Lawmakers and engineering sector leaders have called for a review of Hong Kong’s building inspection mechanism and a blacklist to bar errant contractors from government tenders, after a developer said half of the city’s first privately built “starter homes” project will be demolished due to shoddy steel work.
The government should review the inspection regime and increase its supervisory manpower, lawmakers and engineers said on Friday, calling for inspectors to be stationed at construction sites of privately built subsidised housing estates rather than relying on spot checks.
The call came after the Buildings Department said on Thursday it had approved property developer CK Asset Holding’s plan to tear down and rebuild three of the six blocks at the Anderson Road development in Kwun Tong, with remedial work continuing on the rest.
Earlier investigations found that the steel reinforcement in parts of the towers diverged significantly from approved plans, with fewer reinforcement bars used than required.