1.

The Proposed Regulations Introduce Relevant Standards for the New Maintenance Requirements for IT Facilities in Certain Buildings Imposed Through an Amendment to the ICCBA in July 2023

Any owner, management person or entity (collectively, “Managing Entity” or “Managing Entities”) of any of the following buildings must comply with the new maintenance requirements (to be explained further below) under the Proposed Regulations:
 

(1)

Managing Entities must appoint dedicated maintenance manager(s) for their IT facilities.
 

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Managing Entities must appoint maintenance manager(s) among their employees. As an alternative, Managing Entities can instead opt to delegate relevant maintenance and inspection tasks to a licensed construction service provider under the ICCBA (“ICC Service Provider”). In this case the Proposed Regulations require the ICC Service Provider, not the managing entity, to appoint the maintenance manager(s). Thus, the Managing Entity is not required to directly employ the maintenance manager(s).

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Qualifications of the maintenance manager: The Proposed Regulations provide qualification requirements on the minimum level of training and technical expertise needed by the maintenance manager(s). Depending on the type of building or structure, total floor space, and number of units in the building or structure (in case of multi-unit complexes), the Proposed Regulations set forth different qualification requirements and number of maintenance managers required. Larger construction facilities are subject to more stringent requirements.

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Appointments for multiple buildings: Each maintenance manager can be responsible for one building or structure only, and cannot be appointed for multiple different buildings or structures. As an exception, one maintenance manager may be appointed for multiple buildings or structures if the following conditions are met: (i) each building or structure has below total floor space of 5,000m², (ii) the buildings or structures are all located in the “same territory,” and (iii) the maintenance manager was appointed by an ICC Service Provider to whom a Managing Entity delegated the maintenance and inspection tasks for the IT facilities.

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Reporting requirement: Within 30 days of appointing any maintenance manager pursuant to the Proposed Regulations, the Managing Entity must report the appointment to the relevant local government along with relevant supporting documents regarding the maintenance manager’s qualifications. 
 

(2)

Managing Entities must perform the following maintenance and performance inspection on their IT facilities on a regular basis and keep the records.

Subject Managing Entities are advised to review their current maintenance and inspection protocols to bring their practice to compliance under the Proposed Regulations. The Proposed Regulations introduce the following new obligations, which may be summarized as “prepare relevant documents, plan, inspect, and preserve records.”
 

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Maintenance: Managing Entities must prepare documents required for the maintenance and performance inspection, establish their maintenance plans and prepare a status table that tracks the maintenance status. Through their maintenance manager(s), the Managing Entity must inspect their IT facilities every year starting from five years after the completion of the construction of the building where the IT facilities are housed. Managing Entities must also memorialize in writing the inspection outcome on a regular basis. Managing Entities can perform the establishment of maintenance plans, inspection and keeping the records of the inspection on their own or can delegate certain parts of these tasks to an ICC Service Provider.

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Performance inspection: Managing Entities must establish their performance inspection plans and prepare a status table that tracks the inspection status. Managing Entities must also inspect the performance of their IT facilities each year starting from five years after the completion of the construction of the building where the IT facilities are housed. Managing Entities must also memorialize in writing the inspection outcome. Managing Entities can conduct the performance inspection on their own, in which case they must hire a certain number of qualified IT technicians, or can delegate certain parts of the performance inspection to an ICC Service Provider or qualified vendors, in which case the Managing Entity is not required to directly hire the IT technicians.

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Retention period: The performance inspection records must be preserved for at least ten years.
 

(3)

Grace period for existing buildings and structures.

According to the Proposed Regulations, the MSIT will apply a grace period on the obligations imposed under the Proposed Regulations for five years after the completion of the building construction where the relevant IT facilities are housed, or the following dates, whichever is later.
 

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By August 18, 2024: Buildings with total floor space of 30,000m² or more and residential complexes with 3,000 units or more

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By July 18, 2025: Buildings with total floor space of 3,000m² or more and residential complexes with 500 units or more

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By July 18, 2026: Buildings with total floor space of 1,000m² or more and residential complexes with 300 units or more
 

2.

Qualifications for Person Authorized to Draft Blueprints of IT Facilities in Large-Size Buildings

It is also noteworthy that the Proposed Regulations impose restrictions on the persons who are permitted to prepare blueprints of IT facilities housed in buildings with total floor size of 10,000m² or more. Under the Proposed Regulations, only certain licensed IT technicians can draft blueprints for such facilities, to ensure that only experts with relevant technical and engineering skills of certain caliber can perform such tasks.
 

3.

Takeaways

The amended ICCBA and the Proposed Regulations are expected to have a direct impact on large sized building owners and operators, and in particular, data center operators. To that end, data center operators and relevant property owners are advised to closely review the Proposed Regulations and submit their opinions to ensure their concerns are reflected in the remaining legislative process.