Singapore turns to drones and robots to curb soaring construction costs

It took just three days for the facilities management team at the Singapore Sports Hub to collect and analyze thousands of close-up inspection photos of the National Stadium using drones and AI, a task that previously took up to two weeks using manual labor.

The work is led by C&W Services, the facilities management and engineering arm of commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, which has used drones and AI for façade inspections at the Sports Hub since 2018, cutting inspection time by an average of 50% to 70%.

Previously, engineers had to access maintenance areas using ropes and pulleys and manually scan for defects, Lam Shiu Tong, C&W Services’ managing director for defense and sports facilities, told The Straits Times, describing the process as "very laborious" and prone to missed details.

"Now, we can fly drones, take thousands of images that capture the entire facade, and use AI to pick out defects such as peeling sealant and rusted pins and trusses," he said. "We can then send our specialists to the exact locations to inspect further and rectify the issues as needed. The AI system can also generate the inspection reports much faster."

Aerial view of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Photo from Pexels

Beyond using drones and AI for building inspections, high-rise maintenance firm ISOTeam is developing drones capable of washing and painting exteriors, reducing the need for scaffolding and lowering the risks of working at height. While investment in such technology is costly, it should ultimately "translate into better earnings," Natalie Ong and Then Wan Lin, analysts at CGS International Securities Singapore, told CNBC.

Construction in Singapore, ranked the world’s second richest country by GDP per capita by the British publication The Economist, has boomed since the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, the Building and Construction Authority projected that construction demand would reach up to S$53 billion (US$42 billion) in the city-state this year.

However, construction costs remain among the highest globally. Consultancy Turner & Townsend expects costs to rise 5% this year due to supply chain disruptions affecting cement and ready-mixed concrete, long lead times for plumbing and electrical systems, and surging prices of semiconductors used in those systems.

Beyond material costs, labor shortages remain acute. Alongside a lack of general labor, the market for PMET roles, professionals, managers, executives, and technicians, is "noticeably tight," according to Khoo Sze Boon, Turner & Townsend’s managing director for Singapore.

Ong and Lin noted that construction workers in Singapore are increasingly expected to take on multiple roles, as staff are trained to assume additional responsibilities, further weighing on productivity. These pressures are accelerating technology adoption. From April, the Building and Construction Authority will provide new grants to small companies to invest in technology, including robots and automation, which it says can deliver "up to 50% manpower savings."

Local technology solutions are gaining traction, with computer vision technology from start-up OpenSpace and scheduling and defect-tracking software from PlanRadar reporting increased business from the region. Legend Robot, whose robots can paint up to 1,500 square meters of interior walls per day, about seven times more than a human worker, has expanded its business beyond Singapore to China, the Middle East, and Europe. Its machines currently cost between $70,000 and $120,000.

A wall-painting robot developed by Legend Robot. Photo courtesy of Legend Robot

Buildings are also integrating digital systems into facilities management to raise productivity, ease workloads, and attract talent. At City House, City Square Mall, Palais Renaissance, and Republic Plaza, the Digihub monitoring platform uses sensors and AI to track building assets such as air-handling units and pumps. The system monitors asset conditions in real time, predicts potential anomalies, and alerts managers instantly. Ivan Foo, facilities manager at Republic Plaza, said human inspections are still carried out, but technology has shifted checks from daily to weekly, allowing staff to focus on "higher-value work."

Digital specialist Pang Zi Hao said facilities management companies that invest in digitalization are more attractive to potential hires. "Young people these days want to have cool jobs. With digitalisation, we can redesign old jobs and offer new ones such as smart facilities management or digital specialists," he said. "We can then get more people into the facilities management and built environment sectors."

Khoo said adopting new digital tools alone would not be sufficient. Many firms will need to "rethink how technology supports their commercial goals," he told CNBC. "Some may find themselves undergoing a kind of digital renaissance that reshapes their operating models."