Quantifying Conflict Levels in Construction Projects Based on Stakeholder Perception Gaps through Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

Conflicts among stakeholders frequently occur in public construction projects and often result in schedule delays, cost increases, and reduced social acceptance. Although previous studies have identified important conflict factors, limited research has provided a project-level quantitative indicator that can diagnose conflict intensity from the perspective of stakeholder disagreement. This study proposes a perception gap-based conflict level (PG-CL) model that operationalizes stakeholder perception gaps using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy-AHP). Nineteen conflict factors were identified through a literature review and expert interviews and then structured into four categories. Their relative weights were estimated through pairwise comparisons from 38 experts using fuzzy-AHP, while perception-gap data were obtained from two representative public infrastructure conflict cases. The proposed PG-CL was further examined through convergent validation using 22 public construction cases. This study contributes by reframing public construction conflict through stakeholder perception gaps and by translating those differences into a structured project-level indicator. In this way, PG-CL provides a measurable basis for conflict diagnosis, prioritization of key conflict factors, and future extension toward real-time conflict monitoring.