Abstract

Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) has emerged as a promising approach to address growing urban housing demands, offering advantages in construction speed, cost efficiency, and quality control. Despite increasing global interest, research specifically examining risks during the assembly phase of MiC projects in developing countries remains limited. Existing studies tend to focus on the overall project lifecycle and predominantly reflect conditions in developed markets, leaving a significant gap in understanding how assembly-phase risks are structured in emerging economies such as Vietnam. This study aims to uncover the latent relationships among assembly-phase risk factors in MiC projects within the Vietnamese construction industry. A three-stage methodology was adopted, combining a systematic literature review, structured expert consultation with senior MiC practitioners, and a quantitative questionnaire survey targeting construction professionals from leading firms with direct MiC experience. Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was applied to identify the underlying structure of the risk factors. The analysis revealed seven distinct risk components. External factors emerged as the most dominant group, driven primarily by material price volatility, environmental impacts of construction activities, and government policy changes. This was followed by risks related to construction materials, machinery, and equipment, with lifting equipment installation identified as a key concern. Management and planning risks ranked third, centered on inappropriate construction methods and inadequate scheduling. The remaining components encompassed risks from component manufacturing and transportation, stakeholder capacity limitations, delays attributable to project participants, and coordination difficulties among parties. A notable finding is that external institutional factors, rather than technical risks, constitute the dominant risk dimension in Vietnam's MiC context. This contrasts with patterns observed in developed markets and reflects the heightened influence of policy uncertainty, market volatility, and infrastructure constraints in emerging economies. The seven-factor framework developed in this study extends existing risk management theory to better accommodate emerging market conditions and provides industry practitioners with a structured basis for prioritizing risk mitigation efforts. For policymakers, the results highlight the importance of regulatory stability and institutional support in enabling sustainable MiC growth in Vietnam.