Gwangju Fire Department "Mandatory Appointment of Fire Safety Managers at Construction Sites"

Fire Prevention Act to Take Effect from December 1

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Fire Safety Headquarters announced that starting December 1, the "Act on Fire Prevention and Safety Management" will be enforced, making it mandatory to appoint fire safety managers at construction sites.

From December, construction contractors must appoint a fire safety manager who has received safety training to carry out tasks such as preparing fire safety plans and supervising the installation and management of temporary fire facilities.

Additionally, contractors must appoint a fire safety manager from the date of construction commencement notification until the building use approval date and report the appointment to the Korea Fire Safety Institute within 14 days of the appointment.

A fire safety manager is a person who has obtained a fire safety manager certificate issued by the Korea Fire Safety Institute and has completed the fire safety manager training course for construction sites.

According to Article 29 of the Fire Prevention Act, fire safety management targets include construction sites involving new construction, extension, reconstruction, rebuilding, relocation, change of use, or major repairs with a total floor area of 15,000㎡ or more, or construction sites with a total floor area of 5,000㎡ or more that have two or fewer basement floors, eleven or more above-ground floors, cold storage warehouses, refrigerated warehouses, or combined cold and refrigerated warehouses.

If a fire safety manager is not appointed at a construction site, a fine of up to 3 million KRW will be imposed, and if the appointment is not reported within the designated period, a penalty of up to 2 million KRW will be imposed.

Lee Namsu, Director of the Protection and Prevention Division at the Gwangju Fire Headquarters, said, "Ahead of the enforcement of the Fire Prevention Act in December, we ask for the active preparation and keen interest of construction contractors to create safer construction sites."

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