in general
the principal purposes show marked variance between
the different parties. Owing to this distinct difference,
each of the principal parties will be dealt with
separately.
Employer’s Purpose
A review of the common express contractual
provisions 21 reveals the fact that though such
stipulations give the contract administrator an
apparently absolute discretion to suspend works under
the contract as he deems necessary, the rationale behind
such exercise of power is not specified. Prima facie,
such clauses therefore appear one-sided and on the face
value inequitable. However, if one were to delve deeper
into the matter, it is apparent that there may be valid
grounds for the employer to resort to suspension in
any particular situation. Various reasons have been
proffered by leading authorities 22 in the engineering/
construction field to justify the employer’s invoking
the instant mechanism; a summary of which is appended
herebelow:
Reassessment of the design of the works;
Change in the employer’s requirements;
Adverse weather conditions affecting the safety
and/or quality of the works or people engaged
thereon;
Breakdown of the contractor’s quality assurance
system;
Contractor’s default or unsatisfactory performance;
Access and possession of site problems;
Site safety considerations;
Unforeseen conditions encountered;
Unexpected restrictions imposed on the works;
Pre-planned closures; and
Changes in authority requirements and/or legislative
requirements.
A more compelling reason of late is the financial
difficulty faced by employers in terms of temporary lack
of funds or cash flow problems. Though prima facie, a
seemingly valid reason prompting the justification of
suspension, it has been dismissed as an abuse of the said
provision by many authorities. As an example, Eggleston
opines 23:
‘From the clause ………. and its wording it is clearly
intended principally for practical matters relating to
when and how the works are constructed and not to
financial matters’
Despite the above-mentioned position, it has not
prevented employers from expressly listing temporary lack
of funds as one of the relevant suspension events. In
tandem with contractual stipulations of the like of
‘Determination by Convenience’, suspension on financial
grounds is beginning to feature commonly in ‘bespoke’
forms on the local scene.
Contractor’s Purpose
It is obvious that none of the common local standard
forms of conditions of contract makes any provision
whatsoever for the contractor to suspend works under
the contract no matter how valid a ground he may have.
However, this does not mean that the said deficiency
should, and has been overlooked by fair-minded
practitioners inclusive of the contractors themselves. A
good proportion of ‘bespoke’ forms afford the contractor
a commensurate right to suspend works; these being
premised on the following principal grounds:
Failure of the employer to pay on interim certificates;
Reassessment of design of works where the design
element is included in the contractor’s scope of
work 24;
20. And the sub-contractor.
21. See hereabove.
22. See ‘The ICE Design and Construct Contract: A
Commentary’ by B. Eggleston at P 235.
23. Ibid. Whilst dealing with clause 40 of the ICE Design and
Construct Contract Conditions.
24. E.g. for works under P.C. Sum or ‘Package Deal’ types of
contracts.
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Adverse weather conditions affecting the safety and/
or quality of the works or people engaged thereon;
Specific defaults of the employer or the contract
administrator 25;
Site safety considerations; and
Unforeseen conditions encountered;
Of the many grounds listed hereabove, failure of the
employer to effect payment remains the main reason where
contractors feel entitled to suspend works until the
employer remedies the default. This is especially so where
the conditions of contract do not make failure to pay a
ground for permitting the contractor to determine his
employment.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS
General
For the suspension to be tenable at law not only must
it comply with the substantive matters but also the
procedural requirements expressly stipulated in the
contract. Otherwise it may constitute a breach of contract
on the part of the party initiating the suspension with its
dire consequences. With the said proposition in mind, it
is necessary to examine the procedural requirements vis-à-
vis the issue of suspension from the employer’s point
of view since such a remedy seems to be available only to
the latter in the applicable standard forms 26.
Suspension Procedure
Under the CIDB Form, IEM.ME 1/94 Form and
Putrajaya Conditions of Contract, the following principal
procedural requirements can be noted:
The respective conditions of contract empower only
the contract administrator to order a suspension of
the works. Hence, such a body would include:
1. The ‘Superintending Officer (S.O.)’: CIDB Form
2. The ‘Engineer’: IEM.ME 1/94 Form; and
3. The ‘Employer’s Representative (E.R.)’: Putrajaya
Conditions of Main Contract
It should be appreciated that none of these forms
bestow a commensurate power on the employer
himself. Hence, he must act through the contract
administrator;
The contract administrator may suspend work only
by means of an instruction issued formally to the
contractor. Although clause 58.01 of the Putrajaya
Conditions uses the terminology of a ‘written order’,
it essentially refers to an instruction in line with the
other forms. Presumably the suspension instruction
must comply with the relevant formalities and
procedural requirements applicable to a typical
instruction under the particular form of contract;
By virtue of the instruction, the contract administrator
is permitted to order suspension of the execution of:
1. Part of the works; or
2. The whole of the works
The above includes the suspension of the delivery of
plant or equipment to site and the erection of such
items already delivered to site 27.
The contract administrator may issue such instruction
as and when he so desires and for such time or times
and in such manner as in his absolute discretion is
considered necessary. He does not need to give any
reason/justification to the contractor for the exercise
of the same. Hence, the contract administrator’s power
to order suspension appears indeterminate and
unfettered. This is subject to an implied obligation
to exercise the absolute discretion bestowed on him
on objective grounds although, prima facie, appearing
purely subjective. Should the discretion be abused
i.e. ordering of suspension on purely financial grounds
where such grounds are not enshrined in the contract,
the contractor has a right to mount a challenge on
the basis of mal-administration of the contract;
The instruction to suspend work must stipulate
essential matters such as the extent and nature of the
work involved and the timing for the commencement
of the suspension. In emergency situations e.g. where
safety issues are concerned, such suspension orders
may be of immediate effect. For others e.g. need to
reassess design, change in employer’s requirements,
etc. a reasonable notification period is usually given
28; and
Cognisance should be taken of the fact that the
instruction to suspend work may not necessitate the
issue of a formal instruction at all under certain
conditions of contract or in the case of ‘constructive’
suspension. As an illustration, by virtue of clause
29.1 of the IEM.ME 1/94 Form, should the engineer
prevent the contractor from delivering or erecting
Plant in accordance with his approved programme,
this is deemed to be considered to be an instruction
to suspend. Therefore, one should be mindful of the
precise wording of the applicable clause and the
25. A good example would be the specified events in the CIDB
Form (2000 Edition).
26. Furthermore, it is the most common form of suspension in
practice.
27. See clause 29.1 IEM.ME 1/94 Form.
28. E.g. between 7 to 14 days as appropriate.
engineering law

implied effects of the parties’ acts or omissions in
relation to their rights and obligations under the
contract.
Contractor’s Duties Following Suspension
Upon receipt of the order to suspend works from the
contract administrator, the contractor has forthwith to
adopt certain measures consequent to the said order. These
measures must be in line with the relevant contract
stipulation e.g. clause 19.1 (a) of the CIDB Form (2000
Edition) which reads:
‘The contractor shall on an instruction of the
Superintending Officer, suspend the execution of the
works or any part of the works …… and shall during
such suspension, properly protect and secure the works
or such part of the works so far as is necessary or in
accordance with the instruction of the Superintending
Officer’.
Since the contractual provisions are never complete
and exhaustive, the bulk of the required measures have
to be established by necessary implication. The essential
procedural arrangements would generally include 29:
1. Contractor to Suspend Works
The initial response of the contractor should be to
comply with the suspension order effective on the
date named in such order by discontinuing all works
under the contract. This would entail basically:
a) Halting all construction, erection, installation, etc.
related activities;
b) Suspending the ordering, fabrication off-site,
delivery to site, etc. of all material, plant and
equipment; and
c) Ceasing to undertake all other activities or
operations in relation to the works under the
contract e.g. design work, appointment of sub-contractors,
etc.
Since most contractors would have farmed out the
bulk of the elements under the contract to a host of sub-contractors/
suppliers, it would be incumbent for the former
to accordingly initiate the commensurate suspension
downstream. This exercise should not pose any problem
as most contractors normally tie their sub-contractors/
suppliers on a ‘back-to-back’ basis.
2. Contractor to Demobilise
In tandem with the cessation of the activities
related both to site work and ‘off-site’ disciplines, it
would be prudent for the contractor to undertake a
demobilization of resources for the anticipated
duration of the suspension. Human resources, plant,
equipment can be reassigned, if possible, as necessary,
in an attempt to mitigate the full rigours of the
suspension. A skeleton staff essential to undertake
the remaining duties during the suspension period
e.g. security and maintenance of site, preparation of
claims, other administrative duties, etc. should be
maintained as these may be eventually paid for by
the employer.
3. Contractor to Secure and Protect the Works
The contractor’s duty to secure and protect the
works so far as is necessary in the opinion of the
contract administrator during the period of suspension
is not only an implied requirement but in addition
expressly stipulated in most standard forms of
conditions of contract 30. Furthermore, there is often
either an implied or express necessity for the
contractor to maintain the works in question for the
said period.
In assigning this responsibility to the contractor,
the consequent risks during the suspension period
are accordingly passed on to him. He then remains
primarily liable for the security of the works,
protection against the elements and deterioration from
foreseeable causes, etc. In discharging this duty, the
contractor is expected to implement only reasonable
steps within the context of the contract and no more.
Should measures over and above the norm be
necessary, he must seek the consent and direction of
the contract administrator as at the end of the day
the employer has to ultimately reimburse the
contractor for the same.
Position Post Expiry of Suspension Period
Suspension, being essentially of a temporary nature,
can be of a limited period only. This fact is supported by
the various express provisions which stipulate a definite
duration for any one suspension order; examples of such
life spans being:
1. IEM.ME 1/94 Form: Maximum 84 days 31
2. Putrajaya Conditions of Main Contract: Maximum
150 days 32
3. CIDB Form (2000 Edition): Maximum of 3 months 33
29. See ‘Law and Practice of Construction Contract Claims’ by
Chow Kok Fong at P 170 171.
30. See Clause 19.1 CIDB Form (2000 Edition), Clause 58.01
Putrajaya Conditions of Main Contract, etc.
31. Clause 29.4
32. Clause 58.03
33. Clause 19.2 and Appendix to Conditions
engineering law

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