(1) Reasons for Proposal
As the Act on Safety and Maintenance of Education Facilities, etc., has been enacted (Act 16678, promulgated on Dec. 3, 2019, and to be enforced Dec. 4, 2020) in a way of stipulating installation and management standards for each stage of education facility projects such as minimum environmental standards, safety, and maintenance standards and introducing new safety inspection and management system such as the safety certification system and safety evaluation, to establish standards and systems for the safety and maintenance of education facilities and to secure safety, this enactment aims to establish the details, such as notification procedures and methods of minimum environmental standards and safety/maintenance standards, stipulate the details necessary for the operation of the newly introduced system, such as the safety certification system, the subject/method/procedure of safety evaluation, etc., and prescribe matters delegated by the Act and matters necessary for the enforcement thereof.
(2) Major Provisions
<Enactment of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Safety and Maintenance of Education Facilities, etc.>
A. Establishment and implementation of the master plan for education facilities, etc. (Article 5 through Article 7)
- Require that the Minister of Education establishes and implements the master plan for education facilities every five years to build a comprehensive management and support system for education facilities and that the heads of the supervisory agencies and the heads of education facilities establish and implement the “implementation plan” and “action plan” each year for the safety and maintenance of their educational facilities, respectively, based on the “master plan” established and published by the Ministry of Education, reflecting the local conditions and school conditions.
※ Master plan (Minister of Education/5 years) → Implementation plan (Head of the supervisory agent/1 year) ⇨ Action plan (Head of the education facility/1 year)
B. Composition and operation management of the Education Facility Policy Committee, etc. (Article 8 through Article 12)
- Require establishing the Educational Facility Policy Committee under the Minister of Education to deliberate on the matters related to comprehensive management and support of educational facilities such as the establishment/implementation of master plans and safety/maintenance standards, and require establishing sub-committees for each field for professional review of deliberations or efficient operation of the Educational Facility Policy Committee.
C. Setting minimum environmental standards for education facilities (Article 13)
- Require that the Minister of Education prepares and announces the “minimum environmental standards” so that the minimum living space required for users of education facilities can be created in consideration of facility standards such as ventilation/natural lighting/lighting, air conditioning installation and operation/management standards, and construction standards such as proper area and space composition and that the adequacy of the minimum environmental standards is maintained in response to changes in social and economic conditions.
D. Evaluation and inspection of education facility management status, etc. (Article 14)
- Require that the heads of the supervisory agencies evaluate and inspect the status of necessary safety measures such as the maintenance status, maintenance, and reinforcement of the existing education facilities managed by the heads of education facilities and that even in the case of newly constructing, expanding, or reconstructing an education facility beyond the size prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Education, evaluation and inspection is conducted prior to its completion.Cc
E. Establish standards for safety and maintenance of education facilities (Article 15)
- Require that the Minister of Education prepares standards necessary for the safety and maintenance of education facilities such as design and maintenance, seismic design and reinforcement, fire safety, and environment/material safety after deliberation by the Education Facility Policy Committee, considering the purpose of using education facilities and characteristics of users of education facilities and that the heads of education facilities conduct self-inspection every year according to the standards, and report the inspection results, action plans, and action results to the heads of supervisory agencies, and allow that the heads of supervisory agencies inspect the status of the safety and maintenance standards for education facilities and provide administrative and financial support if necessary.
F. Implementation of education facility safety certification (Article 16 through Article 19)
- Require the head of an education facility that owns or manages a Kindergarten or a school with a total floor area of 100 square meters or more or the head of an education facility mainly used by students, such as a student training center or a library with a total floor area of 1,000 square meters or more, to receive the “education facility safety certification” for the facility from the Minister of Education.
G. Implementation of the safety inspection for educational facilities (Article 20 through Article 24)
- Require that the heads of education facilities conduct safety inspection and precision safety checks for the safety of education facilities in accordance with the guidelines for a safety inspection, etc., and assign safety grades based on the results, and allow that the heads of supervisory agencies evaluate and check the results of safety inspection and precision safety checks conducted by the heads of education facilities and, as a result, order the necessary actions if the safety impact is deemed significant.
H. Implementation of safety evaluation (Article 25 through Article 27)
- Require any person who intends to build an education facility subject to a planning permit and building approval in accordance with the Building Act or the School Facilities Projects Promotion Act and any person who intends to construct under the Framework Act on the Construction Industry at a distance of 4 meters from a school boundary to conduct “safety evaluation” according to safety and maintenance standards, and where the head of a supervisory agency or the head of an education facility determines that a significant risk may be caused to the safety of an education facility and the users of an education facility, even require a person who intends to do construction work within a range of 4 meters to 50 meters in a straight line distance from a school boundary.
I. Preparation and management of education facility statistics (Article 28)
- Require that the Minister of Education prepares and manages statistics every year on the safety and maintenance of education facilities necessary for effective establishment of policies related to education facilities and designates an institution that has expertise in the field of educational facilities among designated institutions for creating statistics according to the Statistics Act to perform the affairs related to the preparation and management of statistics.
J. Establishment and operation of the education facility integrated information network (Article 29)
- Require that the Minister of Education systematically manages information on the safety and maintenance of education facilities, establishes and operates the “integrated information network for education facilities” to improve the efficiency of financial execution, and confirms and checks the information on educational facilities to ensure the reliability and objectivity of information on education facilities.
K. Reporting and investigation of safety accidents in education facilities (Article 30)
- Require that the head of an education facility reports to the head of the supervisory agency when an accident occurs or a serious defect is found in the educational facility and that, if necessary, the head of the supervisory agency organizes and operates the “education facility accident investigation committee” to investigate the causes and circumstances of safety accidents in education facilities.
L. Education for training professional manpower (Article 31)
- Require that the Minister of Education provides education on matters related to laws and regulations, the prevention and maintenance of structure/fire safety, and evaluation/inspection on the management status of education facilities to train professional personnel on the safety and maintenance management of education facilities.
M. Designation and management of specialized institutions (Article 32 through Article 34)
- Allow that the Minister of Education designates institutions/organizations in the field of educational facilities as specialized institutions to perform his/her duties related to the efficient, systematic management of educational facilities, strengthening of expertise, and securing safety.
<Enactment of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Safety and Maintenance of Education Facilities, etc.>
A. Evaluation and inspection of education facility management status, etc. (Article 2)
- Require that the heads of supervisory agencies conduct evaluation and inspection on the management status of education facilities prior to completion even when newly constructing, expanding, or reconstructing an education facility with a total project cost of more than 10 billion won.
B. Implementation of education facility safety certification (Article 3 through Article 5)
- Require that the education facility safety certification grade is divided into two grades according to the grade calculation criteria determined and announced by the Minister of Education; that the validity period of the calculated grade is 5 years from the date the Minister of Education confirmed the safety certification but may be extended within the range of 5 years; and that where newly constructing, expanding, or reconstructing an education facility with more than 500 square meters of construction area, re-certification shall be received within 2 years from the date of approval for use under the Building Act.
C. Implementation of safety inspections for educational facilities (Article 6 through Article 8)
- Require prescribing procedures and methods for the safety inspection, etc., that should be included in the guidelines on safety inspection, matters concerning measures, etc. according to the results of safety inspection, etc., and the preservation period of the result report of safety inspection and precision safety diagnosis and the data on which is based for the report preparation.
D. Implementation of safety evaluation (Article 9)
- Require prescribing the matters to be included in the “plan for supplementary measures” resulted from safety evaluation and the matters on the result report of the measures, such as the measures to ensure the safety of schools and students and minimize discomfort, the matters requiring supplementary measures, etc.
E. User participation design to enhance education facility designs (Article 10)
- Require that the heads of the supervisory agencies and the heads of education facilities prioritize user participation in the planning and design process of an education facility and that they build a suitable space for school teaching and learning activities and create an educational environment that can respond to various curriculum changes.
F. Designation and management of specialized institutions (Article 11)
- Require that any institution or organization which intends to be designated as a specialized institution submits documents such as the articles of association, regulations, operation plan, the status of securing organization, manpower, and facilities, and budget and procurement plan to the Minister of Education attached to an application form for specialized institution designation.
