Gyeongnam Province Launches Emergency Safety Inspections at 36 Apartment Construction Sites

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Following the exterior wall collapse accident at an apartment construction site in Gwangju on the 11th, Gyeongnam Province has established an emergency safety inspection plan for apartment construction sites during the winter season within the province.

Gyeongnam Province announced on the 13th that starting from the 14th, it will begin emergency safety inspections of apartment construction sites to prevent safety accidents and poor construction at large apartment construction sites. The inspections will be conducted jointly by officials from the provincial, city, and county levels along with private experts in architecture, structural engineering, and civil engineering.

The inspections will target 36 sites out of the 54 apartment construction sites currently underway in the province, excluding those with extremely low progress rates or those about to undergo final inspections before completion.

The main inspection items include the concrete curing period, occurrence of formwork deformation, deformation of props, structural cracks and deformations in major members, occurrence of defects in columns and beams, whether self-safety inspections have been conducted, safety of excavation and slope retaining walls, occurrence of ground subsidence, damage and deterioration, cracks, bulging, tensile cracks and subsidence in natural slopes, and occurrence of falling rocks and soil erosion.

Special focus will be placed on large-scale cut slopes and underground excavation sites where winter accidents are highly likely, as well as temporary facilities, tower cranes, and risk factors such as structural cracks and deformations in major members.

Minor issues will be corrected immediately on site, but if illegalities such as poor construction are confirmed, strict measures such as penalty points and construction suspension notices will be enforced, and plans to establish future architectural safety innovation measures will be prepared.

Heo Dong-sik, Director of the Urban Transportation Bureau of the province, said, “For safety to be secured on site, active participation from the construction industry including contractors and supervisors, as well as site workers, is essential above all.” He added, “We will do our utmost to ensure that construction sites become safer workplaces through this inspection.”

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