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.

The process of prefabrication housing production (PHP) has been inevitably faced with diverse challenges. A number of factors affect the successful implementation of PHP. However, the critical success factors (CSFs) remain unrevealed. This paper aims to examine the CSFs for the planning and control of PHP projects. A total of 23 factors were identified as a result of literature review, in-depth interviews and pilot studies with experts in the construction industry. A questionnaire survey was conducted with designers, manufacturers, and contractors in China. The result showed that the top five CSFs were: (1) designers’ experience of PHP, (2) manufacturer’s experience of PHP, (3) project manager’s ability to solve problems, (4) maturity of techniques used in the detailed design phase, and (5) persistent policies and incentives. The 23 CSFs were further categorized into five groups via exploratory factor analysis, namely: (1) technology and method, (2) information, communication and collaboration, (3) external environment, (4) experience and knowledge, and (5) competence of the project manager. In particular, “technology and method” played the dominant role. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge via a holistic approach covering the key actors of PHP such as designers, manufacturers as well as contractors to examine CSFs of PHP. These findings provided designers and project managers with a useful set of criteria for the effective project planning and control of PHP and facilitated the successful implementation PHP.

Recently, interface management has been regarded as the key to the success of prefabricated building projects (PBPs) due to its capabilities to manage numerous interfaces caused by PBPs’ inherent geographical and organizational fragmentation. However, the factors influencing the interface management of PBPs are largely unknown and poorly studied. To compensate for this gap, this study aimed to investigate the critical factors influencing interface management in PBPs with quantitative and qualitative methods. Twenty-seven critical factors influencing the interface management of PBPs were identified through a literature review, questionnaire survey, and face-to-face interviews with professionals in the construction industry. A questionnaire survey was sent out to developers, designers, manufacturers, contractors, and consultants in China, and 66 completed questionnaires were received. Results showed the top five critical factors influencing the interface management of PBPs were (1) accuracy of design, (2) timeliness of information communication, (3) timeliness of component production and supply, (4) standardization of design, and (5) definition of work content and scope. The 27 influencing factors of PBPs were further categorized into seven groups via exploratory factor analysis, namely: (1) information communication, (2) trust and cooperation, (3) technical and management capability, (4) organizational integration, (5) standardization, (6) technical environment, and (7) contractual management. Improving these issues will contribute to the successful implementation of PBPs. Finally, combined with relevant literature and expert interviews, the impact of these seven clusters on the interface management of PBPs was discussed. The findings may contribute to deepening the understanding of interface management, reducing unnecessary conflicts and difficulties, and promoting the sustainable development of prefabricated building (PB).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide comprehensive analysis and understanding of lean construction (LC) and to help researchers to find new gaps and research opportunities and develop potential collaboration chances. Design/methodology/approach: The bibliographic data were obtained in peer-reviewed journals. The science mapping analysis and social network analysis (SNA) were used to conduct the analysis and visualization. Science mapping was performed to identify the research topics, evolution and the relationships between these topics. Also, the most influential LC-related articles in each topic were identified based on the concept of H-classics. SNA was also used to explore the collaboration status of authors and to identify the core authors in the LC field. Findings: The results showed that topics in the LC field are consistently and continuously changing, which also reveals the fact that the lean concept system has evolved over time to a certain extent. The topics that could form the knowledge base of the LC research field in the future are related to two thematic areas: supply chain management (SCM) and planning and scheduling. SCM focuses on developing a system where supplier and client work together in coordination to deliver materials, works, equipment and labor and other resources. Moreover, prefabrication is a new hot topic, while BIM is a well-developed and isolated topic in the last five years. This result indicates that more studies need to be conducted in the future, to promote the integration of BIM and lean practices in the construction phase, as well as to explore the value of BIM in the reduction or elimination of waste and lean project delivery. As for global collaborations, LC research has been widely pursued throughout the world. The USA and the UK play the most dominant role in the international collaboration network. Research limitations/implications: Since the analysis of data takes some time, the specific results of this paper are limited to articles published in peer-reviewed journals, which leads to a certain degree of research lag. Practical implications: This paper provides insights (such as major journals, institutions, key scholars, the evolution of topics, highly indexed articles and the new LC trends in the last five years) for researchers in the LC field. Originality/value: This paper gives a general review of the above-mentioned literature, including the number of LC-related articles published in each year, as well as the major journals and main contributors to the field of LC.

To investigate current practices and identify challenges of piping prefabrication, this paper conducts a comprehensive survey to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors. This paper is performed in three main steps. First, the current state of piping prefabrication, the attitude of MEP contractors to piping prefabrication, and the challenges of piping prefabrication are identified through a comprehensive data collection process that included semi-structured interviews, case studies, site visits, and questionnaires. The second step included suggesting a pattern and roadway of piping prefabrication. The results showed that: (1) The attitudes to feasibility of piping prefabrication differ in piping systems, piping connector modes, and types of project; and (2) building information modelling (BIM) promotes the adoption of piping prefabrication. Integrated project delivery (IPD), and distributor’s early involvement into projects have significant effects on the successful implementation of piping prefabrication. (3) The main barriers and challenges were identified including the low level of standardization of design, lack of preferential policy, economies of scale, low-skilled workers, as well as the availability of fittings and valves. In the final step, a four-phase route of piping prefabrication is suggested for MEP contractors to expand the prefabrication capacity incrementally. The main contributions of this paper include: (1) This paper proposes a route for MEP contractors to improve their piping construction through the Modular and offsite construction (MOC) method. (2) This paper finds that the level of feasibility of piping prefabrication differs in piping systems, connection modes, and types of project. Challenges and barriers of piping prefabrication are firstly identified.

Despite the consensus that enhanced cooperation among stakeholders is critical to the successful delivery of public-private partnership (PPP) mega-infrastructure projects, there has been a limited utilization of the quantitative approach to explore the cooperation mechanism. Drawing on research and the actual practice of PPP projects in China, a quantitative mathematical model using evolutionary game theory is constructed to explore the internal cooperation mechanism. Numerical simulation is implemented to investigate the impact of the punitive mechanism and allocation mechanism on the enhanced cooperation. The simulation result indicates that reasonable benefit allocation and a strong punitive mechanism are crucial to enhanced cooperation. Action research supported by a case study in Dalian was conducted to verify the scientific practicalities of the simulation method. An enhanced cooperation framework was proposed. The role conversion of the government and the private sectors makes the enhanced cooperation feasible. This evolution model and cooperation framework can facilitate enhanced cooperation in PPP mega-infrastructure projects.