A comparative analysis of barriers to prefabricated construction adoption in emerging economies: A dual fuzzy-cb-SEM and PLS-SEM approach

This study examines the barriers to adopting prefabricated construction in residential projects across emerging economies, using insights from 371 industry professionals in the MENA region. A hybrid methodological framework combines Fuzzy Set Theory (FST), Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM), and Partial Least Squares SEM (PLS-SEM). FST translates expert judgments on the likelihood and impact of various barriers into composite risk scores. These scores inform a second-order structural model encompassing five barrier dimensions: construction, design, management, industry-specific, and external. The CB-SEM model, built in AMOS, demonstrated excellent fit (RMSEA = 0.031; CFI = 0.993), while the PLS-SEM model, run in SmartPLS, showed strong explanatory power (R2 = 0.675 for external barriers; SRMR = 0.074). Both models consistently identified external barriers, especially high capital costs and transportation restrictions, as the most critical. Design-related constraints, including early design freeze and limited skilled labor, were also significant. The study recommends policy reforms to streamline permitting and logistics, financial incentives to reduce upfront costs, and enhanced training in modular design. This dual-method approach offers a replicable, uncertainty-aware decision-support tool to facilitate prefabrication in resource-constrained environments.