Fire Agency Announces This Year's Standard Unit Prices for Firefighting Construction

6 Enacted, 49 Amended

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 10th that it has published the '2023 Standard Unit Price for Firefighting Construction.'

The 'Standard Unit Price for Firefighting Construction' is a standard for calculating appropriate estimated prices for the amount of materials, labor, and equipment usage time required per unit task in firefighting facility construction projects carried out by the government and other public institutions. Since its first establishment in 2019, the managing organization, the 'Korea Fire Protection Association,' has revised and amended it annually based on demand surveys and other inputs.

This year, including parts applied from other fields, a total of six items were newly established: ▲Safety-related signal personnel, ▲Simple sprinkler package type (simple automatic water sprinkler package), ▲Test valve box, ▲Automatic fire alarm system, ▲Elevator-type evacuation device, and △Completion cleaning, while 49 items were revised.

'Safety-related signal personnel' refers to various signal personnel deployed for safety during construction, included to reflect costs necessary for safety, such as legally mandated personnel costs, to ensure safety measures for preventing major disasters.

The 'Simple sprinkler package type' was established considering the increasing demand for simple sprinkler installation in multi-use facilities such as goshiwon (small lodging houses), hospitals, and facilities for the elderly and disabled, allowing it to be priced as a cabinet-type (built-in) sprinkler installation item.

The 'Elevator-type evacuation device' has also been newly added as a wire rope method non-powered elevator-type evacuation device, which is widely installed in apartment complexes.

Additionally, previously, pipe workers handling high-pressure piping (carbon steel pipes for pressure piping) or equivalent or higher-grade piping were paid the same labor costs as general pipe workers despite working in more dangerous and difficult environments. From this year, the 'plant pipe worker' category has been applied to reasonably guarantee construction costs.

The status of the 2023 revisions and amendments to the Standard Unit Price for Firefighting Construction can be checked on the Korea Fire Protection Association website's notice board.

Baek Deok-gon, Director of the Equipment Technology Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, "The Standard Unit Price for Firefighting Construction is revised and amended through the entire process from demand discovery to investigation, analysis, and review by collecting opinions from various experts and stakeholders to enhance fairness and objectivity," adding, "We will strive to ensure it is actively utilized as a more transparent and reliable basic resource in the future."