[Young Journalist Yeon Cheon] As autonomous driving based delivery·patrol robots introduction is expanding centered in smart building and new apartment complex, the need for legal review in designing and building stage is increasing.

As autonomous driving robots that were being operated only in experiment room or demonstration zone expand to everyday places such as company building, homes, and complex facility, there have been new legal issues in construction and real estate development area as well.

Especially, when the robot’s transportation route and infra are not considered enough in building permitting process, there is a worry that in process of introducing the technology after the compilation, it willc result in additional cost or licensing dispute.

Current building law and Elevator Management Safety Act is fundamentally set to prioritize people’s usage and safety. Following that, in the process the autonomous robot calls the elevator and gets on it, there isn’t an accurate safety standard or autonomous driving permission procedure.

Horizontal movement inside the building is also selected as the issue. Door threshold removal, slope degree, and corridor width and others are usually checked based on standards of people who are disadvantaged in transportation, according to the law. However, there is a limitation in applying the robot’s sensor ability and driving trait in detale.

If there will be a need to change the structure after the completion because these criterias weren’t considered well in building process, there is a possibility that it will lead to recheck for the building structure safety, reconstruction fee, and conflict between tenant and stakeholders.

In a time when real estate project financing market Credit Crunch and construction fee is rising, developer, construction company, and real estate developers are finding solution to increase the business feasibility through differentiated smart building. In this process, there is also an opinion that we should manage robot-friendly place construction and related license risk in all, from first-hand development planning process.

As automation technology and construction spaces’ combination takes off, in legal community, smart building and robot infra construction related advisory demand is being more detailed. This is because going over post-dipute resolution, legal relationship management and risk blocking related to first-hand construction checking process to robot operation is being considered more important.

Law And Advisors attorney Kim Seong-ho said “robox friendly building construction doesn’t merely finish from simply getting building permit” and “it is a combined field where we need to all consider robot company·telecommunications company, internal privacy protection measures, and risk-management standard the real estate PF lender”.

Continuing on that, Kim attorney said “It is the time to check lacking law when technology combines with infrastructures in advance, based on professionalism that were built from past traditional construction dispution” and “Through the solution of looking at construction, economic, and skill regulation components from first step of development, we will build future asset value stablely”.

Going over simple revolutionary facilities implimentation, as companies are developing combined model with building construction, operation system, privacy protection, resident safety, and financial risk, it is seen that there will be more examples of doing legal counsel at the same time from beginning of development .

▶원문 기사: 로봇이 누비는 스마트 빌딩, 법무법인 로앤에이가 짚어본 설계 단계 법률 자문 (이코노미스트, 2026.6.9)

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