The Comparison of Apartment Management System Between Korea and Japan

한국과 일본의 공동주택 관리제도 비교

This research is carried out to inspect the Apartment Management System of Japan, to examine the similarities and differences between the Korean Apartment Management System and the Japanese Apartment Management System. First, as the basis law of apartment management, there exists the Building Unit Ownership Act, the Promotion Law fur Adequate Mansion Management of Japan, the Housing Law, Housing Execution Law and Rule of Korea. Second, the Association of Apartment Owners, an organization of owners of apartments in Japan and the Commission of the Representatives of the Occupants in Korea become the subject of maintenance. The Japan structure is made of the Assembly, the Director and the President. The Korean structure is made of Regular and Temporary Conferences and elected Officers(1 president, at least 2 directors and at least 1 inspector). The Commission of the Representatives of the Occupants and the Organization of Owners of Apartments make bylaws and diverse maintenance rules. Third, the foremost reason why the Korean structure of maintenance of apartments is less efficient than Japan is because of the small number of people dispatched to the living-environment maintenance team and their short terms. It is necessary to grow professionals related to this sector and to have enough public servants that specialize in this. Fourth, although it is compulsory to make long term plans for maintenance based on the Housing Law, because the reserve fund is decided by the maintenance rule(with no compulsory standards of reservation) of each apartment, it is difficult to reserve an adequate amount of reserve fund. So as in the example of the state of Hawaii in America, based on long term plans for maintenance, an execution rule of the Housing Law should be made which enforces to reserve at least 50 percent of future maintenance expenses.