Government Revises Building Code to Increase Space between Apartment Buildings

New apartments are expected to have nicer views and the right to enjoy sunshine.

The government voted for a revision of construction ordinances in a state council meeting that Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan presided over on July 12 at the Central Government Complex in Sejongno, Jongno-gu in Seoul.

The revision, which will be implemented starting late this month, stipulates that new apartments and multi-household housing shall double the current distance of border lines between buildings and roads or buildings and other apartment complexes.

Currently, the horizontal distance from a building to the borderline of adjacent building sites should be more than a quarter of the height of the building. But the distance should increase to more than half of the height of the building.

Furthermore, the existing construction law enforcement ordinance defines the distance between buildings in an apartment or multi-household complex as at least 0.8 times the height of the building, but the revision increased the figure to at least the same as the height of a building.

According to the revision, for example, a 100-meter-high apartment should be at least 50m away from roads or borderlines of neighboring apartment complexes, and 100m away from other apartments.

The government also passed a revision of the enforcement ordinance of the civil affairs administration law. The revision prohibits authorities from seizing 1.2 million won or a month’s living expenses when it seizes salary money in order to guarantee the livelihoods of low-income debtors.

Meanwhile, the state council meeting also decided that day to appoint a special prosecutor for the investigation of the Korea Railroad’s oil field development project in Sakhalin.

Kang-Myoung Chang tesomiom@donga.com