Court: "Pre-construction design modifications are not 'corrective construction'"

Seoul Administrative Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court ruling has determined that penalizing an architect for delayed construction due to design modifications under the reason of 'supplementary construction' is unjust.

On the 16th, according to the legal community, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 4 (Presiding Judge Kim Jeongjung) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of the cancellation lawsuit filed by architectural firm A against construction company B regarding the imposition of penalty points for poor performance.

Previously, in 2017, firm A signed a design service contract with company B for a building in Busan.

The 'Helical Pile Method,' which involves rotating piles with spiral wings driven into the ground support layer, was applied for the first time in construction projects exceeding 60 meters in depth.

Firm A submitted design drawings reflecting the 'Helical Method' as decided by company B and completed the service work.

However, during pre-construction supervision, safety concerns about the Helical Method were raised. Concluding that proceeding with the original design was difficult, firm A submitted a final design in 2019 with a thicker bottom floor layer.

The building's completion was delayed from the scheduled September 2019 to March 2020.

Company B imposed 2 penalty points on firm A under the Construction Business Promotion Act, citing 'supplementary construction caused by insufficient understanding of new technology or new construction methods.'

These penalty points could affect prequalification for future bidding. Firm A argued that since the design was supplemented before construction and the construction proceeded without issues, applying penalty points for 'supplementary construction' was unjust.

The court ruled in favor of firm A. The court stated, "The 'supplementary construction' defined in the penalty regulations refers to reinforcement or supplementation after construction has already been carried out," and added, "Cases where 'supplementary design' is made before construction are not included."

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