A court has ruled that if a multifamily housing complex was built with only stairs at the main entrance on the first floor, making it hard for wheelchair users with disabilities to move, it should be seen as a defect even if it was constructed according to the design drawings. The court noted that potential legal violations should have been reviewed and corrected during construction.
The Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Gong Hyun-jin) said on Apr. 16 that it dismissed the plaintiff's claim in a lawsuit filed by GS Engineering & Construction seeking to cancel a defect determination by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Defect Examination and Dispute Mediation Committee (hereafter "the committee"). The court announced the decision on the 15th.
GS Engineering & Construction received a contract from Company A to build a complex-type multifamily housing development of 20 buildings with 178 households in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and carried out the construction. The complex received approval for use in Feb. 2021.
The multifamily housing management body applied to the committee for a defect examination in May 2023. In Aug. 2024, the committee determined it was a defect, saying residents of five buildings had to use stairs to move from the main entrance to a road that allows access to the complex. Under the Act on the Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons, if there is a difference in height between the main entrance and the passage in a multifamily housing complex with 10 or more households, curbs must be lowered or ramps must be installed to facilitate the movement of people with disabilities, seniors and pregnant women.
GS Engineering & Construction filed an administrative suit after its objection to the committee was rejected. During the trial, GS Engineering & Construction argued that the main entrance of the multifamily housing is the entrance connected from the underground parking lot and that there is no height difference from the access route there.
The company also said the absence of ramps was a design defect and that GS Engineering & Construction did not know there was a problem with the design. It further argued that some of the five buildings at issue have only eight households, so they are not subject to the ramp installation requirement under the Act on the Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons.
The court first said that because the complex is a multifamily housing development with multiple buildings constructed on a single lot, it should be considered a single structure, and whether the law applies should be determined based on the total number of households. With a total of 178 households, the complex must provide facilities under the Act on the Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons.
The court also found that the main entrance of the complex's multifamily housing is the one connected to the first floor, not the underground parking lot. It cited the dictionary definition of an entrance as the door that people mainly use to come and go.
Regarding the claim that the design drawings were flawed, the court said, "In general, a contractor (construction company) has professional knowledge," and "has a duty to review the suitability of the design drawings on its own and to present appropriate opinions to the client (developer)."
The court added, "As one of the leading construction companies in Korea, GS Engineering & Construction should have notified the client (developer) of design defects related to violations of the Act on the Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons and prepared countermeasures."