Maintenance is More Important Than New Construction... Government Significantly Strengthens Accident Prevention Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Measures to prevent safety accidents in buildings will be significantly strengthened. From now on, multi-use buildings must have their safety status inspected every three years, and fire-vulnerable multi-use establishments must complete fire safety performance reinforcement by 2022. In addition, buildings with more than three floors and a total floor area of 500㎡ or more must undergo supervision before demolition.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 21st that the draft enforcement decree of the "Building Management Act," which includes these provisions, has passed the Cabinet meeting.

First, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established a "Building Life Cycle Management System" to enable anyone to easily manage buildings. Through this, management and inspection histories, which were previously dispersed among agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Fire Agency, can now be integrated and managed on a building-by-building basis.

Regular inspections, which under the current Building Act were conducted every two years starting ten years after the approval of use (completion), will now be conducted every three years after the first inspection within five years of approval of use. If any serious defects are found during the inspection, repairs and reinforcements must be carried out without fail.

Also, buildings housing medical facilities of three or more floors, facilities for the elderly and children, bathhouses, goshiwons, postpartum care centers, academies, etc., that meet fire vulnerability criteria must complete fire safety performance reinforcement by 2022.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been supporting reinforcement costs of up to approximately 26 million KRW per building since last year and plans to support about 400 buildings this year.

Furthermore, buildings exceeding three floors including above and underground, with a total floor area of 500㎡ or more, and a height of 12 meters or more must obtain permission before demolition, and the permit authority must designate a supervisor.

With the implementation of the new system, as a large number of inspections will suddenly arise, a guidance period will be provided so that regular building inspections, which must be conducted within three months after notification, can have contracts signed with inspection agencies within three months and complete inspections within another three months.

The draft enforcement decree of the "Building Management Act" will be enforced along with the Building Management Act and its enforcement rules starting from the 1st of next month.

Kim Sang-moon, Director of Building Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Through the enforcement of this Building Management Act, we expect to proactively respond to the paradigm shift in construction from 'new construction' to 'maintenance management,'" adding, "We will continue to do our best to ensure the safety of the public's daily lives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.