Measuring the overall impact of barriers to BIM adoption in prefabricated construction using a fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach

Building information modeling (BIM) is increasingly used in construction projects in developing countries like Vietnam. However, many stakeholders still question its effectiveness and feel unprepared to apply it. This challenge is more evident in prefabricated construction, where design and construction occur simultaneously. BIM offers many benefits in this context, but also brings notable difficulties. This study examined the significant barriers to BIM implementation in prefabricated construction projects. A quantitative approach was used, beginning with a literature review to identify potential barriers, followed by a pilot test with three experts to refine and validate them. Eleven barriers were identified and categorized into human-, technological-, and performance-related groups. A structured quantitative questionnaire was distributed to professionals with experience in BIM-based prefabricated projects. Using a non-probability sampling approach, 151 valid responses were collected from stakeholders with diverse roles and backgrounds. The results indicated that human-related barriers are the most significant. The top five barriers are the lack of high-quality human resources, poor coordination among stakeholders, a long time needed to generate detailed models, weak integration between tools, and resistance to changes in work processes. Stakeholders showed strong agreement in their evaluations, with correlation coefficients above 0.3 at the 0.01 and 0.05 significance levels. Factor analysis and evaluation using exploratory factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation confirmed a substantial impact of these barriers, with a score of 3.488 out of 5.0 (69.8%). These findings provide a solid foundation for developing policies and strategies to strengthen BIM adoption and improve project performance.