Hong Kong authorities will announce new requirements for contractors to sample and certify the city’s scaffolding nets as early as Thursday, under which every batch of materials sampled on site could be required to pass a fire-retardant test at authorised laboratories after the deadly blaze in Tai Po, the Post has learned.
Insiders said on Wednesday that the government met representatives from contractors and workers on Monday to gather their views on a new set of procedures for sampling and certifying scaffold nets and related materials before installation on building facades.
Development chief Bernadette Linn Hon-ho announced earlier that building authorities would issue new guidelines for scaffolding this week and had ordered the removal of nets from buildings citywide undergoing major maintenance after falsified certificates for plastic mesh were reported.
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A source said the new arrangement would cover protective nets, screens, tarpaulins and plastic sheeting on scaffolds, which would be sampled on site for certification.
The insider said one possible direction would be to require every batch of these materials to undergo fire-retardant tests at authorised laboratories.
Earlier investigations found that the fire at Wang Fuk Court, which killed at least 160 people, began on scaffold nets and spread rapidly through foam boards used as protective materials.