GS Engineering & Construction Fails to Install Accessibility Ramps in Apartment Complex... Court Rules "Construction Company's Responsibility"

"Accessibility for People with Disabilities Must Be Ensured"

The court has ruled that failing to install an accessibility ramp for people with disabilities at the entrance of certain buildings within an apartment complex constitutes a construction defect.

According to the legal community on October 3, the Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Ko Eunseol) recently ruled against GS Engineering & Construction in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a defect determination made by the Defect Review and Dispute Mediation Committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

GS Engineering & Construction built a townhouse complex consisting of 20 buildings and 178 households. However, one of the buildings did not have a ramp connecting the main entrance to the parking lot and the road. The Dispute Mediation Committee determined this was a defect, stating that it did not meet the standards set by the Act on the Promotion of Convenience for Persons with Disabilities, and GS Engineering & Construction filed a lawsuit claiming that installation was not required.

GS Engineering & Construction argued that ▲ the obligation to install a ramp in a townhouse should be determined based on the number of households in each individual building, and since the building in question has only 8 households, it is not subject to the requirement; ▲ the entrance is connected to the underground parking lot with no level difference, so a ramp is unnecessary; and ▲ the absence of a ramp is a design flaw, not the responsibility of the construction company.

However, the court stated, "When multiple townhouses are built on a single site, the obligation should be determined by the total number of households, not by each individual building," and "The standard of 10 or more households should be applied to the entire complex, not to individual buildings." The court further explained, "Accessibility for people with disabilities must be ensured up to the ground floor where the actual households are located, so the main entrance should also be assessed based on the ground level," thus rejecting the argument based on the parking lot connection.

The court also noted, "The contractor, as a professional, is obligated to deliver a defect-free finished product, and even if there were issues with the design drawings, appropriate opinions should have been provided."