The amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Elevator Facility Safety Management Act, which include the scope of allowable subcontracting of elevator maintenance work, which had been the subject of intense confrontation between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the maintenance subcontracting industry, were previewed for legislation on the 20th of last month.

The main goals of the proposed amendments to the subordinate laws are ▲ establishing registration procedures and registration standards for elevator manufacturers and importers (new Articles 3 and 4) ▲ establishing registration standards for maintenance businesses according to the type of elevator (new Articles 8 and 9) ▲ stipulating the allowable scope of subcontracting elevator maintenance work ▲ improving the scope of serious accidents (Article 24.5) ▲ and improving the qualification standards for elevator self-inspectors (Article 24.7).

In particular, the scope of subcontracting elevator maintenance work requires the original contractor to personally inspect the elevator maintenance at least once a quarter, and allows subcontracting only for 50% of the total maintenance work and no more than 2/3 of the self-inspection work, which has caused panic in the maintenance subcontracting industry.

An official from the Korea Maintenance Association said, "The bill that we opposed so much was amended to allow only 50% of the maintenance work as per the original proposal of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety without collecting any opinions." "The amendment to the subordinate legislation of the Elevator Act has already been proposed for legislation, but until it passes the Regulatory Reform Committee and is deliberated and resolved, we will continue to hold protests against the amendment to the Elevator Act every Thursday and Friday in front of the Gwanghwamun Government Building with our members."

As the scope of subcontracting 100 percent of elevator maintenance work has been reduced to 50 percent, the association is demanding specific answers from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the division of work among partners during self-inspections.

"By saying that subcontracting is only allowed up to 50% without drawing a specific line on the division of work, it means that only 50% of the work is to be done," said an official. "It is just a regulation that hinders the elevator industry and does not help safety," he added.

In addition to continuing to hold rallies, the Conservative Association plans to collect cyber opinions against the proposed amendments to the subordinate laws of the Elevator Act through the website newspaper and electronic public hearings, and send a letter to the regulatory committee with the Conservative Association's position. The following are the main contents of the proposed amendments to the Elevator Subordinate Act. 

 

Strengthening the registration standards for elevator maintenance businesses = The elevator maintenance business has been subdivided into three industries: high-speed, mid- and low-speed elevators and escalators, and only those registered as high-speed elevator maintenance businesses can maintain elevators with a rated speed of 4 m/sec (240 m/min) or higher. In addition, the number of technical personnel in the maintenance business has been expanded from five to eight (one maintenance manager, four maintenance technicians, and three practical technicians) to strengthen maintenance work.

In addition, if the number of elevators to be maintained exceeds 500, one maintenance technician must be added for every 100 elevators exceeded; if the number of elevators to be maintained is 1,000 or less, the number of maintenance personnel in charge must be one, and if it exceeds 1,000, it must be two or more. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport expects that by separating the maintenance work by type of elevator, such as high-speed elevators that require sophisticated technology, the safety management will be strengthened by performing more professional elevator maintenance work.

 

Regulation on the permissible scope of subcontracting elevator maintenance work = Subcontracting is only allowed for 50% of elevator maintenance work and no more than 2/3 of self-inspection work. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety expects the contractor, the maintenance company, to perform a significant portion of the work directly, thereby preventing poor elevator maintenance work and strengthening elevator safety management through responsible elevator safety management.

 

Improvement of the scope of elevator serious accidents = The scope of serious accidents is defined as injuries that require hospitalization for more than one week or treatment for more than three weeks as a result of the initial diagnosis, and cases caused by user negligence such as walking or running and cases caused by simple trapping in the elevator are excluded from the scope of serious accidents. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport expects to protect the rights and interests of victims by including hospitalized patients in serious accidents, and to improve the international trust of elevators by clarifying the scope of accidents caused by elevator defects.