[This Person] Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, Why Established Guidelines to Strengthen Safety Management at Demolition Sites?

Decision to Establish and Implement Strengthened Guidelines for Ensuring Safety in District Residents' Daily Life... Expansion of Mandatory Expert Inspections and Reinforcement of Supervisors' Management and Oversight Specified

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (District Mayor Kim Seon-gap) has established and will implement from this month the “Gwangjin-gu Demolition Site Operation Guidelines,” which are stricter than the Seoul city guidelines, to ensure safety at construction sites.

The guidelines were prepared based on the safety management reinforcement measures established by Gwangjin-gu in 2019, reflecting the Seoul city guidelines announced in July this year, and additionally applying the safety enhancement measures for building demolition works prepared by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on August 10.

According to the guidelines, sites that received demolition permits before July 6 this year, that is, construction sites not subject to construction commencement notification and resident supervision obligations, as well as sites that do not undergo separate demolition review, are also required to have expert inspections.

In addition, the number of inspections for demolition sites will be increased. Under the current Seoul city guidelines, all demolition sites must conduct inspections jointly with external experts before dismantling the top floor structure. The district plans to add intermediate inspections to eliminate risk factors in advance.

Along with this, supervisors must confirm the measures taken following inspections for construction to proceed, and supervisors’ management and supervision authority will be strengthened by requiring reports to the permit authority at major stages on whether the work is proceeding according to the demolition plan.

Furthermore, to prevent accidents where structurally vulnerable parts topple outside the construction site, a double safety device must be installed. Matters related to installation must be included when preparing the demolition plan.

The district will utilize experts from the Autonomous District Regional Building Safety Center to conduct comprehensive inspections, and will take strong measures such as halting construction or imposing fines on sites with insufficient safety measures or violations.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “Safety is the foremost task in district administration that can never be overemphasized,” and added, “We will make every effort to ensure safety management at all sites where residents live.”

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