Direct Supervision of 'Seoul City Commissioned Construction'... Pilot Application Starting with Seongsan Bridge Deck Slab Repair Work

Operating Construction Innovation TF since early this year to establish safety and quality enhancement measures for city-ordered construction
Strengthening responsibility and roles by switching public construction site management from private supervision companies to 'direct supervision by public officials'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City will shift from the current system of ‘responsible supervision,’ where private companies manage construction site supervision for city-commissioned construction projects, to ‘direct supervision by public officials,’ where public officials reside on-site to take full responsibility for management. The pilot application will begin with the maintenance work on Seongsan Bridge, and after legal amendments, it will be gradually expanded to new construction projects commissioned by Seoul City.

On the 13th, Seoul City announced measures to strengthen safety and quality management for publicly commissioned construction projects and stated that these measures will be implemented immediately. In response to increased public concern and anxiety about safety following the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Gwangju apartment collapse accident, the city formed a ‘Construction Innovation Task Force (TF)’ earlier this year to discuss various ways to innovate construction safety and quality levels. Starting with these measures, the city plans to develop construction innovation strategies, including the introduction of smart advanced technologies.

Currently, under the Construction Technology Promotion Act, public construction projects with a total construction cost of 20 billion KRW or more are required to implement responsible supervision (construction project management). Accordingly, the responsible public officials do not reside on-site but only perform their roles as construction managers. Although the supervisory authority lies with private supervisors under the supervision system, the commissioning agency cannot be exempt from responsibility, making it necessary to strengthen the role and expertise of public officials.

The ‘direct supervision by public officials’ introduced by Seoul City will be implemented as a collaborative structure where resident public officials directly perform supervisory duties with authority and responsibility, while specialized engineering firms provide support for functional inspections and technical assistance. However, legal amendments are required for the full implementation of ‘direct supervision by public officials.’

Video recording management during public construction processes will, as a principle, cover the entire process for structurally important major work types or confined space work types requiring safety management. This also includes recording the production and inspection of materials, quality, and various tests and inspections.

Currently, filming plans are being established at 47 construction sites commissioned by the city with construction costs exceeding 10 billion KRW, and video recording management is expected to begin as early as August. Seoul City plans to develop a ‘record management program’ by September next year to store and utilize the recorded video materials, thereby establishing a video recording management infrastructure. Additionally, guidelines on video and photo recording will be provided through training for construction managers and on-site personnel.

Han Je-hyun, Acting Deputy Mayor of Administration 2 of Seoul City, said, “Seoul City will not leave the site management of publicly commissioned construction projects solely to private supervision companies but will directly oversee them to raise safety and quality standards to a world-class level that meets citizens’ expectations.” He added, “Starting with the introduction of direct supervision by public officials and the mandatory video recording management of construction processes, we will strive for various construction innovations, including the adoption of smart advanced technologies in the construction sector.”

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