Seoul City Launches Emergency Inspection of Apartment Elevator Safety Conditions

Seoul City will deploy an elevator inspection team to conduct an urgent safety inspection of elevators in apartment complexes within the region.

On the 5th, the city announced that it will inspect the implementation status of seven safety devices on 1,489 apartment elevators installed between 1996 and 1998 until the 15th. This measure follows recent notifications of operation bans issued to many apartment complexes due to failure to install elevator safety devices.

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According to the Elevator Safety Management Act, elevators that have been installed for more than 15 years must undergo a detailed safety inspection every three years. Elevators that fail the safety inspection must have an "Operation Stopped" sign attached. Failure to attach the sign or managing it in a way that causes damage will result in a fine of up to 3 million won.

In this inspection, the city plans to form an inspection team together with the Korea Elevator Safety Agency and elevator maintenance companies to check whether seven safety devices, including child finger entrapment prevention devices, automatic rescue operation devices, and fall prevention devices, are installed. For apartments without these devices, the city will focus on promoting and guiding the installation of safety devices.

Since 2022, the city has formed a 50-member elevator inspection team and has been conducting annual elevator safety management inspections. In the second half of this year, elevators installed between 1999 and 2003 will be inspected, and inspections targeting elevators installed over 21 years ago will be conducted annually.

Han Byung-yong, Director of Housing Policy at Seoul City, said, “Seoul City will make every effort to manage apartment elevator safety through regular elevator inspections to prevent inconvenience to citizens caused by elevator operation stoppages.”

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