Seoul City Bans 'Self Safety Inspections' for Private Buildings... "Preventing Negligent Checks through Public Institution Designation System"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will establish the 'Seoul Metropolitan Building Management Ordinance (Draft)' and announce it for legislative notice on the 16th. This is a follow-up measure following the enforcement of the 'Building Management Act,' enacted to prevent accidents caused by poor building management, which came into effect in May.

The Building Management Act includes ▲strengthening the building management obligations of managers (owners, etc.) (establishing building management plans, regular inspections, etc.) ▲enhancing the expertise and fairness of building inspection agencies ▲strengthening the safety of building demolition works ▲establishing regional building management support centers and other measures to reinforce public building management support.

On the 15th, Seoul City stated, "To ensure that the Building Management Act is effectively implemented and systematically executed on the ground, we will strengthen the safety management of 600,000 private buildings across Seoul through this ordinance."

To fundamentally prevent poor inspections caused by 'self-inspections,' the city will newly operate a public designation system for inspection agencies. Seoul will form and operate a pool of building management inspection agencies that it has verified, and randomly selected companies from this pool will conduct safety inspections. Previously, building owners directly selected the inspection companies.

To prevent accidents like the collapse at the Jamwon-dong demolition site, safety management of demolition sites will also be strengthened. Supervisors responsible for demolition site safety will be randomly designated by the district office from a verified pool, rather than by the building owner, aiming to eradicate the chronic practice of ignoring safety.

To this end, Seoul has completed the formation of a pool of building management inspection agencies (455 companies) and a pool of demolition (dismantling) construction supervisors (899 companies). The city publicly recruited safety diagnosis specialized institutions, architectural offices, etc., and after qualification verification such as technical personnel and equipment possession status and completion of related training, the final selections were made.

All roles related to private building safety management throughout Seoul are exclusively handled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the 25 district offices through the 'Regional Building Safety Centers (26 locations).' To enhance the professionalism of the Regional Building Safety Centers' operations, the city has hired 44 professionals such as architects and established a special architectural safety account in 14 districts.

Currently, the Regional Building Safety Centers conduct safety inspections on small-scale aging buildings and small to medium-sized construction sites that are blind spots in management. In addition, under the Building Management Act, the centers will be strengthened to provide information and technical support when building owners establish building management plans.

Seoul plans to enact and promulgate the Seoul Building Management Ordinance (Draft), which was announced for legislative notice with these core contents, in January 2021 after going through related procedures such as legal review and ordinance and regulation deliberation meetings. The ordinance contains provisions to systematically and stably implement matters delegated by law.

The main contents of the ordinance (draft) are ▲strengthening safety inspections through verified building management inspection agencies ▲strengthening demolition site safety management through verified demolition construction supervisors ▲enhancing the functions of Regional Building Safety Centers.

When conducting safety inspections on private buildings, detailed procedures have been established to designate inspection agencies from among those verified by Seoul City. The Building Management Act stipulates that building management inspection agencies must be designated by the public sector. The city creates a pool of inspection agencies through public recruitment and qualification verification at least once a year, and each district randomly selects agencies from this pool for regular and emergency inspections of private buildings and notifies the building managers (owners, etc.). Building managers contract with the designated agencies applying the fee standards regulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport guidelines, and inspection agencies conduct safety inspections in compliance with inspection guidelines and manuals.

If significant defects are found in the inspection results, building managers must take necessary measures such as repairs and reinforcements. If these are not implemented, the district office head may order prohibition of use, restriction of use, or correction.

Supervisors responsible for safety management of demolition (dismantling) construction sites are also designated from among specialized companies verified by the city. The Building Management Act changes building demolition work from a 'notification system' to a 'permit system' and requires district offices to directly designate supervisors instead of building owners. The designation of demolition site supervisors is similar to the designation of building management inspection agencies. The city forms a pool of demolition construction supervisors through public recruitment and qualification verification, and the district office head randomly selects and designates supervisors.

The functions of the Regional Building Safety Centers, which have been operating since last year, will be strengthened to take charge of safety management throughout the entire process from maintenance to demolition (dismantling) of 600,000 buildings in Seoul. During the past year, the centers conducted safety inspections on 5,763 small-scale aging buildings and 1,748 small to medium-sized (under 10,000㎡) construction sites that were blind spots due to no inspection obligations. Based on the inspection results, they focused on strengthening safety management by ordering repair and reinforcement measures or administrative actions such as use restrictions.

Seoul has prepared and distributed a 'District Reference Local Regulation Draft (Standard Ordinance Draft)' containing items such as regular inspection targets so that each district can efficiently enact ordinances according to their circumstances regarding matters delegated by the Building Management Act and enforcement decree to district ordinances. With the enforcement of the Building Management Act, collective buildings with a total floor area of 3,000㎡ or more must undergo regular inspections every three years after five years from completion, and multi-use facilities such as restaurants and academies with a total floor area of 1,000㎡ or more are also designated as regular inspection targets by district ordinances. Other targets such as emergency inspections and safety diagnoses are also specified in detail.

Kim Hak-jin, Seoul City Deputy Mayor for Administration 2, said, "It has been half a century since the collapse of Wow Apartment and 25 years since the Sampoong Department Store collapsed. Although various changes have occurred during that time, safety blind spots still remain. Seoul City will strengthen the safety management obligations and responsibilities of building owners and actively support and manage this publicly to ensure that the enacted Building Management Act is effectively operated."

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