Seoul City Develops First 'Equipment Construction Cost Estimation Guide'... Preventing Design Errors and Saving Budget

Development of Two Manuals: 'Standard Electrical Construction Unit Price Commentary' and 'Automatic Control Equipment Commentary' Consolidating Equipment Construction Design Expertise
Expected Annual Budget Savings of 5.5 Billion KRW by Preventing Overdesign and Unit Price Application Errors

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 15th, Seoul City announced that it has developed and begun distributing the first domestic explanatory guide for the standard unit price, which serves as the basis for calculating labor costs in mechanical, maintenance, and other equipment construction project costs.

The newly developed equipment sector explanatory guides, the "Electrical Construction Standard Unit Price Explanatory Guide" and the "Automatic Control Equipment Explanatory Guide," are expected to resolve difficulties at construction sites, contribute to improving the safety of public buildings constructed by the city, and prevent budget waste by fundamentally blocking excessive design possibilities. According to Seoul City, the amount saved through contract reviews of electrical construction projects over 300 million KRW last year was 27 billion KRW, and it is estimated that an additional approximately 5.5 billion KRW can be saved annually in projects under 300 million KRW.

To develop the explanatory guides for equipment sector unit prices, the city established a governance structure involving related associations, design specialist organizations, and construction companies. Over four months, they developed the guides through research on relevant regulations, related books, drawings, and expert consultations to cover standard unit price regulations, design procedures, installation cases of equipment construction materials, and design surveys in the equipment sector.

In particular, to facilitate designers' understanding, the guides are structured to include detailed descriptions of the purpose, images, and installation photos of construction materials, as well as examples of cost calculations, enabling even those with limited construction experience to calculate construction costs without difficulty. Furthermore, by providing precise explanations and standards for previously unclear unit prices, it is expected to eliminate discord caused by over- or underestimation of construction costs.

Lee Byung-han, Director of the Finance Bureau, stated, "The standard unit price explanatory guides prepared by Seoul City this time are expected to not only prevent unnecessary budget waste by preemptively blocking excessive design in equipment construction but also achieve significant national budget savings through nationwide distribution as domestic standard explanatory guides." He added, "We will continue to strive to devise various measures to reduce construction costs, ensuring appropriate cost calculation and improving quality."