Court Rules Lack of 'Disabled Access Ramps' in Townhouse Complex Is a Defect… GS E&C Loses Lawsuit

GS E&C has lost a lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport after challenging a defect ruling regarding its failure to install access ramps for the disabled in a 178-unit townhouse complex.

The Seoul Administrative Court, under Presiding Judge Gong Hyun-jin of the 2nd Administrative Division, ruled against the plaintiff, GS E&C, in its suit to overturn the defect decision made by the Ministry’s Housing Defect Examination and Dispute Mediation Committee.

GS E&C constructed the urban lifestyle housing complex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

The project, consisting of 20 buildings and a total of 178 units, received approval for its housing construction business plan in 2019 and was granted occupancy approval in 2021.

In 2024, the Ministry’s committee determined that the lack of ramps—as required by the Act on the Guarantee of Convenience Promotion for Persons with Disabilities, Senior Citizens, Pregnant Women, and Nursing Mothers—was a defect, noting that "in five of the buildings, one must use stairs to move from the main entrance to the parking lot or the road leading to the complex's main entrance."

Under the aforementioned Act and its enforcement decree, townhouse complexes with 10 or more units are required to install convenience facilities for the disabled, the elderly, and pregnant women.

Although GS E&C filed a lawsuit contesting the committee's decision, the court ruled that the lack of ramps indeed constitutes a defect.

GS E&C argued that the "main entrance" of the housing units was not the one connected to the ground floor, as the committee claimed, but rather the entrance connected to the underground parking lot, which has no level difference from the access path, and therefore should not be considered a defect.

However, the court determined that the main entrance is the one connected to the ground floor.

The court explained, "The dictionary definition of an entrance is a door or passage through which people primarily enter and exit," adding that "in the context of the regulations, it refers to the door or passage through which people enter and exit from the outside of the facility to the inside."

The court also emphasized that since the housing is intended for residential purposes and there are no residential units in the basement other than the parking area, accessibility for the disabled must be ensured up to the ground floor where the units are located, in line with the legislative intent of the Act.

GS E&C further argued that the failure to install access paths was a design defect, and as the contractor, it should not be held liable for defect warranties.

The court rejected this argument as well, stating, "As an expert in architectural and civil engineering, a contractor has the ability and duty to complete work without defects." The court added, "If a contractor receives design drawings that violate relevant laws, they must review their suitability and provide appropriate opinions to the client. If they fail to do so and a defect arises, they cannot be exempted from their liability for defect warranties."

In particular, the court emphasized that as one of the leading construction companies in Korea, GS E&C has a responsibility to fulfill such duties.

GS E&C also claimed that one of the five buildings in question contained only eight units and was therefore not subject to the requirement for convenience facilities. The court dismissed this, ruling that when multiple townhouse buildings are located on a single plot of land, the entire complex should be viewed as a single structure and evaluated based on the total number of units.

(Photo: Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.