ED Unlawful re-subcontracting

Time to tighten supervision for safety disaster prevention

It has come to light that illegal re-subcontracting and the relevant authorities' neglecting of safety checks were the causes of the collapse of a five-story building in Gwangju in June that killed nine people and injured eight. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the initial demolition cost of 280,000 won ($242) per 3.3 square meters was cut to 40,000 won as the main contractor of the redevelopment project subcontracted the work to a mid-sized company, which, in turn, re-subcontracted it to a smaller firm. It is impossible to do a job properly at a cost of one-seventh of the industry standard. The accident was a manmade disaster that could have been prevented.

“The re-subcontractor used unreasonable dismantling methods and did not follow the appropriate procedure for demolition,” the ministry's investigation committee said. That means the company made a mess of things to save costs. Slipshod work was inevitable as it had to take up the work at 14 percent of the initial price. Industry executives say all the companies involved should have known that it would end up as a shoddy job. In this incident, the subcontractor was negligent of field oversight, and the supervisor did not conduct safety checks. All those involved ― the ordering agency, main contractor, subcontractor, and supervisory authorities ― acquiesced to such an illegal practice even though they knew about the poor quality of the demolition work.

The government announced measures to prevent similar accidents Tuesday. These steps call for, among others, strengthening the review of building demolitions and punishing both the main contractors and subcontractors in the case of unlawful re-subcontracting. They also include introducing punitive reimbursement of up to 10 times the resultant damages and a maximum punishment of life imprisonment for those responsible for fatal accidents.

There is nothing new about illicit subcontracting and shoddy construction in Korea. The situation has been repeated with bureaucrats concocting countermeasures in haste whenever accidents occur and acquiescing to illegality after some time passes. Even if the authorities toughen the punishment and bolster the system, disasters will recur unless they maintain thorough supervision of companies that seem to care less about human life to make a quick buck. The government should strengthen on-site supervision in areas requiring implementation of worksite policies directly linked to people's lives and have a watertight monitoring system to leave no systemic loopholes available to be exploited.