New 'Standard Construction Work Unit Prices' Implemented from July... Enhancing Safety and Waste Management Improvements

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Following the first half of this year, the 'Standard Construction Work Unit Price' will be revised again in the second half. Measures related to worker safety have been proposed, and the revision takes into account the law for more efficient waste disposal scheduled to be implemented from April next year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 30th that it will partially revise and implement the 'Standard Construction Work Unit Price' starting from the 1st of next month. The Standard Construction Work Unit Price is data that quantifies labor, material quantities, and construction machinery work amounts per unit task based on generalized construction work types and methods.

The Ministry explained that the purpose of this revision is to secure additional costs necessary to protect the safety of construction site workers and to establish standards for calculating construction waste. Typically, the standard unit prices are announced once a year in the first half, but considering the urgency to promptly prepare safety costs and waste calculation standards with the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), the Ministry decided to announce an additional revision in the second half.

Through this revision, seven new items related to safety management costs, such as falling object prevention nets, have been added, and the standards for three items including flying nets have been revised. The waste calculation standards have been made more realistic.

In particular, regarding the 'Construction Safety Innovation Plan' announced last April, standards have been established to reflect details of safety facilities such as fall prevention nets and safety railings, which are executed under industrial safety and health management costs (safety management costs), as well as safety management personnel wages such as tower crane signalmen and fire watchers, allowing for additional deployment of safety management personnel. The Ministry expects that with this revision, 30% more safety costs compared to before will be secured, enabling fall and fire accident prevention measures to be firmly established on site, improving the safety of machinery and equipment, and making construction sites safer workplaces.

Regarding waste disposal, the classification of waste materials has been subdivided from the existing three types to six types, and cost calculations have been significantly made more realistic in line with the sorting and dismantling system scheduled to be implemented in April next year.

Currently, construction waste generated at construction sites must be estimated based on on-site measurements or design documents and reflected in the estimated price, but due to differences in causes, types, and amounts of waste depending on the site, accurate prediction is difficult, causing confusion and increased additional costs at construction sites.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, in cooperation with related ministries such as the Ministry of Environment and the Public Procurement Service, has established standard unit amounts for construction waste generation. Since the sorting and dismantling-based separate collection system will be mandated from April next year under the 'Act on the Promotion of Recycling of Construction Waste,' generation standards by use, structure, and type have been newly established and presented.

The announced revisions to the 'Standard Construction Work Unit Price for the second half of 2020' are available for viewing on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport website.

Jung Yong-sik, Director of the Ministry’s Technology and Safety Policy Division, said, "With this revision, construction sites will be able to reliably pay the essential costs to ensure worker safety," adding, "It is also expected that the calculation of waste disposal costs by clients or contractors will become more convenient."

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