Seoul City Decides Administrative Action Before Ministry of Land
One-Month Business Suspension for Poor Quality Management
Additional Explanation on 'Safety Inspection Negligence' to Be Heard, March Action Planned
Seoul City has imposed a 'one-month business suspension' administrative sanction on the construction company GS Engineering & Construction (GS E&C) in connection with the underground parking lot collapse accident at an apartment complex in Geomdan, Incheon.
On the 31st, Seoul City announced that it had imposed a one-month business suspension on GS E&C starting from March 1 for violating the Framework Act on the Construction Industry. The suspension is due to inadequate quality management.
According to Article 82, Paragraph 1, Item 6 of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, its enforcement decree, and Article 55 of the Construction Technology Promotion Act, a one-month business suspension can be imposed if quality tests or inspections are not conducted faithfully.
This is the first administrative sanction decision regarding the underground parking lot collapse accident that occurred last April at the construction sites of blocks AA13-1 (Section 5) and AA13-2 (Section 6) in Geomdan, Incheon, constructed by GS E&C.
Seoul City explained, "We determined that GS E&C, as the construction company, caused poor construction related to this underground parking lot collapse accident by failing to faithfully conduct quality tests or inspections, and thus decided on this administrative sanction," adding, "Through this sanction, we aim to raise awareness about negligent quality and construction management and other improper practices at construction sites."
The city plans to conduct a hearing in March regarding the business suspension related to 'insincere safety inspections' and will review the violation facts before taking additional measures.
Previously, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) requested Seoul City to impose business suspensions for two cases: 'insincere quality test implementation' (one month) and 'insincere safety inspection performance' (one month).
During the business suspension period, GS E&C is prohibited from all business activities conducted as a construction company, including bidding participation. However, construction projects for which contracts were signed before the administrative sanction or projects that have received permits and started construction according to relevant laws may continue.
Kim Seong-bo, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Office of Seoul City, stated, "We will hold construction companies strictly accountable for failing to faithfully conduct quality tests to prevent recurrence of poor construction that can cause casualties and property damage," and added, "We plan to do our best to improve the low safety awareness of construction companies and negligent construction management practices at sites to prevent construction accidents."
Last August, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, under former Minister Won Hee-ryong's authority, decided on an eight-month business suspension for GS E&C, with the final decision pending from the Administrative Sanction Review Committee. The committee, composed of legal experts, academics, and construction industry personnel, conducted GS E&C's hearing procedures by the end of last year.
At that time, MOLIT emphasized a 'zero tolerance' policy toward the party responsible for the accident and imposed the highest-level administrative sanction of an eight-month business suspension for poor construction. Following the collapse accident at the I-Park apartment in Hwajeong-dong, Gwangju, MOLIT amended the enforcement decree of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry to allow the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to handle the level and procedures of administrative sanctions such as business suspensions.
Although GS E&C has decided to completely reconstruct the Geomdan apartment complex, it is known that this is unlikely to be reflected as a mitigating factor in MOLIT's sanction decision. The enforcement decree of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry specifies that a one-month reduction can be applied if there have been no sanctions for three years. GS E&C is expected to initiate legal procedures such as filing for a provisional injunction to suspend execution and administrative litigation to cancel the administrative sanctions as soon as MOLIT and Seoul City announce their decisions.
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