Seoul City Shortens Major Accident Construction Company Sanctions to Within 6 Months... Forms Rapid Disposition TF

Reduction of Disposition Period from 20 Months to 6 Months
Establishment and Operation of 'General Construction Business Administrative Disposition Deliberation Committee' to Ensure Disposition Reliability

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 20th that it will shorten the administrative disposition period for serious accident cases, such as the recent apartment construction site collapse accident in Gwangju Metropolitan City, to within six months and will handle the dispositions promptly.

While it has generally taken about six months on average to process cases where violations of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry are easily confirmed, serious accident cases have taken more than 20 months from the request date for disposition due to disagreements among accident-related parties over culpability for the accident, resulting in dispositions being made only after a court ruling (first trial).

Seoul City will form and operate a rapid disposition task force (TF) that includes lawyers and technical experts according to the type of accident when an external agency requests disposition against construction companies involved in serious accidents. Until now, the lack of expertise during the fact-finding process has delayed dispositions, but with experts participating in the TF, it is expected that the facts of the accident will be clarified more quickly and accurately than before.

Seoul City plans to secure fairness and reliability in administrative dispositions by operating the ‘Seoul City General Construction Business Administrative Disposition Deliberation Committee.’ The disposition deliberation committee will be composed of about 11 members, including construction field experts, technical and legal professionals, and internal members, and will decide on dispositions and whether to apply mitigation based on the facts investigated by the rapid disposition TF and the opinions of the accused companies.

Seoul City judges that the current delays in administrative dispositions occur because the investigation authority and disposition authority for serious accidents are separated, and thus proposes revising the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry to unify these authorities. This is intended to eliminate unnecessary time waste and disposition delays, such as preliminary investigations of serious accidents, by unifying the investigation and disposition authorities. Additionally, as construction site accidents become more segmented, Seoul City plans to secure experts with investigation experience and legal knowledge to strengthen the professionalism and capability of dispositions.

Han Je-hyun, Director of the Safety General Office, said, “When serious accidents occur, we will hold construction companies promptly and strictly accountable to raise awareness in the construction industry and enable construction operators to pay more attention to safety measures on site, thereby preventing the recurrence of construction accidents.”