Converting a Residential Lodging Facility into an Officetel — The 1.5 m Corridor Exception and Responding to Charges for Compelling Compliance

Procedure

1. 1. Check the building register, the permit application date and the district unit plan

   Use the building register to confirm that the use is a residential lodging facility within lodging facilities and that the first building permit application (including an application for building committee deliberation) was made on or before October 16, 2024. In a district unit planning zone, a change of use must also conform to the district unit plan, so check whether officetels are a permitted use. Sales contracts for residential lodging facilities must include a confirmation of the duty to report a lodging business and that residential use is allowed only after a change of use, so review the contract documents as well.

2. 2. Review officetel construction standards and parking

   In an officetel, the boundary walls between units must be fire-resistant and meet the prescribed wall thickness or provide sound insulation of 45 dB or more, and on the 16th floor and above the walking distance to a direct staircase must be 40 meters or less. For a residential lodging facility whose first building permit was applied for on or before October 16, 2024, the dedicated officetel entrance and the exclusive area calculation standard may be disapplied, and this fact is entered in the building register. Additional attached parking must be secured for the difference between the number of parking spaces required before and after the change, based on the standards at the time of the change.

3. 3. Resolution of the management body and consent of unit owners

   If reinforcement work changes common areas such as corridors or stairs, a resolution of the management body meeting by at least two-thirds of unit owners and at least two-thirds of voting rights is required. If a change to common areas specially affects the rights of a particular unit owner, that owner's consent is also required. Prepare the meeting notice, minutes and resolution together with the report documents.

4. 4. Fire safety pre-confirmation, recognition and building committee deliberation (corridor exception)

   If the corridor width standard is not met, first apply to the city, county or district for pre-confirmation, which notifies the pre-confirmation result within 20 days. Then apply to the competent fire station chief for fire safety recognition; the performance-based design evaluation panel reviews fire and evacuation simulation results and other materials within 30 days, and if supplementation is decided, a supplementation period of up to 21 days is given. After recognition by the fire station chief, apply for deliberation by the local building committee, whose result is notified in writing within 7 days.

5. 5. Use change report and use approval

   Submit the building, major repair and use change report with the floor plan after the change and drawings showing fire resistance, fire protection, evacuation and building equipment to the Mayor, county head or district head. If the corridor exception applies, also submit the fire safety review result and the main results of the building committee deliberation, and the city, county or district inspects whether construction followed the design documents. If the total floor area of the changed part is 100 square meters or more, the use approval procedure applies, but use approval is not required if the area is under 500 square meters and no major repair work is involved.

Required documents

• Building, major repair and use change (modification) report (Enforcement Rule of the Building Act, Form No. 6)
• Floor plan after the change for the floors whose use is being changed
• Drawings showing fire resistance, fire protection, evacuation or building equipment changed by the use change (design documents prepared by an architect)
• Application for fire safety pre-confirmation (Fire Safety Recognition Standards for Converting Residential Lodging Facilities into Officetels, Form No. 1, when the corridor exception is sought)
• Application for fire safety recognition (Form No. 3 of the same notice) with design documents reviewing fire safety performance, the firefighting system installation plan, and documents confirming the reviewer's qualifications and a copy of the contract
• Fire safety review result (Form No. 4 of the same notice) and the main results of the building committee deliberation
• Minutes and resolution of the management body meeting or consent of unit owners (when common areas are changed)
• Plan for securing additional attached parking (when the required number of spaces increases)
• Letter of authorization (when submitted by a representative)

Fees

Generally from several hundred thousand won to several million won in the industry. We give a quote after consultation depending on whether the work covers individual units or the whole building, whether the corridor exception (fire safety recognition and building committee deliberation) is needed, and whether the management body resolution is handled together. Government fees are separate.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Building Act, Article 19
• Building Act, Article 22
• Building Act, Article 79
• Building Act, Article 80
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Article 14
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Article 48
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Article 115-2
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Article 115-3
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Annex 1
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Annex 15
• Enforcement Rule of the Building Act, Article 12-2
• Enforcement Rule of the Building Act, Form No. 6
• Rules on the Standards for Evacuation and Fire Protection Structures of Buildings, Article 15-2
• Officetel Construction Standards (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notice), Article 2
• Officetel Construction Standards (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notice), Article 3
• Fire Safety Recognition Standards for Converting Residential Lodging Facilities into Officetels (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and National Fire Agency Notice), Articles 3 to 8
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Sales Act, Article 8
• Enforcement Decree of the Building Sales Act, Article 9
• Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings, Article 15
• Enforcement Decree of the Parking Lot Act, Article 6
• National Land Planning and Utilization Act, Article 54
• Public Health Control Act, Article 3
• Public Health Control Act, Article 20

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-09

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• A residential lodging facility in a district unit planning zone must also conform to the district unit plan when its use is changed, so if the plan does not permit officetels, an amendment of the district unit plan is needed before the use change report.
• If the building committee deliberation after fire safety recognition changes the location or structure of key facilities such as direct staircases or fire compartments, the fire safety recognition procedure must be repeated, so finalize the reinforcement design before the deliberation.

Frequently asked questions