AI in Smart Buildings and Construction 4.0: Implementation areas and influencing factors in construction organizations

The construction sector faces persistent challenges in productivity, innovation, and fragmented organizational practices. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers transformative potential in Smart Buildings and Construction 4.0 (SBC4.0), yet organizational-level implementation remains underexplored. This paper develops an integrated framework grounded in institutional theory, the resource-based view, and dynamic capabilities, validated through a survey of large Chinese construction firms using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings identify three key AI implementation areas — smart building operation and health, construction and material optimization, and offsite manufacturing and automation — each shaped by distinct configurations of normative and mimetic pressures, coercive forces, organizational management, technological feasibility, and resources and capabilities. The framework provides a roadmap for policymakers in industry and government navigating the intricacies of AI in SBC4.0 to enhance operational efficiency and organizational performance. It also establishes a foundation for future cross-national research on AI implementation across varied construction and regulatory contexts.