All steps from contract signing to payment claims to move online; full rollout set for January 2027
Yeoncheon-gun announced Wednesday that it will launch a pilot "visit-free, paperless electronic contract" system in August, allowing contractors to complete every step — from signing contracts to filing payment claims — entirely online without visiting government offices or submitting paper documents.
The pilot will cover all new construction, service and supply contracts issued by the county and will apply across all departments, including the main office, affiliated agencies, directly subordinate institutions, and township offices. However, small businesses with limited internet access and certain documents that cannot be submitted electronically will be exempt.
Under the new system, contractors will submit qualification review and contract-related documents through Narajangteo, the national integrated e-procurement platform. Ground-breaking and project-launch reports, advance payment requests, and progress and completion documents will be filed through Munseo24, an online document submission service. Payment claim documents may be submitted through either platform.
Yeoncheon-gun plans to store all electronically submitted contract documents in the contract registry of e-Hojo, the local fiscal management system, enabling systematic management of the entire process from contract signing and ground-breaking through inspection and payment.
The county said it had been spending about 24 million won ($16,100) a year printing roughly 270,000 pages of contract documents, while storage space for paper records had reached capacity — requiring significant costs and administrative effort. Contractors, too, had faced time and financial burdens from having to visit government offices multiple times to submit paperwork.
The shift to electronic contracts is expected to cut travel time and costs for contractors, reduce spending on copy paper and printing supplies, free up document storage space, and shorten contract processing times. Electronic storage of contract documents will also reduce the risk of lost, damaged or forged records, improving the transparency and fairness of contract administration.
Yeoncheon-gun will distribute user guides and processing manuals to contractors this month before launching the pilot from August through December. After reviewing issues and incorporating improvements, the county plans to roll out the system fully in January 2027.
"We have improved our work processes so that contractors no longer have to visit the county office just to submit a single document, and so that everything from contracting to payment can be handled more quickly and conveniently," said Lee Seok-hwi, head of the accounting division. "We will actively reflect feedback from the field during the pilot to build a stable electronic contract system."
pjh@heraldcorp.com
