"Ensuring Citizen Safety" ... Changwon Special City Conducts Comprehensive Survey of Apartment Complex Safety Management

Strengthening Safety Management for Aging Apartment Complexes

Changwon Special City in South Gyeongsang Province will conduct a comprehensive inspection of the safety management status of aging apartment complexes within its jurisdiction through an "Apartment Complex Safety Management Status Survey."

Changwon Special City Hall.

This full-scale survey is a proactive measure to address concerns about aging apartment complexes and potential safety accidents. It will cover all 977 apartment complexes in the city. Of these, 494 complexes (over 50%) are more than 30 years old, and the city plans to focus on inspecting the safety management status and safety grades of 186 non-mandatory management apartment complexes that are more than 40 years old.

According to the "Apartment Complex Management Act," apartment complexes with fewer than 300 units, or fewer than 150 units with central heating and elevators, are not subject to mandatory safety inspections. However, if such complexes are designated as Category 3 facilities under the "Special Act on the Safety Control and Maintenance of Facilities," they must undergo regular safety inspections twice a year. The "Building Management Act" stipulates that apartment complexes with a total floor area of 3,000 square meters or more, and over five years old, must undergo a regular inspection once every three years.

In particular, the "Special Act on the Safety Control and Maintenance of Facilities" requires two to three or more regular safety inspections per year, depending on the safety grade of the facility. These inspections are carried out by experienced and skilled experts who assess the functional status of the facility through visual checks to confirm whether it continues to meet current usage requirements.

Although regular inspections of apartment facilities are necessary to ensure resident safety, current laws do not designate some complexes as mandatory inspection targets. As a result, some complexes fall into safety management blind spots due to the burden of inspection and repair costs. To address this gap, Changwon City is implementing various support programs and plans to propose institutional improvements, including amendments to related laws.

The Small-Scale Apartment Complex Safety Inspection Support Project assists with safety inspections of hazardous facilities such as retaining walls, septic tanks, and sewers within apartment complexes, as well as inspections of parking lots, senior centers, and children's playgrounds.

Through the Small-Scale Apartment Complex Management Support Project, the city provides up to 20 million won per complex for the improvement of aging communal facilities and has allocated a total project budget of 900 million won, which is being implemented alongside other apartment complex management support programs.

The Free Safety Inspection Project for Small-Scale Aging Buildings accepts applications year-round for buildings over 30 years old that require safety inspections after self-assessment using an autonomous safety checklist. Inspections are conducted in the first half (April to May) and second half (October to November) of the year.

Lee Jaekwang, Director of Urban Policy, stated, "Apartment complexes are living spaces directly connected to the daily lives of citizens, so safety management is of utmost importance. We will actively implement support policies for the safety management of aging small-scale apartment complexes and create a safe residential environment for citizens by improving systems to expand the scope of safety inspections."

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