Interpreting crucial barriers to advancing prefabricated construction: An empirical study in Taiwan using ISM-MICMAC approach

Abstract

Prefabricated Construction (PC) has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional construction. Despite its merits, the construction industry exhibits a conspicuous lag in PC adoption in most countries, Taiwan is a typical case. Addressing this gap, this research discerns 41 predominant barriers confronting Taiwan's PC endeavors from global perspective. Employing a structured questionnaire survey with 56 respondents, this study gauged the significance of each barrier by its relative importance and recognized the 18 crucial barriers. Subsequent development of an Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis based on their driving and dependence power provides a coherent understanding of the interrelationships among these barriers. The findings underscore the need for targeted focuses on investment and supply chain constraints, design and technological limitations, skill and knowledge gaps, and regulatory and standardization hurdles. To address these impediments, the study offers clear recommendations for each pivotal challenge, corroborated by domain experts, paving the way for a strengthened and broader implementation of PC.