Daegu said Wednesday that it will mobilize its administrative resources through Sept. 23 to encourage early payment of subcontracting fees at public and private construction sites and prevent payment delays ahead of the chuseok holiday.
The measure is part of the city's comprehensive chuseok holiday plan and focuses on encouraging public-sector ordering agencies to use a direct payment system for subcontracting fees and ensuring that such fees are paid out before the holiday.
The city will also work with district and county building permit offices and local construction associations to press general contractors at private construction sites, not just public construction projects, to pay subcontractors on time.
In addition, Daegu will intensively operate an "unfair subcontracting practices report center" from Sept. 14 to Sept. 23 to respond quickly to subcontracting-related harm that could arise ahead of the holiday.
The center will accept reports and consultations on unfair practices at construction sites, including delayed or unpaid subcontracting fees and construction equipment rental fees, failure to issue payment guarantees for subcontracting fees, and illegal subcontracting.
Reports on unfair subcontracting practices can be filed through the Unfair Subcontracting Report Center at the Daegu Construction Industry Division or through related construction associations.
After the chuseok holiday, Daegu plans to form joint inspection teams with district and county offices and construction associations to examine subcontracting practices in the second half of the year at private construction sites with project costs of 5 billion won ($3.72 million) or more.
"Ahead of the chuseok holiday, we will strengthen guidance on early payment of subcontracting fees and do our best to prevent payment delays," said Hwang Sun-pil, director of Daegu's Urban Construction Bureau.
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