Incentive system to ease floor area ratio and building coverage ratio for barrier-free certification

2024.08.22. The Fair Economy — Rep. Kim Ye-ji, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, announced on the 22nd that she had proposed a partial amendment to the 'Act on the Promotion of Convenience for the Disabled, the Aged, and Pregnant Women' (Convenience Act for the Disabled, etc.) to expand barrier-free certified facilities.

Since the 'Barrier-Free Certification' system, a certification for barrier-free living environments, was introduced in 2008, more than 16,000 facilities nationwide have received barrier-free certification as of last June.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, of the total 16,394 Barrier-free certified facilities, 15,800 (96.38%) are public facilities that have been subject to mandatory certification since 2015. Private facilities without certification obligations accounted for 594, representing only 3.62% of the total.

Rep. Kim Ye-ji pointed out, "The low barrier-free certification rate among private facilities is because, unlike public facilities where certification is mandatory, private facilities are not required to obtain certification."

Other certification systems, such as green building certification and building energy efficiency rating certification, offer incentive programs that relax the floor-area ratio, building-coverage ratio, and maximum height for facilities not subject to mandatory requirements. In addition, the Construction Law introduced a system in November 2014 to exclude the area of elevators for persons with disabilities from the floor-area ratio. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the installation rate of elevators for persons with disabilities rose from 26.8% to 39.6% after the introduction of the system.

Accordingly, Rep. Kim Ye-ji said she has filed a bill that introduces an incentive system to relax floor area ratio, building coverage ratio, and height restrictions for facilities that have been recognized as meeting a certain level of Barrier-free grade.

She stated her legislative intent, saying, "Expanding barrier-free certified facilities enables not only the disabled but also the elderly and people of all ages and genders to use facilities conveniently. Through this amendment, I will do my best to revitalize the low rate of private barrier-free certification and create an environment where anyone can use facilities anywhere in the country."

In addition, she emphasized, "I will strive to ensure the prompt establishment of an integrated operating organization for barrier-free certification" to systematize the certification and manage it after the fact.