HF Raises Preferential Guarantee Rate for Companies with Excellent Safety Management

- Toughening penalties for companies with poor construction quality or safety accidents, while introducing higher guarantee rates

Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF, CEO Kim Kyung-Hwan) announced on November 28, 2025, that it has enhanced its project financing (PF) guarantee system to help prevent major industrial accidents at construction sites. The improvements include increasing preferential guarantee rates for companies with strong safety management practices, strengthening penalty measures for companies with poor construction quality or safety incidents, and introducing an additional guarantee rate.

The initiative follows the government’s “Comprehensive Plan for Labor Safety” and “Detailed Financial Risk Management Plan for Serious Accidents,” both announced in September. By applying a mix of incentives and penalties, the new system aims to foster a more robust safety culture across construction sites.

Key improvements include raising the preferential guarantee rate for companies with excellent safety management (those with high ESG evaluation grades*) from 0.1% to 0.15%. HF is also reinforcing the penalty system used during guarantee reviews by factoring in poor construction quality, safety incidents, and the occupational fatality rate,** while implementing a new guarantee rate.

* Companies that receive 90 points or higher in the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s (KOSHA) performance evaluation for industrial accident prevention in the construction industry, or companies certified under the KOSHA-MS safety and health management system

** Number of occupational fatalities per 10,000 workers

HF CEO Kim Kyung-Hwan stated, “We will continue encouraging companies to strengthen their preventive efforts to reduce serious accidents at construction sites. As a public guarantee institution, HF remains committed to supporting the establishment of a strong accident-prevention culture across society.”.