Owners of a private housing estate in Tuen Mun have voted overwhelmingly to terminate their renovation contract with Prestige Construction and Engineering Company – the same contractor responsible for works at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, in the aftermath of the deadly blaze At a general meeting held on Friday night at Elegance Gardens, 96.45…
Strengthening risk oversight in major maintenance projects in the wake of the deadly Tai Po fire is a top priority for Hong Kong lawmaker Julia Lau Man-kwan, who represents the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape sector. In an interview with the Post, Lau, who is also president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, pledged…
There are matters we need to sort out quickly arising from the Tai Po fire tragedy but also systemic issues that need to be tackled if we are to avoid a repeat of the disaster. The fact is that Hong Kong faces two sorts of ageing problems: old buildings and the old people who live…
Hong Kong’s development chief has vowed to tighten building safety laws to punish those exploiting loopholes, warning that authorities will show no leniency towards the construction sector that has come under public scrutiny after the deadly Tai Po fire. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also said on Saturday that the government would take over…
The Hong Kong Bar Association has proposed introducing targeted legislation to criminalise bid-rigging and make key construction safety guidelines legally binding, following the city’s deadliest fire in seven decades. The association formed a task force to review existing legislation after the Tai Po fire last month, with one of the preliminary goals being to criminalise…
Ambiguous rules, lax supervision and uncoordinated policies involving at least four departments are among some deep-rooted problems contributing to the inferno that killed 160 residents in Hong Kong, analysts have said, as the Post reviewed what went wrong. Some industry insiders also questioned whether housing authorities, who oversee a lesser-known independent checking unit, should have…
Hong Kong authorities and professional bodies have stepped up investigations into the city’s deadliest fire in decades and started taking disciplinary action against any parties found to have breached regulations, the Post has learned. The probes follow last month’s blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, which killed at least 160 people, including…
Hong Kong police have expanded their investigation into allegedly fake scaffolding net safety certificates to four more estates, following the earlier discovery of such documents at two housing sites that prompted a citywide removal of mesh netting. The force said on Monday evening that it had received reports of the allegedly fraudulent certificates at the…
A scaffolding net sample from a large Hong Kong housing estate produced flaming droplets and ignited a fire in a lab experiment despite passing the authorities’ safety standards, a test commissioned by the Post has found. The findings have prompted calls from experts to review the standards set for the nets and improve the existing…
Hundreds of property owners in Hong Kong are grappling with uncertainties after 29 private buildings and estates were ordered to suspend renovation work carried out by a contractor linked to the deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court and two other firms. Residents at three of the estates told the Post they had already spent millions…