Gwangju City Launches Nation's First 'Construction Quality Innovation Planning Team'

Gwangju Metropolitan City is the first in the nation to establish and operate a private expert-led “Public-Private Joint Construction Quality Innovation Planning Group.”

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Comprehensive Construction Headquarters has formed the private expert-led cooperative governance model “Public-Private Joint Quality Innovation Planning Group” to monitor quality management issues in construction projects, discuss the advancement of quality management technology and capacity building, as well as institutional improvements and policies. The inaugural meeting will be held along with the launch ceremony on the 14th.

The Gwangju Comprehensive Construction Headquarters noted that despite significant economic and social losses caused by quality management problems in construction projects, there had been no dedicated organization where construction companies, quality testing agencies, licensing authorities, and project owners could discuss and communicate issues and improvement measures regarding quality management. This led to the conception of the “Quality Innovation Planning Group.”

The Quality Innovation Planning Group consists of a total of 32 members: 19 expert committee members from the Korea Construction Quality Technology Society and the Korea Construction Safety Society, and 13 experts from quality testing agencies such as the Gwangju Comprehensive Construction Headquarters and the Korea Rural Community Corporation. In particular, the private experts hold master’s and doctoral degrees as well as national technical qualifications such as professional engineer licenses, and possess extensive field experience and top-level technical skills in civil engineering and architecture fields including quality, safety, and construction.

The chairman is Choi Myung-gi, vice president of the Korea Construction Quality Technology Society and the Korea Construction Safety Society, and the support group leader is Yeo Kwon-young, CEO of Korea Testing & Research Institute Co., Ltd.

The Quality Innovation Planning Group will hold regular quarterly meetings to strengthen the capabilities of technical public officials from licensing authorities and project owners, as well as construction site technicians, and propose regionally tailored quality management policies to contribute to the advancement of quality management technology in local construction projects.

The Quality Innovation Planning Group is divided into four subcommittees (Planning, Execution, Evaluation, and Institutional Improvement) and plans to ▲ promote workshops, forums, and education for training quality experts ▲ conduct handbooks and campaigns to improve quality management ▲ perform on-site quality inspections and select outstanding sites for evaluation ▲ propose improvements to quality management laws and systems ▲ develop and distribute customized smart quality management systems ▲ establish support systems for project owners, licensing authorities, and subordinate organizations such as city and district offices.

Gwangju City has allocated funds in this year’s main budget for advisory fees and equipment such as concrete non-destructive testing devices (including rebar detectors) that can immediately check safety levels on site to support the effective operation of the “Public-Private Joint Quality Innovation Planning Group.”

Chairman Choi Myung-gi of the Quality Innovation Planning Group stated, “Quality management in construction projects cannot improve unless the awareness of project owners, construction site personnel, and public officials changes. I will do my best to serve as a catalyst for improving related laws and systems together with the nation’s top technical experts.”

Park Sang-baek, head of the Gwangju Comprehensive Construction Headquarters, said, “We have been encouraging sound construction through annual verification of quality management appropriateness at large construction sites and on-site mobile team inspections. We will continue to strive for more systematic and comprehensive quality improvement in construction projects together with the Public-Private Joint Quality Innovation Planning Group.”

The Gwangju Comprehensive Construction Headquarters, through demand surveys from licensing authorities and project owners, has been verifying and inspecting the appropriateness of quality management and operating on-site mobile teams for civil engineering projects with a total construction cost of 500 million KRW or more and architectural projects with a total floor area of 660㎡ or more, which are subject to quality management (testing) plans according to relevant laws and regulations. Last year, it guided and inspected about 150 sites.

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