Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 47 Companies Involved in Illegal Distribution and Installation of Uncertified Firefighting Equipment

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of illegal manufacturers, sellers, and installers of fire safety equipment who produced and distributed unapproved support brackets for simplified escape devices.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit announced on the 17th that from October 4 to December 3, they investigated fire safety equipment (simplified escape devices, simplified fire extinguishers, emergency lights, etc.) installed in 100 lodging facilities such as officetels and urban-style residential housing completed or renovated within the last five years in the province. As a result, they identified 47 companies violating fire safety laws, including six manufacturers and sellers of unapproved simplified escape device support brackets and 41 companies involved in illegal installation and supervision.

The companies caught were found to have manufactured simplified escape devices that had received type approval but distributed them packaged together with only a single-anchor bolt fixed support bracket instead of the required four or more anchor bolts specified in the technical standards.

Investigations into other fire safety equipment, excluding the simplified escape device support brackets, showed relatively good use of approved products.

Among the major violations, manufacturer Company A was caught selling 8,441 simplified escape devices over two years starting in 2019, along with single-anchor bolt fixed support brackets that were not approved products.

Installation Company B installed 436 unapproved simplified escape device support brackets in 218 hotel rooms during fire safety construction, and another installation Company C installed 46 such unapproved brackets in 23 hotel rooms.

Notably, some single-anchor bolt fixed anchor bolts used as simplified escape device support brackets in certain lodging facilities showed issues such as ▲ring loosening ▲anchor bending ▲wall cracks, making it difficult to guarantee safety as support brackets for simplified escape devices.

Simplified escape devices and their support brackets are very important fire safety equipment that help users escape during a fire.

According to the current "Fire Prevention, Installation, Maintenance, and Safety Management of Fire Facilities Act," products must be manufactured, sold, and installed only after receiving type approval and product inspection from the Korea Fire Industry Technology Institute.

In particular, the support brackets were revised in 2012 to require "fixing with four or more anchor bolts and using type-approved products capable of withstanding loads of 150 kg or more" for safety.

Selling or using unapproved fire safety equipment without type approval and product inspection in fire safety construction is punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW under the "Fire Facilities Act." Additionally, supervisors who fail to review the material suitability of fire safety equipment face up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 10 million KRW under the "Fire Facilities Construction Business Act."

The provincial special judicial police plan to order correction through the local fire stations to fix illegally installed simplified escape device support brackets with four or more anchor bolts that have received type approval.

Yoon Tae-wan, head of the provincial special judicial police unit, stated, "Although nine years have passed since the law was amended for the safety of simplified escape device support brackets, unapproved fire safety equipment installation is still widespread on site. If fire safety equipment installed in places closely related to citizens' lives is unapproved and cannot guarantee safety, the damage will directly affect the users. We will continue investigations until illegal acts threatening residents' safety are eradicated."