Seoul's Nowon-gu district office, led by District Mayor Seo Jun-o, is strengthening its quality management system for public construction projects — covering every stage from design to completion — to prevent safety accidents and deliver higher-quality public buildings.
The initiative centers on three pillars: proactive management at the design stage, stronger accountability for construction personnel, and expanded expert inspections. The district aims to move away from a reactive approach that addresses problems only after construction begins, instead identifying and resolving safety risks from the design phase to ensure safe, high-quality construction throughout.
Under the new system, the district office's architecture division will review design documents directly before ground-breaking. Unlike the conventional practice of beginning construction supervision only after work starts, the district will now address potential problems at the design stage to secure safety and construction quality before breaking ground. The use of high-risk materials such as heavy exterior wall cladding will be minimized, and where unavoidable, safety measures for each identified hazard will be incorporated into the design.
The district will also analyze recurring defect cases from existing public buildings — including issues with roofing, waterproofing, windows and finishing materials — and address them at the design stage. For construction processes particularly prone to problems, such as waterproofing, specialists from the construction technology committee will conduct additional reviews of design suitability. The measures are expected to help prevent safety accidents and reduce the long-term maintenance burden.
During active construction, the accountability of all parties involved — designers, contractors and supervisors — will be significantly strengthened. The district will hold quarterly safety and quality education sessions for construction personnel and require them to submit process-specific video footage and reports within seven days of completing each major phase, enabling early detection of any deficiencies and prompt remediation.
On-site inspections will also be reinforced. The architecture division, under the direct responsibility of its department head, will conduct progress inspections at each construction site. When major construction phases are under way, joint inspections involving designers, contractors and supervisors will be carried out to ensure rapid response to any problems identified on site.
Completion inspections will be enhanced by bringing in specialists from the construction technology committee to assess defect-prone processes, raising the level of technical scrutiny. After completion, re-inspections will be conducted as needed depending on whether defects emerge. Should problems arise within the warranty period, supervisors will be required to submit a written opinion detailing the cause and proposed remediation, promoting accountability in both construction and post-completion management.
Nowon-gu currently has several public construction projects under way, including a new forest activity center on Yeongchuksan and a green remodeling project at Sanggye Library. The district also plans to sequentially rebuild and relocate aging neighborhood community centers into more resident-friendly spaces. Starting this year, the district expects the strengthened quality management framework to raise the standard of public buildings and allow residents to use public facilities more safely and conveniently.
"Public buildings are the public facilities residents use most in their daily lives, which makes safety and quality paramount," District Mayor Seo said. "We will systematically manage the entire process — from design through construction to post-completion — to create high-quality public facilities that residents can use with confidence."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
