Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Emergency Inspection of Fire Safety Facilities at 40 Large New Buildings

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will conduct an urgent investigation into illegal acts related to fire protection facility construction at 40 large newly constructed buildings.

This follows reports that some new construction sites are still engaging in customary illegal subcontracting.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police Unit has learned that at some sites, fire protection facilities are installed differently from the design documents, yet the supervising companies have not properly overseen the work, allowing usage approval. Additionally, intelligence indicates that many illegal issues, including poor fire protection facility construction, were found during the first comprehensive fire protection facility inspection conducted one year after building completion.

Accordingly, the Special Judicial Police announced on the 23rd that from next month 1st until September 30th, a three-month intensive investigation will be conducted on illegal acts related to fire protection facility construction in large multi-use newly constructed buildings within the province.

The investigation targets 40 multi-use newly constructed buildings used by unspecified large numbers of people, such as complex buildings, retail facilities, lodging facilities, and large logistics warehouses, which were completed in the first half of this year or are scheduled for completion in the second half.

The Special Judicial Police will focus on inspecting the installation and operational status of critical fire protection facilities, such as sprinkler systems that can cause multiple casualties and smoke control systems that prevent toxic gases generated by fires from entering the interior.

Under the current "Fire Protection Facility Construction Act," companies involved in illegal construction, false supervision, and illegal subcontracting related to fire protection facility construction are subject to imprisonment for up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW.

Inchi Kwon, head of the Special Judicial Police Unit, emphasized, "Thorough safety management is essential to prevent major accidents like the recent Icheon construction site fire and Gunpo logistics warehouse fire," adding, "We will strongly crack down on illegal acts so that residents can use multi-use buildings with peace of mind."

Last year, the Special Judicial Police also investigated fire protection construction activities in large buildings and uncovered illegal acts such as ▲illegal construction ▲false supervision ▲illegal subcontracting by 19 companies.

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