The government of Hong Kong has said it will form a task force and tighten rules to improve construction quality after a number of structural defects in residential buildings had come to light.
Development secretary Bernadette Linn announced the plans when asked about deviations from approved plans in steel reinforcement at two residential projects in the Legislative Council.
Not mentioned in the council meeting was the earlier discovery of around 30 substandard columns at the under-construction Tung Chung railway station, a project commissioned by transport operator MTR Corporation.
Under the new regime, contractors will not be allowed to subcontract the entire works of public sector projects, and two-tier subcontracting limits will be introduced for particular building categories.
Project timeframes will be confirmed before tendering to avoid delays, while “unreasonably low bids” will be filtered out.
In January next year, rules around steel reinforcement and concrete casting will be tightened. Contractors will have to take pictures of steel reinforcement before concrete is poured and submit them to the special administrative region’s Buildings Department for checking.
From June this year, site managers will have to wear video cameras during inspections.
A new task force assembled by the Construction Industry Council will review the factors affecting construction quality and offer practical solutions to improve standards.
Whistleblowing methods will be bolstered by coordinating with the construction and engineering sectors on how to share information and improve disciplinary actions.
Later this month, changes to Hong Kong’s Buildings Ordinance will be submitted to the Panel on Development, recommending “substantially” increasing the maximum fines for offences, expediting disciplinary hearing cases and tightening registration requirements, such as shortening renewal periods.
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