Seoul City Conducts Training to Eliminate Construction Cost Realism Regulations... "Helps Resolve Difficulties"

On the 6th of last month, officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Electrical Contractors Association held a meeting. Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government

On the 11th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will begin follow-up measures such as education and consulting regarding the deregulation plan aimed at realizing construction costs.

Earlier, on the 10th of last month, the city announced Deregulation Plan No. 14, which focuses on "reflecting appropriate construction costs considering the characteristics of urban areas." Reflecting the voices of the construction industry struggling with rising material and labor costs, the city is promoting the realization of public construction costs by strengthening the application of surcharges for small-scale construction and urban area characteristics.

Additionally, the city plans to abolish the convention of only including the labor costs of traffic controllers at construction sites in construction costs and to include statutory insurance fees such as industrial accident and employment insurance premiums, under the initiative "Inclusion of legal expenses such as traffic controller insurance fees." This is Deregulation Plan No. 15, and Seoul plans to provide customized education and consulting from the design stage to ensure that statutory expenses are not omitted from construction costs, in cooperation with autonomous district offices and business sites.

To prepare specific measures for calculating appropriate construction costs, including Deregulation Plans No. 14 and 15, the city listened to opinions on overall construction work starting with the Korea Fire Protection Association on the 5th of last month. They also met with practitioners from the Korea Electrical Contractors Association, Korea Mechanical Equipment Construction Association, Korea Construction Association, and Korea Specialty Contractors Association.

The construction industry requested recognition of appropriate unit prices such as surcharges for night work time restrictions and realistic prices for construction materials, as well as support for "construction cost calculation education."

In response, the city decided to conduct "on-site cost calculation education" starting mid-month for 10 small businesses urgently needing education and consulting, with three experts visiting directly in cooperation with the Korea Mechanical Equipment Construction Association.

The education will focus on determining whether design changes are required based on construction statements, calculating appropriate unit prices, applying small-scale surcharges, and basic knowledge of construction contracts. Additional education and consulting tailored to each company's characteristics will also be provided.

Through on-site education and consulting, the city plans to enhance the construction industry's understanding of contract-related regulations and cost calculations while promptly listening to difficulties in the field to reflect them in system improvements and policies. Furthermore, for companies that wish, education will continue using facilities such as related association training centers.

Lee Hye-kyung, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Finance Bureau, stated, "We expect that customized education and consulting will help resolve difficulties related to construction costs for small and medium-sized construction companies," adding, "Going forward, the city will continue to expand policies for targeted remedies to revive the construction industry facing a crisis and for the realization of public construction costs."