The legal team for an independent committee examining the cause of Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire has recommended that authorities gradually phase out bamboo scaffolding in favour of metal replacements, among other proposals ranging from legislative reform to measures to curb bid-rigging. The suggestions were outlined in 627 pages of closing submissions from the…
A Hong Kong court has fined a flat owner HK$180,000 (US$23,160) for wilfully removing a load-bearing wall without approval as part of a HK$1 million modification of his new home. Magistrate Lau Suk-han said on Monday that owner Ku Chun-ho bore responsibility for checking whether removing one of the three walls in his 681 sq…
Shortcomings in Hong Kong’s building regulations could complicate efforts to prove manslaughter in the Tai Po housing estate blaze that killed 159 people, according to legal and construction experts. Police have arrested 21 people so far, including 15 for alleged manslaughter, after authorities found flammable foam panels and nets that were not flame-retardant on the…
Authorities have ordered scaffold netting to be removed at about 200 locations across Hong Kong by Saturday after suspected false safety certificates were found at two building sites following the Tai Po blaze that claimed 159 lives. A week after Hong Kong’s worst inferno in decades, police on Wednesday arrested six men from the company…