Gyeonggi Province will subsidize part of the fire safety construction costs, such as installing sprinklers, in fire-vulnerable buildings this year.
On the 11th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it will invest a total of 1 billion KRW to promote the ‘Existing Building Fire Safety Performance Enhancement Support Project’ targeting 38 buildings in the province.
The main support projects include exterior material replacement, sprinkler installation, and fire door installation. Each building can receive a subsidy of up to 26,666,000 KRW, with the national government, Gyeonggi Province, and city/county governments sharing the costs at 50%, 15%, and 35%, respectively.
The project targets existing buildings mandated to enhance fire safety performance under the ‘Building Management Act’ enforced in May 2020, including ▲facilities for vulnerable evacuees such as daycare centers and local children’s centers, as well as certain multi-use establishments like academies (buildings with a total floor area under 1,000㎡ and pilotis parking on the first floor) ▲buildings with three or more floors ▲buildings with combustible exterior materials and no sprinkler installation.
For buildings subject to mandatory fire safety performance enhancement, the Building Management Act requires completion of the fire safety performance upgrades by the end of this year. Failure to comply, resulting in public danger, may lead to imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to 100 million KRW.
Applications for the project can be submitted through the LH Building Management Support Center, which will review the application and establish an enhancement plan to be submitted to the relevant city or county government.
Park Jong-geun, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Architectural Policy Division, stated, "We will strive to prevent any harm to residents caused by fires through supporting fire safety performance enhancements in existing buildings."
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