Hong Kong housing authorities are mobilizing engineers and specialists to conduct urgent structural assessments and safety checks across multiple public and subsidized housing estates following a severe fire at Wang Fuk Court. The immediate response, led by the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU), involves taking concrete core samples next week from fire-damaged buildings to determine structural integrity. This initiative is running concurrently with stabilization works, site inspection reprisals, and a broad sweep of safety compliance checks focusing heavily on scaffolding installations citywide.
The investigation at Wang Fuk Court is a coordinated effort involving structural engineers, Housing Department experts, emergency repair teams, and law-enenforcement bodies. They are focusing stabilization efforts on units that sustained the most catastrophic structural damage.
Prioritizing Structural Integrity and Safety Compliance
The proactive safety drive extends beyond the immediate fire site. A specialized review team is actively analyzing materials used in construction and maintenance projects across the region. This included deploying personnel to Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan and Yee Kok Court in Sham Shui Po to collect samples of scaffold netting. Officials have received and are currently reviewing necessary test certificates provided by contractors for these follow-up assessments.
Meanwhile, removal of internal scaffold netting is progressing rapidly at several Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estates. Registered contractors are dismantling these structures at Sui Wo Court (Sha Tin), Ching Lai Court and Yee Kok Court (Sham Shui Po), and On Kay Court (Kwun Tong). Removal has also begun at Fung Wah Estate. Inspectors are scheduled to revisit these locations immediately to monitor compliance and ensure safe procedures are followed during the decommissioning phase.
In the public rental housing sector, the focus is on large-scale maintenance projects. Scaffold netting associated with significant localized repair works at 15 dedicated estates was scheduled for complete dismantling by the end of Dec. 4, signaling a swift resolution to potential safety hazards posed by temporary structures.
Labour Department Intensifies Worksite Inspections
The city’s safety campaign is also being enforced rigorously by the Labour Department, which is focusing attention on construction worksites utilizing large external scaffolds. These inspections primarily target the adequacy of fire safety installations and the effectiveness of emergency response measures designed to protect occupational safety for workers.
The impact of this enforcement has been substantial. As of late afternoon on Dec. 4, department officers had visited 175 construction sites across Hong Kong. These proactive inspections resulted in the issuance of 92 written warnings and 49 improvement notices to contractors found non-compliant with safety regulations. Furthermore, authorities initiated 13 prosecutions against the most severe safety breaches, underscoring the government’s zero-tolerance approach to worksite negligence.
These broad, multi-agency inspections highlight the authorities’ concerted effort to enhance accountability and public safety standards in residential maintenance and construction projects across Hong Kong’s dense urban landscape. The detailed structural analyses at Wang Fuk Court will likely inform future building safety protocols and emergency management strategies for public housing.