Ovrawah, Victor (2025) Automated prefabrication in the Australian residential building sector: Current state of development and adoption barriers. PhD thesis, Bond University, Australia.
Abstract
Automated prefabrication (prefab) of residential buildings offers technological transformation and a solution to housing affordability issues. Despite its potential, adoption has been slow. This study investigates the development and barriers to automated prefab in the residential sector using a three-stage mixed research method: in-depth literature reviews, a questionnaire survey of industry practitioners, and expert validation. SPSS-based factor analyses and Chi-square assessments of research hypotheses were applied to empirical datasets. The findings revealed four stages of automation in prefabrication. Stages 1 and 2, characterized by basic and intensive mechanization, account for 65% of usage. Stage 3, semi-automation with Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM), shows a 30% utilization rate. Stage 4, involving full automation with AI-driven manufacturing, is least prevalent at 5% in Australia. Adoption rates vary across prefab types, with whole building prefab at 13% and panelized prefab being the most preferred at 53%. The study highlights that large firms (over 199 employees) significantly impact the adoption rate of automation and the type of prefab used in the industry. It identified 22 barriers to transitioning from labour-intensive prefab production to full automation, which were consolidated into ten socio-economic (SocEcon) and technological (Tech) themes. Post-extraction Reproduced Communality (PeRC) analyses show Tech barriers have a 45% influence on adoption, while SocEcon barriers account for 31%. The most influential SocEcon barrier, at 26%, is the risk-averse attitude of clients and designers towards new technology. Chi-square-based reliability and validity assessments of the research hypotheses show a 95% confidence level in the study findings. Insights from industry practitioners and experts contributed to developing a roadmap to guide the implementation of these findings. The proposed roadmap aims to accelerate the adoption of automated prefab production in the Australian residential sector, leveraging its benefits to address housing affordability and acute housing shortages.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Mbachu, Jasper and Moorhead, Matthew |
| Index terms: | survey, literature review, housing affordability, validation, questionnaire, practitioner, housing, shortages, dataset, new technology, residential building, transformation, designer, validity, Australia, factor analysis, automation, prefabrication, implementation |
| Subjects: | Geography, automation and robotics, building construction, practitioner, construction type, evaluation and assessment methods, contractual arrangements, innovation and technology management, economic analysis, professional development, industry analysis, statistical analysis, data management, profession, data collection methods, business, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Procurement, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here