'Night Receiver Blocking and Fire Facility Construction with Unregistered Companies'... Gyeonggi-do Fire Department Catches 100 Cases

The Special Judicial Police Unit of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters is conducting planned inspections on the legality of fire safety facilities in newly constructed buildings.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has uncovered a large number of newly constructed buildings in Gyeonggi-do where fire alarm receivers were frequently disabled at night or contracts for fire facility construction were signed with companies not registered as fire facility contractors, resulting in poor construction quality.

The Special Judicial Police Unit of the Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters announced on the 25th that from July to September, they conducted a third-quarter planned investigation to eradicate illegal acts that undermine fire safety targeting 695 newly constructed buildings completed since 2021, including 244 complex buildings, 134 factories, and 127 neighborhood living facilities, and detected 100 defective facilities (14.4%).

The Special Judicial Police Unit filed charges in 14 cases among the detected issues and imposed fines on 38 cases. Additionally, 76 cases received administrative sanctions.

Among the detected cases, Apartment A in Siheung-si and Apartment B in Gwangju-si were caught in this crackdown for frequently disabling fire alarm receivers during night shifts. According to current law, closing or disabling fire facilities is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

Building C in Siheung-si was found to have violated laws such as breach of contract by signing a construction contract with a company not registered as a fire facility contractor, which then subcontracted to a registered fire facility construction company. According to the Fire Facility Construction Business Act, enforced since September 2020, fire facility construction must be contracted directly with companies registered as fire facility contractors.

In addition, the Special Judicial Police Unit imposed fines on newly constructed buildings detected for ▲ negligence in fire safety management duties (failure to prepare fire safety plans or managing fire water tanks empty) ▲ violations in maintenance and management of evacuation facilities, fire compartments, and fire prevention facilities (fire shutters and object stacking, damage or absence of fire door closers) ▲ negligence in maintenance and management of fire facilities (arbitrary stopping of control panels, leaving emergency broadcast switches in a stopped state).

A Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters official emphasized, "We plan to conduct regular crackdowns and investigations to improve illegal acts such as disabling or closing fire facilities in newly constructed buildings," and added, "We will continue to strictly punish illegal fire safety acts that threaten safety."

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