Gyeonggi Province Fire Department Reports 3.9% Deficiency Rate Among Fire Safety Companies and Construction Sites

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Fire safety companies and construction sites in Gyeonggi Province that installed fire safety systems without licenses or failed to deploy responsible fire safety engineers on-site remain problematic.

According to the Gyeonggi Province Fire Department on the 16th, the department conducted intensive inspections over a nine-month period from February through October of this year on a total of 3,708 facilities, including 2,279 fire safety companies and 1,429 construction sites, to eliminate poor workmanship and supervision in fire safety construction projects.

The inspections focused on compliance with regulations including fire safety business registration standards, dual employment of technical personnel, deployment of technical staff at construction sites, and illegal activities during fire safety facility construction and supervision.

As a result, 76 out of 2,279 fire safety companies and 70 out of 1,429 construction sites—a total of 146 out of 3,708 facilities or 3.9%—were rated as deficient.

The Gyeonggi Province Fire Department took administrative action on 258 cases, including criminal referrals for 42 cases, administrative fines for 117 cases, and administrative sanctions for 99 cases (84 warnings, 14 business suspensions, and 1 license revocation).

Notable violation cases include Fire Safety Company A, which was referred for prosecution after being caught fabricating documents by borrowing fire safety engineer credentials to falsely appear as if engineers were employed. Company B received an administrative fine of 2 million won for failing to report changes in registration information within 30 days when changing technical personnel.

Construction Site C was referred for prosecution after being caught performing fire safety installation work without a business license and operating unlicensed. Construction Site D received an administrative fine of 2 million won for failing to deploy a responsible fire safety engineer on-site.

An official from the Gyeonggi Province Fire Department stated, "We plan to continuously conduct guidance and supervision of fire safety companies to completely eliminate poor workmanship and supervision in fire safety construction," and added, "We will propose system improvements to the National Fire Agency and others to prevent poor workmanship and supervision by fire safety companies."