An Extended Hybrid Decision-Making System for Prioritizing Construction Schemes: A Case Study of Hospital Projects in China During Public Health Emergencies

As the construction industry faces increasing complexity and uncertainty, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods have been widely adopted in construction and project management. However, their application in the specific context of livelihood-related building projects during public health emergencies remains insufficiently explored. Existing MCDM approaches lack an integrated framework that combines qualitative factor identification with quantitative evaluation under emergency conditions. To address this gap, this study proposes an extended hybrid decision-making system based on multi-criteria decision-making theory, integrating grounded theory, the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, the CRITIC method, and the PFHWD-TOPSIS evaluation approach. Taking a hospital project in China during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, an evaluation indicator system tailored to livelihood-related building construction under public health emergencies is developed and a systematic analysis of the key influencing factors and scheme rankings is conducted. The results show that, besides traditional evaluation criteria, factors such as epidemic prevention and safety management play a critical role in construction decision-making under emergency conditions. Furthermore, the proposed hybrid MCDM framework significantly enhances the scientific rigor and robustness of scheme prioritization. This study not only provides theoretical support and practical guidance for livelihood-related building construction during public health emergencies but also offers valuable insights for optimizing decision-making in similar high-uncertainty contexts.