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Conflict between project parties is among the major risk factors in public–private partnership (PPP) in developing countries that has, in extreme cases, led to the failure or distress of many PPP projects. This paper aims to explore conflict prevention measures for PPPs in developing countries using Ghana as a case study.

From a comprehensive review of literature, a list of conflict prevention measures was derived; further, a questionnaire survey was conducted with PPP experts from Ghana. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance test, range normalization method and factor analysis were used for data analysis.

Results show four significant conflict prevention measures for PPPs in developing countries, they include extensive stakeholder consultation in decision makings, clear goals and mutual benefit objectives, clarity of roles and responsibilities of parties and transparent appeal procedures. Using the factor analysis technique, the prevention measures are grouped into three unrelated categories, they are efficient communication structure and risk assessments, transparency and openness and proficient service delivery.

The research findings inform policymakers and local practitioners of the strategic measures and procedures needed to minimize the occurrence of conflicts in PPPs in developing countries.

Modular integrated construction (MiC) is a modern construction method innovating and reinventing the traditional site-based construction method. As it integrates advanced manufacturing principles and requires offsite production of volumetric building components, several factors and conditions must converge to make the MiC method suitable and efficient for building projects in each context. This paper aims to present a knowledge-based decision support system (KB-DSS) for assessing a project’s suitability for the MiC method.

The KB-DSS uses 21 significant suitability decision-making factors identified through literature review, consultation of experts and questionnaire surveys. It has a knowledge base, a DSS and a user interface. The knowledge base comprises IF-THEN production rules to compute the MiC suitability score with the efficient use of the powerful reasoning and explanation capabilities of DSS.

The tool receives the inputs of a decision-maker, computes the MiC suitability score for a given project and generates recommendations based on the score. Three real-world projects in Hong Kong are used to demonstrate the applicability of the tool for solving the MiC suitability assessment problem.

This study established the complex and competing significant conditions and factors determining the suitability of the MiC method for construction projects. It developed a unique tool combining the capabilities of expert systems and decision support system to address the complex problem of assessing the suitability of the MiC method for construction projects in a high-density metropolis.