Seoul City Launches Comprehensive Survey of Wind-Vulnerable Church Steeples... Up to 4 Million Won Demolition Cost Support

Full Survey of 7,919 Churches → Joint Safety Inspection with Experts and Risk Steeples → Demolition Support
Priority Support for Churches with Safety Grade E, Neglected, or Small Size... Demolition Cost Applications to District Offices by End of August

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will conduct a comprehensive survey of ‘church steeples’ that are at high risk of toppling during strong winds or typhoons. On-site safety inspections will be carried out, and safety grades will be assigned. For aged or dangerous steeples rated D or E, as well as neglected steeples, up to 4 million KRW per location will be provided to encourage demolition.

On the 13th, Seoul announced that it will conduct a full survey and safety inspection to eliminate risk factors directly related to citizens’ daily safety in preparation for the summer heavy rain and typhoon season.

By mid-month, Seoul will verify the presence of steeples through a full survey of 7,919 churches located in the city. Subsequently, joint safety inspections with structural experts will be conducted by the end of August on steeples taller than 4 meters and those that are aged.

The safety inspection will be conducted using the building regular inspection manual, checking for steeple shaking, tilting, structural condition, welding status, and main component condition, followed by assigning a safety grade from A to E.

If the safety inspection results in a D grade requiring improvement, or an E grade indicating urgent improvement is needed, the local district office will issue correction orders to the building owners and managers to carry out maintenance.

Seoul will provide up to 4 million KRW in demolition costs after review if building owners apply by phone to the district office by the end of August. Demolition must be completed by the district office by the end of November.

Seoul plans to distribute promotional materials about the demolition support project during safety inspections to encourage active participation from citizens.

Priority for demolition support will be given to dangerous steeples rated E, steeples abandoned due to church relocation, and small churches in commercial buildings with steeples rated D.

Meanwhile, building owners must report to the district office before installing steeples taller than 4 meters, attaching layout plans, structural drawings, and structural safety and seismic design certificates (for steeples taller than 8 meters).

Additionally, under the ‘Building Management Act’ enforced since May last year, managers of structures such as steeples on buildings subject to mandatory regular inspections must include safety inspections conducted by ‘building management inspection agencies’ such as architectural offices.

Kim Seong-bo, Head of the Housing and Architecture Headquarters of Seoul, said, “Ahead of the full typhoon season, we will inspect aged and neglected ‘church steeples’ that threaten citizens’ safety and actively encourage demolition by supporting demolition costs. As this is the first time Seoul is providing demolition support, we ask for the active participation and applications from steeple owners and managers.”

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