Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Approves Strengthened Enforcement Decree of the 'Facility Safety Act'

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 8th that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on the Safety and Maintenance of Facilities (hereinafter referred to as the Enforcement Decree of the Facility Safety Act) is scheduled to be approved at the Cabinet meeting.

The amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Facility Safety Act includes measures to strengthen safety management of small-scale aging facilities and is expected to be enforced six months after promulgation following the President's approval.

First, small-scale bridges and tunnels that have been completed for more than 10 years will be designated and managed as Class 3 facilities under the Facility Safety Act according to their scale and importance.

For Class 1 and 2 facilities, designation is automatic if certain size and other requirements are met, but for Class 3 facilities, the designation authority (such as the head of a metropolitan local government) separately designates them, which raised concerns that lack of interest could leave some facilities in blind spots. Accordingly, it is stipulated that when designated as Class 3 facilities, the management entity must conduct regular safety inspections semiannually.

The amendment also mandates higher-level inspections for small-scale facilities in poor condition (revising Article 8, Paragraph 2). Currently, only visual inspections (regular safety inspections) are mandatory for Class 3 facilities, making it difficult to identify structural defects, which has been criticized as hindering repair and reinforcement efforts.

The amendment requires that if a Class 3 facility is rated as D or E, indicating urgent repair or reinforcement is needed based on the regular safety inspection results, a detailed inspection (precise safety inspection) must be conducted within one year. This is expected to contribute to determining the necessity and methods of repair and reinforcement.

Lee Sang-il, Director of Technical Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “Through this institutional improvement, we expect the safety management of relatively vulnerable small-scale facilities to be strengthened,” and added, “Since this concerns the lives and safety of the public, we plan to actively work to ensure that the amended provisions are promptly established in the field.”

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