An Assessment of the Maintenance of Heritage Buildings Using AI and IoT: ASouth African Perspective

The paper assesses the possibilities of maintaining South African heritage buildings using Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. Over the years, the construction industry has evolved with AI, creating software to make maintenance of buildings easier for the end-user by collecting data from different systems within the building to be centralised for data storage and future analysis and maintenance planning. The study aims to assess the merits and benefits, and the pitfalls, if any, in the adoption of AI and IoT in the maintenance management of heritage buildings in South Africa. The standardisation of IoT for the maintenance of heritage buildings and the challenges that the industry faces for not adopting AI are likewise discussed in the paper. The paper is based on the assessment of peer-reviewed literature and policies on the current systems used to track the maintenance of heritage buildings in South Africa. The findings concluded the benefits of cost, quality, and time for the end-user and stakeholders while it noted challenges that mainly involved the security of data collected and the standardisation of IoT in the architectural, engineering, and construction industries.