Budget for artwork installation or a cultural fund contribution
Building artwork can affect design, approval preparation and long-term cash requirements for a substantial construction project.
First establish the statutory use and net floor area, then apply the correct standard construction cost and location-specific rates.
An actual installation quotation also needs review preparation, foundations, transport, safety and future cleaning or repairs where these are outside its scope.
Eligible private owners may consider contributing 70% of the statutory installation amount to the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund instead.
This calculator organises an area schedule and compares initial cash and holding-period costs before financing and design decisions.
Korea-based 2026 rules apply, with automatic ordinance rates for Seoul and Gyeonggi only.
The report supports discussion with the local culture department; it does not approve building eligibility, artwork appraisal or an installation plan.
Amounts are KRW, areas are square metres and the same calculation engine serves both language versions.
Check eligible uses and the 10,000 m² threshold first
New construction and extensions
Enforcement Decree Article 12(2) uses eligible floor area after statutory exclusions and a threshold of at least 10,000 m².
For an extension, test the added part itself against 10,000 m², rather than combining the existing building and extension.
A large existing building alone does not make a small extension pass this screen.
Work other than new construction or an extension, including a change of use, needs separate review.
Use-specific exceptions
The list includes apartments, specified neighbourhood facilities, performance/assembly/viewing venues, retail, transport, hospitals, offices, accommodation, amusement and broadcasting facilities.
Dormitories and public construction rental housing are excluded from the apartment category.
Specified neighbourhood facilities and the warehouse function of port facilities also have exceptions.
Check the exact permitted use with an architect or the authority; a broad property label is insufficient.
Apartments require the combined area of blocks within the relevant complex.
Mixed-use common areas, eligible versus excluded uses and the aggregation scope must be confirmed by the authority.
The calculator uses that confirmed scope; without confirmation, statutory amounts remain pending.
It does not decide special aggregation or allocate shared space on your behalf.
Deduct six statutory facility areas
Net area per row = gross area − parking − mechanical − electrical − substation − generator − HVAC rooms
Article 12 excludes these six facility areas from its floor-area definition.
HVAC rooms mean ventilation and heating/cooling control rooms, rather than every occupied room with air-conditioning equipment.
Use the permitted design area schedule to identify each actual facility.
Exclusions exceeding the gross area of the same row produce an input error.
- Do not deduct the entire shared car park once for apartments and again for offices.
- Allocate gross areas and their exclusions consistently across all use rows.
- Enter an explicit zero for absent rooms; leave unknown areas blank to retain pending status.
- Replace initial drawings with the final revised design area schedule when areas change.
An excluded-use row records an exclusion already confirmed with the authority.
Selecting it does not establish a legal exemption.
Keep the documented reason and common-area allocation so later design revisions can be reconciled with the saved report.
2026 standard cost and Seoul/Gyeonggi rates
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notice 2026-25 sets the 2026 overcrowding-charge standard construction cost at KRW 2,392,000/m².
This is the standard referenced by Enforcement Decree Article 12(4), rather than an actual building contract price, price-cap basic construction cost or public rental housing cost schedule.
Outside special and metropolitan cities, apply 95% of this standard, giving Gyeonggi an adjusted unit cost of KRW 2,272,400/m².
Building artwork installation rates for Seoul and Gyeonggi| Category | Seoul | Gyeonggi |
|---|
| Regional standard-cost factor | 100% | 95% |
| Private apartments | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Private other eligible uses | 0.7% through 20,000 m²; 0.5% above | 0.5% |
| National/local government | 1% | 1% |
The apartment rates were checked against Seoul Public Art Ordinance Article 25 and Gyeonggi Building Artwork Ordinance Article 2.
Seoul other-use areas are aggregated before applying its 20,000 m² band; adding a row does not create another band.
Other provinces are not assigned these rates automatically.
National and local governments use 1% for eligible buildings and cannot select the fund alternative.
Do not automatically classify a public corporation as a national or local government owner.
Distinguish the cost year from the final design date
The final design area schedule date and the standard-cost year are separate inputs.
Confirm the year applicable to the first installation-review application and the year applicable to the fund agreement separately.
If the alternatives proceed in different years, using one unchanged unit cost may be inappropriate.
This version supports both cost years being 2026; government projects require only the installation year.
Other years keep amounts pending instead of silently reusing the 2026 figure.
Reconcile an increased final design area or a changed agreement year with the authority.
The calculator does not determine refunds, transition provisions or additional contributions for amounts already paid.
For changes after artwork appraisal, separately check the differential-contribution route in Enforcement Decree Article 13-2(3).
Calculate the installation obligation and the 70% contribution
Statutory basis
Required installation = the sum of net use areas × 2026 standard cost × regional factor × the relevant installation rate.
Split Seoul other-use area into the first 20,000 m² and the excess.
Mixed apartment and other-use buildings retain separate rate calculations before their amounts are added.
Use the statutory amount, rather than a quotation
Private-owner fund contribution = statutory installation amount × 0.7.
Statutory difference = required installation − fund contribution, or 30% of the installation obligation on the same basis.
A lower artist or fabricator quotation does not reduce the contribution proportionally.
This legal difference is separate from actual savings after ancillary and long-term maintenance costs.
How to use the area and cost report
- Select new construction or extension, owner type and location. Unknown values can remain pending with a confirmation checklist.
- Confirm the final design schedule, both standard-cost years and the ordinance applicable to the project.
- Enter gross area and the six exclusions for each use. Separate apartments and other uses, and confirm allocation of shared areas.
- Enter the total installation quotation, separately recognised artwork amount, ancillary costs outside the quotation and annual maintenance.
- Enter additional fund administration cost, holding years and discount rate. Match VAT treatment and cost scopes; retain unknown costs as blanks.
- Review the obligation, recognised-amount shortfall, initial cash and present values, then save the TXT report for pre-application review.
The illustrative example includes assumed confirmations for learning.
These checkboxes are not evidence of authority review for your own project.
Replace values and confirmations with documented information.
Reset restores blank areas and quotations with confirmations cleared.
Worked area examples
A Seoul office with 12,000 m² gross area
Deduct 2,000 m² of parking and assume no other excluded rooms: eligible area is 10,000 m².
10,000 × 2,392,000 × 0.007 = KRW 167,440,000 installation obligation.
The contribution is KRW 117,208,000 and the statutory difference is KRW 50,232,000.
The same Gyeonggi office uses the 95% regional factor and 0.5% rate: KRW 113,620,000 installation and KRW 79,534,000 contribution.
25,000 m² of Seoul other-use area
Apply 0.7% to 20,000 m² and 0.5% to the remaining 5,000 m².
Installation is KRW 394,680,000 and contribution is KRW 276,276,000.
Applying 0.7% to the entire area or resetting the band for separate rows is incorrect.
Add a separately eligible 10,000 m² apartment component at KRW 23,920,000 installation and the combined obligation becomes KRW 418,600,000.
These examples assume confirmed exclusions, use classification and aggregation.
Net areas of 9,999.99 m² and 10,000 m² lie on opposite sides of the threshold.
Use the original area schedule rather than rounding a displayed area to infer eligibility.
The engine retains intermediate precision; nearest-KRW display rounding does not establish an official assessment rounding rule.
Separate the quotation from recognised artwork expenditure
A total quotation exceeding the obligation does not establish that its entire amount qualifies as artwork expenditure.
Identify the treatment of landscaping, structures, transportation, foundations, review documents and VAT in the contract and appraisal materials.
The calculator requests a separately recognised amount and reports any shortfall against the statutory obligation.
It never automatically adds ancillary costs to recognised artwork expenditure or inflates the quotation by the shortfall.
If recognised expenditure is insufficient, costs can still be shown but the alternative choice remains pending.
Recheck the recognition scope, artwork scale and contract with the authority.
A displayed shortfall is not an instruction that additional payment guarantees approval.
A recognised amount greater than the total quotation is an input error.
Compare holding-period costs in present value
Installation initial cash = total installation quotation + ancillary costs outside the quotation.
Contribution initial cash = statutory contribution + additional administration cost.
Nominal installation total = installation initial cash + annual maintenance × holding years.
Installation PV = initial cash + Σ annual maintenance / (1 + discount percent/100)^t, for t=1 through the holding years.
Maintenance is assumed paid at each year end, while the contribution is paid at time zero, so its PV equals its initial cash.
For the Seoul office example, assume an installation quotation of KRW 180,000,000, recognised amount KRW 170,000,000, ancillary costs KRW 5,000,000, annual maintenance KRW 2,000,000 and fund administration KRW 1,000,000.
At 10 years and a 3% discount rate, installation initial cash is KRW 185,000,000 and contribution initial cash is KRW 118,208,000.
Installation PV is approximately KRW 202,060,406 and installation minus contribution PV is approximately KRW 83,852,406.
A positive difference means lower fund cost; a negative difference means lower installation cost under the inputs.
This is not an investment return including art value or tax effects.
At a 0% discount rate, maintenance PV equals nominal maintenance.
At a zero-year holding period, compare initial cash only.
Recurring maintenance is assumed constant; major restoration or irregular spending requires separate assessment.
Neither artwork resale nor a property disposal is assumed to extinguish legal obligations automatically.
Planning scenarios and pre-application actions
Design and financing
Reconcile an initial estimate that missed excluded rooms with the final design basis before changing the funding plan.
Compare supplier quotations using the same statutory amount, areas and VAT basis.
Filling unknown costs with zero can hide a real cash shortfall; retain them on the checklist instead.
Application and completion
Under Enforcement Decree Article 13-2, confirm submission of the contribution plan to both the city/provincial governor and Arts Council Korea, and complete payment before applying for building use approval.
Also check the 180-day period after commencement reporting for Seoul installation plans and Gyeonggi review/contribution plans under their respective ordinances.
Project notices, design changes and required documents can affect practical scheduling; this page does not automatically determine an application deadline.
Installation carries ongoing conservation and management responsibilities.
Document who pays for inspection, cleaning, safety, insurance and repairs, and prepare records for a later owner handover.
Relocation, removal and damage are subject to separate rules; do not treat installed artwork as freely disposable property.
Use the saved area and quotation report to confirm the next fund-plan or artwork-review step with the local culture department.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the building contract price?
No.
The statutory basis is the referenced standard construction cost and eligible net floor area.
Actual contract cost is not a substitute.
Is contribution 70% of the installation quotation?
No.
It is 70% of the statutory installation amount calculated using Annex 2 and the applicable ordinance.
The quotation is used for actual cost comparison.
Does an extension qualify when the combined building exceeds 10,000 m²?
The extension screen uses at least 10,000 m² of added floor area itself.
Confirm its exclusions and aggregation without including the existing part.
Can governments choose fund contribution?
Act Article 9(2) excludes national and local governments from the optional contribution route.
Eligible government-owned projects use a 1% installation rate and have no fund alternative.
Are dormitories and public construction rental housing included?
They are excluded from the apartment category for this scheme.
Confirm the precise permitted use rather than relying on a general housing classification.
Can I just add the shortfall to an insufficient quotation?
The calculator does not assume this.
It flags a recognised-expenditure shortfall for contract and review confirmation.
It guarantees neither approval nor substitute payment.
Can I use this unchanged in other regions or in 2027?
Automatic rates cover Seoul/Gyeonggi and the standard cost covers 2026 only.
Other locations or cost years remain pending until their notices and ordinances are checked.
How are a blank cost and zero different?
Blank means unknown and keeps the affected output pending.
Only explicit zero means no cost.
Comparable scope and sufficient recognised expenditure are also required before a final comparison statement.
Official sources and update basis
Checked 2026-11-04 for the 2026 rule set.
The Culture and Arts Promotion Act, MST279667, took effect 2025-11-11; Enforcement Decree MST284741 took effect 2026-03-24, with Annex 2 text amended 2022-07-19.
Seoul ordinance MST2009863 took effect 2025-01-03 and Gyeonggi ordinance MST1838999 took effect 2023-07-18.
MOLIT Notice 2026-25 was posted 2026-01-13.
Recheck new notices, national rules, ordinances, appraisal recognition and applicable cost years before later use.
Save the area basis alongside both budgets
Enter the final design areas and actual quotations above, then save the TXT report.
Send the confirmation checklist to your architect and local culture department to discuss the precise areas and rates affecting the result.
Continue the wider permitting budget in the building permit cost calculator, keeping overlapping costs from being counted twice.