The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will push to enact a special law on off-site construction (OSC) and modular to expand the supply of dwellings. The ministry plans to establish legal standards to promote OSC and modular dwellings, which can shorten construction periods and reduce safety accidents at construction sites.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 7th that it is working to enact a special law on OSC and modular as a follow-up to the Sept. 7 plan to expand the supply of dwellings.
The OSC and modular method is a construction method in which major structural components are manufactured in a factory in advance and the building is completed on-site through assembly only. Compared with traditional on-site construction, it has advantages in productivity, safety, and quality control. It can shorten the construction period by about 20% to 30%, enabling the swift supply of dwellings.
In addition, high-place work is greatly reduced, which can significantly lower the risk of safety accidents on site, and it is also advantageous for securing quality consistency because it is less affected by on-site conditions such as adverse weather. High-place work refers to tasks performed at a certain height above the ground, such as installing guardrails and roof work. Through automated equipment in factories, among other measures, on-site manpower input can be minimized, drawing attention as an alternative to address difficulties facing Korea's construction sites, such as a shortage of skilled labor and aging.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to establish legal standards related to OSC and modular, including design, supervision, and quality control, and to strengthen the removal of various unreasonable regulations and the provision of incentives through the enactment of the special law.
In addition, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is supporting technology development for taller and complex-type modular dwellings through a 25 billion won research and development (R&D) project. It is supplying priming water to the market with the goal of securing annual public dwellings orders for 3,000 units.
Kim Gyu-cheol, head of the Housing and Land Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Advances in modular technology will be a new opportunity to simultaneously improve the quality of dwellings and construction productivity," and added, "The government will spare no support to drastically shorten construction periods through the promotion of modular dwellings and to supply high-quality dwellings more quickly so that the public can feel the difference."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) will showcase a modular dwellings exhibition and promotion hall at the "2025 Smart Construction·Safety·Artificial Intelligence (AI) Expo," held at KINTEX in Ilsan through the 7th of this month, to promote the excellence of the modular method and the need for its wider adoption.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), in collaboration with Samsung Electronics, will present a "next-generation smart living space" that integrates the modular method with AI home appliance technology. At the on-site exhibition and promotion hall, visitors can vividly experience the future of living, as AI-based advanced appliances are installed together inside an actual modular dwelling (mock-up), including a voice-controlled refrigerator, an AI combo washer-dryer, and an Internet of Things (IoT) bedroom.