Understanding the key risks in circular construction projects: from systematic review to conceptual framework

Purpose: Circular construction offers sustainable solutions and opportunities to disentangle a project’s life cycle, including demolition, deconstruction and repurposing of architectural, civil engineering and infrastructure projects from the extraction of natural resources and their wasteful usage. However, it introduces additional layers of novel risks and uncertainties in the delivery of projects. The purpose of this study is to review the relevant literature to discover, classify and theorize the critical risk factors for circular construction projects. Design/methodology/approach: The paper conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the risks of circular construction projects. It deployed a multistage approach, including literature search and assessment, metadata extraction, citation frequency analysis, Pareto analysis and total interpretive structural modeling. Findings: Sixty-eight critical risk factors were identified and categorized into nine broad taxonomies: material risks, organizational risks, supply chain risks, technological risks, financial risks, design risks, health and safety risks, regulatory risks and stakeholder risks. Using the Pareto analysis, a conceptual map of 47 key critical risk factors was generated for circular construction projects. A hierarchical model was further developed to hypothesize the multiple possible connections and interdependencies of the taxonomies, leading to chain reactions and push effects of the key risks impacting circular construction projects. Originality/value: This study constitutes the first systematic review of the literature, consolidating and theorizing the chain reactions of the critical risk factors for circular construction projects. Thus, it provides a better understanding of risks in circular construction projects.