Assemblyman Park Seok Urges Improvement of Systems to Create Safe and Comfortable Residential Environments

Inspection of Improvement Status for Fire Doors, Underground Parking, and Exterior Wall Windows in the First Half of the Term

Park Seok, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (People Power Party, Dobong 3), reviewed the response status to the issues he had requested improvements on as a member of the Housing Space Committee for two years during the Seoul City Housing Policy Office's work report on the 17th.

Last year, through a city administration question session, Councilor Park proposed improvements to the law to ensure fire doors are replaced at appropriate intervals and requested the establishment of standards at the Seoul city level.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted a legislative notice until the 11th regarding the amendment of the Enforcement Rules of the Apartment Housing Management Act, which newly establishes fire doors and other evacuation facilities and equipment as items for setting repair cycle standards, following repeated damages caused by apartment fires.

Councilor Park urged the Ministry of Land to promptly apply the revised regulations on-site, as they are currently promoting the establishment of a 15-year repair cycle for fire doors.

He also emphasized that the Housing Policy Office should meticulously manage the ceiling height of underground parking lots in apartment complexes, related to the proactive creation of underground parking environments, which was pointed out during the administrative audit.

Councilor Park stated, “In April, a fatal accident caused by a delivery vehicle occurred on the ground level of a park-type apartment. The Ministry of Land’s investigation confirmed that the underground parking lot ceiling height of the complex was below the legal height standard of 2.7 meters.” He added, “To prevent such tragic accidents, the Seoul city government must proactively reflect lifestyle changes and ensure underground parking lots are constructed accordingly.”

Finally, he called for the establishment of fire resistance performance standards for exterior wall windows to prevent vertical fire spread in apartments and other multi-family housing.

Councilor Park welcomed the Ministry of Land’s legislative notice to revise ‘fire-resistant glass windows’ to ‘fire-resistant glass window frames’ and to require the use of ‘window frames and glass’ that have passed fire resistance tests when buildings are within 1.5 meters of each other. However, he argued, “Since the fire resistance performance standards for exterior wall windows to prevent vertical fire spread remain insufficient, the Seoul city government should establish related standards at the city level.”