In January 2022, an apartment building under construction in Gwangju collapsed, killing six workers. In addition, in April 2023, an underground parking lot collapsed in Incheon. After that, big and small incidents continued. Earlier this year, a problem occurred in a rental apartment in Chungju. After the move-in began, abnormal construction completion was detected in some households, such as wallpaper being torn or steel frames being exposed. The transformation of a home, intended as a secure and safe place, into a hazardous environment has raised important questions. Why do these poor construction cases continue to occur?
Suspicions spread quickly online in a Korean community that apartments built between 2020 and 2021 were poorly constructed due to a lack of rebar and rising costs. According to Statistics Korea, domestic rebar production, a major construction material, exceeded 10 million tons in 2018 but decreased significantly to 9.4 million tons in 2019 and 9.4 million tons in 2020. On top of that, due to COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War, transportation and material costs have risen, causing the schedule management plan to be inconsistent. As a result, companies face issues, including using non-genuine materials or omitting materials to meet construction and material costs.
Poor construction cases will persist if they fail to address these issues. Therefore, on August 2, the government devised a plan to compensate residents of substandard apartments ordered by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and grant the right to terminate the contract to those scheduled to move in. In addition, apartments ordered by LH and private apartments will be inspected for poor construction by the end of September. A noteworthy development involves the introduction of a ‘one-strike-out’ policy targeting companies responsible for deficient construction. This policy aims to prevent LH from engaging such entities in future projects.
Based on the results of the comprehensive investigations, the government plans to undertake reinforcement efforts and hold the responsible parties accountable. Additionally, they will compensate the residents of substandard construction apartments to ensure their satisfaction.
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