Fire safety spotlight on older apartments without sprinklers; about 14,000 units already equipped in phased rollout

A simplified sprinkler unit installed by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation. [LH]
A simplified sprinkler unit installed by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation. [LH]

The Korea Land and Housing Corporation said Tuesday it will gradually extend its simplified sprinkler installation program — previously limited to aging permanent public rental housing — to older national rental housing units starting this year.

The announcement follows a series of deadly fires at older apartment buildings that lacked sprinkler systems, renewing calls to strengthen fire safety in existing multi-unit housing stock that predates mandatory sprinkler requirements. South Korea introduced mandatory sprinkler installation rules in 1990, leaving apartment buildings completed in the 1980s structurally vulnerable and poorly equipped to contain fires.

While sprinklers are effective at automatically discharging water to suppress fires in their early stages, retrofitting them in completed apartment buildings has traditionally required separate water supply equipment and extensive pipe work, making the process costly and disruptive.

In response, the corporation began last year developing a simplified sprinkler system that draws on existing water supply pipes already installed in each unit, allowing sprinkler heads to discharge water automatically when a fire breaks out. The simplified design minimizes the need for additional water supply equipment and extra piping, reducing installation costs and construction burdens.

The system was designed in accordance with the direct water-supply connection standards set out in the fire safety technical criteria for simplified sprinkler equipment. Its early fire-suppression performance was verified through expert review by the National Fire Agency and the Korea Fire Protection Engineers Society, as well as live fire testing.

The corporation has been proactively installing the simplified sprinklers in aging permanent public rental housing — which is not subject to legal sprinkler requirements — since last year. About 14,000 units have been equipped to date.

Building on that experience, the corporation plans to extend installations to aging national rental housing units starting this year, linking the work to ongoing national rental housing remodeling projects in a phased approach.

The corporation said it will apply construction methods suited to the ceiling structures and finishing conditions of individual national rental housing units, including partial ceiling removal and reinforcement where necessary. It also plans to develop installation methods that do not require a concurrent remodeling project, broadening the pool of units eligible for simplified sprinkler installation.

"Even older rental housing units not legally required to have sprinklers need enhanced early fire-response equipment to protect residents," a corporation official said. "We will continue to urge the government to increase its support ratio and scale to ease the fiscal burden of the project, while expanding the scope of simplified sprinkler coverage to reduce fire safety blind spots in rental housing."


hss@heraldcorp.com