A government surveyor defended the use of advance notice for site inspections at a hearing about the Wang Fuk Court fire, saying it was necessary for practical reasons and did not compromise oversight.
Giving his statement on Wednesday, Andy Ku Siu-ping, a senior maintenance surveyor from the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit, said he had inspected the estate 10 times, eight of which were pre-arranged.
He said prior notice was required to ensure that registered inspectors would be present to explain on-site conditions and inspection details.
Senior counsel Victor Dawes questioned whether advance arrangements could undermine the effectiveness of inspections, suggesting they might allow contractors to conceal irregularities. He referred to the Wang Fuk Court case, where scaffolding nets were reportedly arranged hastily ahead of inspections, potentially enabling contractors to mislead authorities.
Ku disagreed, saying he had observed registered inspectors checking scaffolding nets during visits and was not aware that they would inform contractors in advance of specific inspection details.
He added that given the large scale of scaffolding at the estate, inspection locations were not disclosed beforehand.
Meanwhile, Ku was asked about video footage shown in earlier hearings that a scaffolding net collected at the site continued to burn beyond 10 seconds during a fire safety test before being extinguished manually. It was understood that the net still passed the fire safety test.
Ku said additional tests were conducted, and in both cases the nets did not ignite, adding that he saw no particular reason for concern at the time.
He said a further round of testing was arranged, involving 12 samples collected from different locations at the construction site.
Ku added that environmental factors could affect test results, noting that used nets might become contaminated with flammable materials on site, increasing the likelihood of ignition.
He said this was why multiple tests were conducted for verification, adding that a single failed result would not necessarily warrant a full replacement of scaffolding nets.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
