Regulation Guide · 2026. 07

What Counts as a Major Repair —
The Line Between Interior Work and Permitted Construction

Q: What is a major repair?

It's work that substantially repairs or alters a building's primary structural parts or exterior form, with specific items defined by the Building Act Enforcement Decree. These include adding/removing a load-bearing wall or repairing/altering 30㎡ or more of it, adding/removing or repairing/altering 3 or more columns, beams, or roof trusses, work on fire walls or fire-compartment floors/walls, work on main/evacuation/special evacuation stairs, altering boundary walls between units in multi-household/multi-unit housing, and changing exterior finish material above a certain scale.

Q: Is a major repair a permit or a report?

In principle a permit, but major repair of a building under 200㎡ gross floor area and under 3 stories falls under reporting. Either way, an architect's design documents are required, and current fire/evacuation code applies.

Q: Can interior work trigger a major-repair requirement?

Often. If the wall you want to open to enlarge a space is load-bearing, that's a major repair; changing exterior finish also qualifies depending on scale. Confirming load-bearing status via drawings before demolition is essential — arbitrary demolition is a direct structural-safety violation.

LEA Architects · Junsu Kim, Architect

"It's Just Opening Up One Wall"

The most dangerous sentence in renovation consultations. If that wall is a load-bearing wall carrying structural load, opening it up becomes a major repair under the Building Act. Major repair is the boundary line between interior work and building permitting — cross it, and you need design documents and a permit or report.

The line looks blurry, but the law lists the items clearly. Here's the essential summary.

Major repair items summary (see Enforcement Decree text for exact wording)

The Real Weight of Major Repair — Current-Code Retroactivity

The burden of major repair lies less in the procedure than in what follows. The moment a major-repair permit is triggered, current fire and evacuation codes apply, which can require a firefighter access window or fire-rated reinforcement that didn't originally exist. Exterior finish change made the list precisely because of fire-spread prevention.

Our completed Jungdong remodeling in Giheung-gu, Yongin is a textbook example. In a project converting a neighborhood facility into an academy, the use change triggered current code, cascading into fire-rated gypsum board reinforcement, a new firefighter access window, and accessibility-facility installation. This is exactly where an "interior budget" becomes a "construction-permit budget." View this project →

Pre-Construction Checklist

① Confirm via drawings whether the wall to be demolished is load-bearing (site survey if no drawings) → ② Determine whether it matches a major-repair item → ③ If so, determine permit vs. report (permit vs. report guide) → ④ Budget for retroactively applied fire/evacuation items. Especially if construction follows a commercial lease, this review must be completed before signing. (Pre-lease building checklist)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is a major repair?

Substantial repair/alteration of primary structural parts or exterior form. Items include load-bearing walls, columns/beams/roof trusses (3+), fire compartments, evacuation stairs, unit boundary walls, and exterior finish material change.

Q. Is a major repair a permit or a report?

In principle a permit; under 200㎡/3 stories it's a report. Either way, design documents and current code apply.

Q. Can interior work trigger a major-repair requirement?

Often. A load-bearing wall you want to open is a major repair; exterior finish changes qualify by scale too. Confirming load-bearing status before demolition is essential.

Major Repair Standards · Major Repair Permit/Report · Load-Bearing Wall Demolition · Exterior Finish Change · Remodeling Permit · LEA Architects

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