Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Intensive Investigation into Illegal Firefighting Works at Large Construction Sites

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit will conduct an intensive investigation into illegal acts related to fire facility construction at large new construction sites within the province from June 7 to August 31.

The investigation targets 50 large new construction sites within the province with a total floor area of 5,000㎡ or more, including complex buildings, sales facilities, lodging facilities, and large logistics warehouses, where there is concern about multiple casualties in the event of a disaster caused by unspecified users after the building's completion.

The Special Judicial Police Unit initiated this investigation following reports that illegal subcontracting practices have been carried out, such as fire technicians leaving the site during construction or unregistered fire facility construction companies performing fire facility installations at new construction sites.

The unit plans to focus on whether the separation of fire facility construction orders has been properly implemented during this investigation.

Previously, in September 2020, the government introduced the Fire Facility Construction Business Act, which mandates the separation of fire facility construction from other construction work in orders and contracts to prevent poor-quality construction caused by low-price subcontracting.

Under the current Fire Facility Construction Business Act, companies that commit illegal acts such as illegal construction or illegal subcontracting related to fire facility construction are subject to imprisonment of up to one year or fines of up to 10 million KRW, along with administrative sanctions such as business suspension. Companies that fail to comply with the separation of orders and contracts are subject to fines of up to 3 million KRW.

Kim Min-kyung, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit, emphasized, "Unfair trade practices such as low-price subcontracting should be recognized as serious crimes that cause poor-quality construction," adding, "We will strongly crack down on illegal acts that threaten the safety of residents."

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