MOLIT announces partial amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Parking Lot Act

Mechanical parking lots can be installed in mixed large and medium-sized parking lots without additional safety certification

2012/11

 

When installing a mechanical parking lot that has received safety certification, it will now be possible to mix large and medium-sized parking lots without additional safety certification.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) announced the enforcement decree of the Parking Lot Act on the 24th of last month, saying that it expects to improve the efficient utilization of parking lots and user convenience by installing and spreading various mechanical parking lots. As a result, the parking lot size of large mechanical parking lots can be changed to a mix of medium and large parking spaces within the safety standard range.

In addition, the proposed amendments to the Enforcement Rules of the Parking Lot Act were announced to extend the period of the parking supply and demand survey, add additional survey items, and stipulate the submission and management of survey results to operate the system more rationally, improve the illumination standards for parking lots, attach parking fee tags, and expand the application of relaxation standards for small parking lots with eight or fewer vehicles.

The main contents of the partial amendments to the Parking Lot Act Enforcement Rules are to improve the supply and demand survey system (Article 1, Paragraph 2, Article 2, and Article 5). Currently, parking supply and demand surveys are conducted every two years, but if there is no significant change in parking conditions, the efficiency of parking supply and demand surveys is low, and it is pointed out that local governments use them only for parking demand surveys, which limits their use after the survey, so the period of parking supply and demand surveys will be extended from two to three years. Instead, the survey will be conducted whenever there are changes in conditions such as urban redevelopment and land development, and the results of the parking supply and demand survey will be reported to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Maritime Affairs, and parking fees will be added to the supply and demand survey items, making it possible to implement the parking supply and demand survey more efficiently and utilize the results for parking demand management.

Next, we plan to rationalize the illumination standards for parking lots. The current standard requires that the illuminance of underground and structured parking lots be maintained at 70 lux or more at 85 centimeters at all times, but as advances in lighting fixtures and technology have enabled efficient energy use, it has been pointed out that detailed and specific standards are needed, so the minimum illuminance standard will be set at 10 lux based on the floor surface, but the maximum and minimum illuminance ratios will be provided, and separate standards will be stipulated for entrances and pedestrian walkways. 

In addition, parking lots will be required to post parking fees. Previously, some parking lots that collected fees did not attach parking fees, causing a lot of inconvenience to users, but from now on, parking lots that collect fees will be required to attach fees in the format prescribed by local government ordinances. MOLIT's stance is that this will improve the convenience of parking lot users and allow for transparent management of parking fees. 

In addition, the structure and equipment standards for parking lots with eight or fewer spaces will be expanded. In particular, piloti parking lots are excluded from the application of the mitigation standards for small-scale parking lots, even though they have no structural differences from horizontal parking lots, causing problems such as equity by local governments and controversy with complainants. Therefore, in the future, the facility standards for small-scale parking lots of 8 cars or less will be expanded to apply not only to horizontal parking lots but also to pillar-type structures to enhance equity among local governments and prevent controversies over interpretation. 

Finally, the parking spaces for mechanical parking lots will also be expanded. In response to comments that the width of medium-sized mechanical parking lots does not reflect the growing size of vehicles and causes inconvenience when parking, the width of medium-sized mechanical parking lots will be expanded from 2.1 meters to 2.15 meters to facilitate the entry and exit of parked vehicles.

Organizations or individuals who have opinions on the proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Parking Lot Act can submit their opinions to the Urban and Metropolitan Transportation Division of MOLIT by the 3rd of next month.