Seoul City Building Ordinance Revised and Enforced on the 20th... Installation Made More Convenient and Time Drastically Reduced to 2-3 Days
On the 11th, inside the security office of an apartment in Ui-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, where a security guard took his own life, claiming to be 'unfairly treated.' Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has amended the building ordinance to ease unreasonable regulations related to the installation of air conditioners in apartment management offices and significantly simplify the procedures. Until now, installing air conditioners in apartment security offices was subject to building permits and notifications, restricted by building floor area, building coverage ratio, and floor area ratio. As a result, installing air conditioners was classified as illegal extension, requiring annual fines.
On the 18th, Seoul announced that it amended the "Seoul Metropolitan Building Ordinance" with these changes and will enforce it immediately upon promulgation on the 20th. Through the ordinance revision, Seoul included rest and security facilities within apartment complexes as targets for temporary building construction notification. This measure was taken based on the judgment that although installing air conditioners in management offices is directly related to the human rights of workers within apartment complexes, excessive regulations and complicated procedures had been applied.
With this ordinance amendment, from now on, small-scale apartment management offices under 30㎡ can install air conditioners without approval procedures by simply submitting a "temporary building construction notification." Additionally, the previously complex and multi-step installation procedures will be greatly simplified. Seoul expects that the installation process will become more convenient and the time required for facility installation will be drastically reduced from at least one month to 2-3 days due to the streamlined procedures.
Kim Seong-bo, Head of the Housing and Architecture Headquarters of Seoul, explained, “Seoul has amended the ordinance to include rest and security facilities within apartment complexes as targets for 'temporary building construction notification' to improve the working environment of workers in apartment complexes. By easing existing unreasonable regulations, it has become easier to install rest and security facilities, and the previously complicated procedures have been simplified. We expect this to promote the improvement of the poor working conditions of apartment management workers.”
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