Zero Defective Construction... Seoul City Implements Measures to Strengthen Structural Safety of Buildings

Verification by the City Required for Design Changes After Construction Start

Seoul City is taking steps to strengthen the structural safety of private buildings to eradicate poor-quality construction. If there is a design change after the start of construction, the city must verify its appropriateness.

On the 23rd, the city announced the "Structural Safety Expert Committee (Building Committee) Review and Operation Standards" containing these details. This is a follow-up measure to the Seoul-type Construction Innovation Plan "Zero Poor-Quality Construction Seoul" announced last November, and will be fully implemented from the 1st of next month.

The applicable targets are buildings with a total floor area of 100,000㎡ or more, buildings with 21 floors or more, or buildings constructed by projects established by the city.

First, a "Structural Change Review Standard" will be newly established. When major structural parts of a building change due to design modifications after construction begins, the city or the district's structural safety expert committee will verify the structural safety and appropriateness. The scope of changes subject to review, such as changes in materials, construction methods, and foundation types, will be clarified, and the review will be conducted including existing committee members. Minor changes will be handled through consultation or written review by the district's structural safety expert committee.

Compliance with review comments will be verified afterward. If the permit authority such as the district or the project management department requests, the city will provide support. The city’s structural safety expert committee will comprehensively verify whether the comments have been reflected and any additional structural changes according to site conditions. On-site visits will be conducted if necessary.

A pre-review checklist will also be provided. This is to allow project operators to check the submitted review materials and self-assess the appropriateness of the applied standards for structural analysis. Essential review items such as the appropriateness of design loads and importance grades, and compliance with material standard strength will be provided to help review the adequacy of the review documents. Additionally, information on the timing and duration of the review will be provided to help building owners plan their project schedules.

The Structural Safety Expert Committee review and operation standards can be found on the Seoul City website.

Han Byung-yong, Director of the Seoul City Housing Policy Office, said, “Private construction projects have very poor conditions in design, site management, and client capabilities compared to public construction projects, so more active management and support were necessary. Establishing structural safety review operation standards builds a system to verify structural safety at all stages of private construction projects, and through continuous institutional improvements in the future, we will strengthen safety management at construction sites.”