Building Permits Can Be Canceled If Safety Standards Are Not Met or Accidents Occur During Construction in Gyeonggi Province

[Suwon Ilbo=Park Nohoon] Starting from now, if construction projects in the Gyeonggi region fail to comply with safety standards prepared by Gyeonggi Province and accidents occur during construction, building permits can be canceled.

The province has prepared a 'Standard for Building Permit Conditions Related to Safety Standards' that requires relevant cities and counties to include safety standards in permit conditions when issuing building permits, and announced on the 28th that it will be implemented starting next month.

This measure comes in response to the continuing occurrence of construction site safety accidents. While each city and county previously had safety standards, some cases did not include the implementation of safety standards as conditions for building permits.

The province plans to include safety standard compliance conditions in building permit conditions across all cities and counties, thereby raising safety awareness among developers and strengthening the commitment to practice safety standards at construction sites.

To this end, the province identified all current permit conditions in the relevant cities and counties in June, reviewed related laws and regulations, derived optimal measures, and then prepared this standard through consultations and expert advice from cities and counties, relevant provincial departments, Gyeonggi Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in August, and related experts in July.

The standard for building permit conditions is divided into general matters, precautions before construction commencement, and precautions during construction, and was designed to be applicable to each city and county according to their ordinances, standards, and construction site circumstances in advance consultation with Gyeonggi Province.

In general matters, the province imposes on developers, contractors, and supervisors the obligation to comply with permit conditions, and allows administrative measures such as cancellation of building permits and suspension of construction in accordance with relevant laws including the Building Act when permit conditions are violated or safety accidents occur during construction. It also includes a condition that active cooperation must be provided when Gyeonggi Province's occupational safety inspectors enter the site.

Precautions before construction commencement include nine conditions such as ▲submission of a safety management plan ▲placement of a safety manager ▲implementation of disaster prevention technical guidance contracts, and precautions during construction include eleven conditions such as ▲fire prevention safety measures during welding and cutting work ▲use of smart safety equipment ▲precautions in heavy equipment operation.

The province plans to review and update the standard for building permit conditions related to safety standards annually to align with reality in preparation for frequent amendments and new establishment of safety-related regulations.

A provincial official stated, "Construction-related parties must maintain a sense of responsibility until the end in preventing recurrence of safety accidents for safety accidents to be eliminated," and "The safety standards-related building permit conditions standard prepared by the province this time is expected to play a major role in preventing safety accidents."