Conceptualizing a Smart Maintenance Maturity Model for Commercial Facilities in Emerging Markets

Abstract

Maintenance management in commercial buildings has evolved from a repair after failure approach to a proactive, tech-enabled strategy. Yet in emerging markets, practices often stay stuck in reactive mode, hampered by an infrastructure gap and institutional hurdles. This study bridges that divide by introducing the Smart Maintenance Maturity Model (SMMM), custom-built for commercial facilities in developing economies. Using a design science approach, maintenance literature was considered, smart technology like Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Building Information Modelling (BIM), plus established maturity models. Thematic analysis uncovers core capability areas such as technology adoption, data and analytics capability, human capital and skills, process integration, strategic alignment, and governance and risk management, which were organised into clear maturity stages, from a basic reactive approach to advanced predictive and prescriptive strategies. Tailored to real-world challenges in emerging economies like power instability, infrastructural deficiencies, and skill shortages, the SMMM model is practical and ready to scale. It advances theory by adapting maturity models to emerging-market facility management and hands practitioners a roadmap to evaluate, compare, and upgrade their operations toward smarter, more sustainable maintenance.