An ontology driven building construction

Building construction is crucial for the development of any country, contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product and employment. However, mismanagement of building projects in developing countries often results from inadequate estimation techniques, leading to challenges in predicting labour costs. This study aims to investigate the implementation of ontology-based technology to model information related to labour costs, thereby enhancing decision-making for building developers. Two key objectives are pursued: first, developing a domain ontology that encapsulates knowledge about labour costing practices in Cameroon and broader developing contexts; second, creating an ontology rule-based application to facilitate the decision-making process and computation of labour costs in construction projects. The methodology includes the presentation of three case scenarios demonstrating how construction decision-makers can intuitively interact with the labour cost ontology and navigate the outcomes. The findings highlight the potential of ontology-driven approaches in improving labour cost estimation and fostering effective management in construction projects. Consequently, this research contributes to advancing the efficiency and effectiveness of construction practices in developing regions.