Housing Bureau surveyor leak scaffold net inspection timing, probe hears

A building maintenance surveyor from the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) has been removed from the government directory after a hearing revealed she informed a project consultant of the timing of a fire safety inspection at Wang Fuk Court.

The development emerged during the second day of a public hearing into last November’s fatal Tai Po fire, held on Friday.

The hearing disclosed that the surveyor, who was responsible for overseeing maintenance works in subsidized housing, had notified the consultant of the Wang Fuk Court project one day in advance of tests on the fire-retardant performance of scaffold nets at the estate.

By Thursday evening, the names of Amanda Lau Ka-man and another senior building maintenance surveyor, Andy Ku Siu-ping, were no longer listed in the government telephone directory, although both had remained searchable earlier in the day. It remains unclear whether the two have been suspended, transferred, or simply removed from the directory.

During the hearing, senior counsel Victor Dawes said Lau had sent a message to the project consultant indicating that an inspection would focus on scaffold nets at Wang Fuk Court, following recent inquiries from residents about the condition of the materials.

She subsequently confirmed that the inspection would take place the following day.

Separate messages from contractor staff also indicated prior knowledge of the inspection schedule, stating that ICU officers would arrive to test the netting and verify its condition, asking staff to make sure which nettings were good for checking.

The scaffold netting ultimately passed the inspection.