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Drones and AI for Building Facade Inspections

29 November 2022

Building & Construction Authority, Enterprise Singapore, Housing & Development Board, National Research Foundation

HDB blocks are regularly inspected to ensure that they remain in a good and livable condition. Manual methods, such as the use of suspended gondolas, are currently used for building facade inspections. These manual methods are labour-intensive and require workers to work from height. 

HDB collaborated with the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), Enterprise Singapore, and National Research Foundation (NRF) to develop local capabilities in drone facade inspection and visual analytics technology to reduce manual labour. Done by using drones to carry out inspections, workers are not required to work from height, and will not need to spend time setting up and shifting the gondolas. This allows building inspections to be conducted safely and more efficiently.

The use of such drones, coupled with visual analytics and artificial intelligence, is also used to analyse and identify defects from the data collected from the inspections.

Tall apartment building, elevated on pillars, with a drone flying nearby.

HDB conducted drone facade inspection trials at HDB estates, such as in Clementi

Drone inspecting building facade with inset showing plaster crack on soffit.

HDB collaborated with other agencies to develop capabilities in drone facade inspection. 

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