Constraints on the promotion of prefabricated construction in China

Abstract

Prefabricated construction has been proven effective, environmentally-friendly, and labor-friendly. It is widely considered a sustainable approach to the construction industry. China is still in the initial process of adopting prefabricated construction practices and has conducted a few studies to date on the constraints of prefabricated construction up to the operation stage. This paper focuses on the major factors obstructing prefabricated construction development in China. Twenty-three variables affecting said development are summarized per the results of a literature review and a semi-structured interview. A questionnaire was delivered to developers, designers, contractors, engineers, component suppliers, and property managers. A total of 160 valid respondents were collected. Twenty-three variables were ranked by the mean score after an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that no statistical differences in the data from six stakeholders. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to reduce the dimensionality of four factors: industry chain, cost, social climate and public opinion, and risk. The risk is found to be the main influencing factor even though it is rarely the focal point of research on prefabricated construction. The findings presented in this paper may assist different stakeholders in better understanding issues with prefabricated construction practices in China at present and, therefore, find workable solutions.