Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority will help owners of 40 housing estates undergoing maintenance work to hire temporary reviewers for their projects, after their original consultant came under investigation following the deadly Tai Po fire.
The authority announced on Tuesday that it would launch tenders for the 40 estates that had previously engaged Will Power Architects as their consultant and had already begun maintenance work, as the company was “extremely unlikely” to continue its supervisory duties under investigation.
Last year, directors of Will Power were arrested and the company reportedly ceased operating after the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which killed 168 people. The estate was undergoing large-scale renovation under its supervision.
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“The 40 cases have commenced works. They have an urgent need to clarify the completed yet unpaid work costs, as well as to prepare new tender documents to appoint a new consultant for maintenance works,” the authority said.
“The authority will provide a ‘transitional’ service to these cases by assisting them to hire an independent reviewer as soon as possible in the short term to conduct third-party assessments and draft tender documents [for a new consultant].”
The authority said tenders and evaluations would take considerable time if the estates were to appoint new consultants to take over Will Power’s supervisory duties.
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