A LSTM algorithm-driven deep learning approach to estimating repair and maintenance costs of apartment buildings

Purpose: This study proposes a deep learning algorithm-based model to predict the repair and maintenance costs of apartment buildings, by collecting repair and maintenance cost data that were incurred in an actual apartment complex. More specifically, a long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm was adopted to develop the prediction model, while the robustness of the model was verified by recurrent neural networks (RNN) and gated recurrent units (GRU) models. Design/methodology/approach: Repair and maintenance cost data incurred in actual apartment complexes is collected, along with various input variables, such as repair and maintenance timing (calendar year), usage types, building ages, temperature, precipitation, wind speed, humidity and solar radiation. Then, the LSTM algorithm is employed to predict the costs, while two other learning models (RNN and GRU) are taught to validate the robustness of the LSTM model based on R-squared values, mean absolute errors and root mean square errors. Findings: The LSTM model’s learning is more accurate and reliable to predict repair and maintenance costs of apartment complex, compared to the RNN and GRU models' learning performance. The proposed model provides a valuable tool that can contribute to mitigating financial management risks and reducing losses in forthcoming apartment construction projects. Originality/value: Gathering a real-world high-quality data set of apartment’s repair and maintenance costs, this study provides a highly reliable prediction model that can respond to various scenarios to help apartment complex managers plan resources more efficiently, and manage the budget required for repair and maintenance more effectively.