Key barriers and mitigation strategies towards sustainable prefabricated construction – a case of developing economies

Purpose The present study aims to identify significant barriers to adopting prefabricated construction (PFC) in developing economies using a study in Sri Lanka and develop an integrated strategy framework to mitigate and overcome the obstacles. Design/methodology/approach The research process included a comprehensive literature review, a pilot study, a questionnaire survey for data collection, statistical analysis and a qualitative content analysis. Findings Ranking method revealed that all 23 barriers were significant. Top significant barriers include challenges in prefabricated component transportation, high capital investment costs and lack of awareness of the benefits of PFC among owners/developers. Factor analysis clustered six barrier categories (BCs) that fit the barrier factors, explaining 71.22% of the cumulative variance. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation revealed that all BCs significantly influence PFC adoption in Sri Lanka. Finally, the proposed mitigation strategies were mapped with barriers to complete the integrated framework. Practical implications The study outcomes are relevant to construction industry stakeholders of Sri Lanka, who are keen to enhance construction efficiencies. The implications can also benefit construction industry stakeholders and policymakers to formulate policies and regulations and identify mitigation solutions. Originality/value The study provides deeper insights into the challenges to adopting prefabrication in South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the integrated framework is a novel contribution that can be used to derive actions to mitigate barriers in developing economies.