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Topic Review

Fee Variability among Built Environment Professionals in SA

The capacity of professional services in the built environment to produce revenue and employment has contributed to the significant impact of the built environment on socio-economic development. Because of the market’s competitiveness, it is common practice in the South African construction industry for professionals to provide heavily discounted professional fees on building projects.

441
11 Dec 2023

Topic Review

Emotional-Intelligence and Decision-Making Association: Improving Productivity UK Construction-Industry

291
29 Sep 2025

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

Masonry Arches: Thrust Line and Strength

The concept of ‘thrust line’ has its roots in historical contributions that laid the foundation for the development of modern tools useful for the limit analysis of masonry arches and vaults. This concept can be traced back to two different, but related, notions: ‘line of resistance’ and ‘line of pressure’. In this paper, both historical contributions and recent developments of the thrust line method will be discussed with a focus on those formulations which take into account the material’s properties, in particular compressive strength.

38
10 Mar 2026

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

A SWOT Analysis of Modular Construction

Modular construction is generally defined as a typical offsite construction approach that can improve environmental sustainability throughout the building project lifecycle. Based on this situation, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) while promoting this sustainable construction method effectively during the urbanisation process is essential. Generally, modular construction is a sustainable building approach that can improve project sustainability, considering the environmental, social, economic, and technological aspects. A comprehensive understanding of the basic situation of prefabricated construction is worthwhile to ensure the widespread adoption of this offsite building method. By employing the SWOT analytical framework, this study adopts a literature review approach to conduct the investigation. In terms of the project results, the core strengths of using modular construction include improving environmental sustainability, enhancing management effectiveness, and improving construction safety and quality. The major weaknesses, on the other hand, are a lack of expertise and research, excessively high initial costs, and difficulties in stakeholder coordination. On the other hand, the major opportunities include promoting the SDGs and other policies, the Industrial Revolution 4.0, and urbanisation and building demands. The main threats, however, include substitute construction technologies, imperfect building codes and standards, and a lack of social and market acceptance. Further research can increase the sample size and collect more accurate firsthand data to validate the results of the current investigation, which can increase the effectiveness of promoting modular construction in the targeted regions.

29
22 Jan 2026

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

Intelligent Eyes on Buildings: A Scientometric Mapping and Systematic Review of AI-Based Crack Detection and Predictive Diagnostics of Building Structures

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based crack detection in buildings uses computer vision and deep learning to automatically identify structural cracks from inspection images. In recent years, many studies have explored this topic, but the overall development of the field, its methodological practices, and the remaining challenges are still not fully clear. Unlike most previous reviews that focus mainly on technical methods, this study combines a large-scale scientometric mapping of the research field with a focused technical analysis of recent AI-based crack detection methods specifically applied to building structures. This study therefore provides a dual-layer review covering research published between 2015 and 2025. A total of 146 Scopus-indexed publications were analysed using Visualization of Similarities viewer (VOSviewer) to examine publication growth, thematic evolution, collaboration patterns, and citation structures. In addition, a focused technical review of 36 highly relevant studies was carried out to analyse task formulations, model families, datasets, evaluation protocols, and methodological practices. The results show a rapid increase in research activity after 2020, largely driven by advances in deep-learning and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based inspections. At the same time, collaboration networks remain uneven, and citation influence is concentrated in a limited number of research communities. The technical review further shows that most studies focus on detection-level tasks, particularly You Only Look Once (YOLO)-based models, while predictive diagnostics, automated inspection reporting, and decision-oriented Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) are still rarely addressed. Current datasets and evaluation protocols also remain mostly perception-oriented, which makes it difficult to assess robustness, generalisability and long-term predictive capability.

27
15 Jun 2026

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

Real-Time Digitalisation: The Future of Post-Occupancy Evaluation in Buildings

Real-time digitalisation refers to the continuous collection, integration, and analysis of operational building data, enabled by the integration of digital technologies into building management platforms. It is an advanced extension of building post-occupancy evaluation (POE) that transforms it from a static, retrospective evaluation process into a dynamic, data-driven methodology. In this entry, real-time digitalisation is discussed in relation to its role within the POE framework. The discussion includes a review of its evolution from early automation systems to contemporary cyber-physical infrastructures, supported by advanced analytics and machine learning. In addition, its dual benefits are highlighted as both a measurement tool and a decision-support system. Prevalent implementation complexities that limit its practicality in the building industry are also discussed. Real-time digitalisation is unlikely to replace conventional POE; instead, it broadens its capabilities, reconfiguring the process into a continuous, evidence-based building performance management process. The future relevance of real-time digitalisation to POE depends on its ability to become less technology-focused and more human-centric. Its infrastructure needs to align with occupant-subjective metrics, become more affordable, and increase its capacity to translate data into practical building management actions. As buildings become increasingly socio-technical systems, real-time digitalisation is emerging as a core methodological component of mainstream POE, with its importance spanning the entire lifecycle of buildings.

15
07 May 2026

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

The Real-World Use of Building Energy Regulations as a Mechanism to Accelerate Climate Resilience in the Global South

International research and policy frameworks underscore the value of mandatory energy regulations in reducing energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the built environment. However, Global South (GS) countries experience several challenges in effectively implementing building energy efficiency codes (BEECs), as codes are either absent, unevenly adopted or inconsistently enforced. A poor alignment with the specific climatic, socio-economic and construction realities further limits the potential of BEECs to support GS climate resilience. This research aims to identify opportunities to enhance building energy regulatory practices by exploring recent progress in the field. It also systematically evaluates existing mandatory BEECs in the GS to identify models and principles that could guide the development of more effective codes, specifically for GS countries without BEECs. It is hypothesised that the mandatory BEECs currently implemented in GS countries can be analysed using contextually relevant criteria to reveal common regulatory patterns, strengths, and shortcomings, thereby informing a climate-responsive framework suited to GS realities. This research implemented a two-tiered literature review. After determining the broad regulatory context, an exploratory review of the current state of the art in BEEC research was conducted. These publications (primarily 2016–2025) were obtained via a systematic query in Scopus. Following the exploratory review, this study performed a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review (SQLR) to assess mandatory BEECs from 18 GS countries. The findings reveal that BEECs are useful for delivering energy-efficient buildings in the real world. However, ample opportunities exist to improve their comprehensiveness in context and coverage. Improving regulatory implementation systems and structures, along with robust stakeholder engagement, can support better BEEC design and enforcement. To address the need for contextualised BEECs, the SQLR helped develop a taxonomy by comparing the mandatory codes. This research also introduces the Sustainable Level Indicator Model, Matrix, and Map (SLIM3) prototype, proposed as a decision-support tool, and hosted on an interactive online platform, thereby potentially contributing to real-world building energy regulatory practices. The SLIM3 tool organises the mandatory BEECs into a coherent, accessible framework that could assist GS decision-makers in benchmarking existing and new codes, identifying gaps and prioritising contextually appropriate improvements, thus contributing to a more resource-efficient built environment.

7
02 Jun 2026

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