Recording All Stages of Construction Work on Video... Expansion of Electronic Card System Applied

Real-time Recording and Management of Tower Crane Operations
"Expansion Next Year After LH Pilot Project Review"
Strengthened Sanctions on Unfair Practices Including Monthly Fees
Illegal Subcontracting Punishment Bill to Be Proposed in First Half of Year

A device that records and manages tower crane operations in real time at construction sites will be introduced, and it will be mandatory to record all stages of construction work on video. Additionally, through a standard lease contract, tower crane operators will be required to comply with the 52-hour workweek, and the parties responsible for cost burdens will be clearly defined. To prevent wage arrears, electronic card systems and payment systems will also be expanded.

A tower crane standing at an apartment construction site in Seocho-gu, Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

The People Power Party and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced on the 11th, at the civil-party-government council meeting, follow-up measures to eradicate illegal activities at construction sites, and pledged to promptly amend the five laws for normalizing construction sites. In addition to continuing joint government crackdowns, they plan to establish a practical sanction system against illegal acts such as excessive monthly fees, aiming to ensure safety as well.

First, the party and government agreed to establish a remote monitoring system by mandating video recording of all stages of construction work. This aims to achieve continuous supervision by licensing authorities and clients. By introducing smart work recording devices, tower crane operations will also be recorded and managed in real time. This is based on the judgment that it will secure conditions for safe operation and labor management based on objective data and enable accurate cause analysis in case of accidents. All of this will be piloted by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and expansion plans will be reviewed from next year.

In the second half of this year, the introduction of a standard lease contract specialized for tower cranes will also be promoted. The purpose is to improve the working conditions of operators and establish a legitimate compensation system by improving the lease contract structure. This is to resolve additional work by operators and additional cost burdens on subcontractors caused by the difference between the tower crane lease contract parties (prime contractor - leasing company) and the work instruction party (subcontractor). Accordingly, MOLIT explained that the cost burden party will be unified to the prime contractor, and a work instruction system between parties will be established.

At the same time, regulations on hiring foreign workers that do not fit construction site conditions will be revised. Currently, after working for 4 years and 10 months, workers must leave the country and face a 6-month waiting period before re-entry, which will be shortened to 1 month. When illegal employment is detected, employment restriction measures will be limited to the relevant business site instead of all business sites.

Regarding strengthened sanctions, amendments will be made to the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, the Construction Machinery Management Act, and the Employment Procedures Act. The amendments will introduce reward payments for reporting and establish grounds for punishment for obstruction of construction, solicitation or acceptance of bribes, refusal of transportation, etc. The amendment bill is scheduled to be proposed within this month.

To prevent illegal subcontracting, the electronic card system currently introduced at some sites will be expanded to all public and private construction projects. For public projects, the application threshold will be lowered from KRW 5 billion to KRW 100 million, and for private projects, from KRW 10 billion to KRW 5 billion. The payment system, which is mandatory for public projects, will be gradually mandated for private projects starting from the second half of next year. For sites that adopt this system, the subcontract payment guarantee fee will be reduced from the current 30% to up to 50%.

Furthermore, a standard labor contract will be introduced to ensure formal labor contracts between construction companies and team leaders, and between construction companies and team members. Until now, only subcontract contracts have been signed between construction companies and team leaders, and team members (construction workers) with unclear labor contracts have been exposed to low wages and wage arrears.

The party and government judged that the reason illegal subcontracting problems persist is that the expected profits from reducing construction costs exceed the current penalty levels. Therefore, they will impose subcontract management obligations on clients and prime contractors and strengthen penalties for illegal subcontracting. Related bills will be proposed within the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, MOLIT has been continuing joint inspections with the prosecution and police on violations of tower crane operators' duty of diligence. Of the 26 unfair acts detected in recent special inspections, procedures for qualification suspension such as hearings have been initiated, and warning procedures have started for 18 minor cases. Intensive crackdowns on forced employment and illegal labor relations will continue until June, and on 437 suspected illegal subcontracting sites until August.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong said, "Some construction companies are still entrenched in the wrong perception and practice that 'money can be made as long as orders are secured' and 'construction can be done according to the budget,' and construction unions have been accepting unfair money under the pretext of illegal acts by construction companies. Through this civil-party-government meeting, we will establish legal order at construction sites and return unfair profits from construction work sites to the public and construction workers."

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