Latest news with #BuildingsDepartment
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
New law required to cover building repairs in Hong Kong
A parting gift from the retiring chief of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) deserves to be fully explored as a possible way to defuse structural defects that have been compared to 'bombs' lurking in many of Hong Kong's ageing buildings. In an official blog post on his final day as managing director, Wai Chi-sing announced the body was researching legislation to require landlords to form periodic maintenance plans for their blocks and ensure sufficient funds for such work. On June 14, Wai wrote that the URA would also look into creating a new statutory body to supervise building restorations and maintenance. For years, there have been calls for authorities to improve maintenance and inspections. The Buildings Department was criticised in a 2020 Audit Commission report for slow progress in checking old buildings. The pandemic only made things worse and the risks have grown ever more unacceptable. One recent example was in February, when a 79-year-old man was injured by concrete falling from a block of flats in the Causeway Bay shopping district. Building owners failed to follow up on a mandatory building and window inspection notice from 2020. Threats of fines and jail time alone are apparently not enough. Wai's proposal stresses the importance of preventive maintenance by owners, as well as for the authority to act as a 'facilitator'. The move wants landlords to create 'periodic maintenance and repair plans'. New laws or amended regulations would also require them to come up with arrangements for budgeting and contributions to maintenance funds to 'encourage landlords to more actively fulfil their responsibilities'. As Donald Choi Wun-hing becomes head of the URA, the authority faces major challenges. The Buildings Department estimates the number of private buildings aged 50 years or older will rise from 8,700 in 2020 to about 13,900 by 2030. In recent years, building owners have all too often been unaware or unwilling to take advantage of the URA's voluntary assistance schemes. A new approach could lead to laws that are effective by focusing less on punishment and more on requiring owners to participate and plan in a way that ensures buildings remain safe.
South China Morning Post
14-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Should Hong Kong hit Redhill Peninsula homeowners with heavier fines for illegal works?
Hong Kong authorities should appeal against the 'light' penalties imposed on two property owners for erecting illegal structures at their luxury Redhill Peninsula homes, experts have said, warning that the fines are not hefty enough to deter offenders. The specialists weighed in after the two property owners were told to pay more than HK$110,000 (US$14,015) in total after admitting to carrying out unauthorised building works. Their convictions are the first among 30 prosecutions made against landlords of the estate in Tai Tam where rampant illegal structures were found. According to the Buildings Department, the two owners pleaded guilty to carrying out unauthorised building works at Eastern Court on Thursday, with one fined HK$30,000 and the other HK$82,980. Lawmaker Andrew Lam Siu-lo said the sentence, from the view of the public, failed to serve any deterrent effect given the widespread nature of unauthorised works at the estate, although no details had been released about the structures found at the two homes. 'This is not a good message sent to the public regarding the government's crackdown on illegal structures,' he said. 'It shows that no matter how severe the maximum penalty can be, in the end the sentence will be light.'
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
2 owners of luxury homes in Hong Kong fined HK$110,000 over illegal structures
Two owners of luxury homes at Redhill Peninsula have been fined more than HK$110,000 (US$14,015) in total after admitting to carrying out unauthorised building works, the first convictions among 30 prosecutions taken against the landlords of the estate on Hong Kong Island where rampant illegal structures were found. Advertisement A spokesman for the Buildings Department said on Friday evening the two owners pleaded guilty at Eastern Court to carrying out unauthorised building works on Thursday. They were convicted, with one fined HK$30,000 and the other HK$82,980 The maximum penalty for commencing or carrying out building works without first obtaining approval and consent from the department is a fine of HK$400,000 and two years' imprisonment, plus a further fine of HK$20,000 for each day that the illegal structure continues standing. The department revealed the two cases were the first convictions out of 30 prosecutions of owners at the estate in Tai Tam. The spokesman said the owners of the two detached houses concerned were found to have conducted building works without prior approval or consent from the department during a large-scale inspection in September 2023. Landslides triggered by a record-breaking downpour earlier that year had drawn attention to extensive illegal additions at the seaside community, ranging from swimming pools to basement on public slopes.
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Roof Collapse Kills Worker at Construction Site That Lacked Permits
A construction worker died in Brooklyn on Thursday after a roof collapsed at the site of a former steakhouse where demolition work was being conducted without the required permits, according to the New York City Department of Buildings. Around 8:50 a.m., someone at the scene called 9-1-1 about a partial building collapse, the police said. Emergency medical workers found a 43-year-old man trapped under the fallen roof, unconscious. He was in critical condition when he was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he later died, the police said. The worker's name had not been released Thursday evening pending notification of his family. The work site was at the corner of Quentin Road and East 33rd Street in Brooklyn's Marine Park neighborhood. A two-story structure there once housed a restaurant called T Fusion Steakhouse, which has closed. The structural failure happened in a concrete extension behind the building, which had been used for storage, according to the Buildings Department, which is investigating the incident. Workers had been demolishing a walk-in freezer and commercial kitchen, the department said, but no permits for the work had been filed with the city. Utility service to the building was shut off after the collapse, and inspectors with the Buildings Department ordered that the building be vacated and all work ceased. The Fire Department has requested an inspection to determine the building's structural stability, according to public records. The building was bought in 2020 for $1.1 million by LA3223 LLC, which is owned by Larry Leiby Ackerman, according to property records. Since then, the only complaint on file with the Buildings Department about the site before Thursday was one filed last April, warning that balcony doors on the second floor of the vacant building were open to birds and trespassers, and that the backyard was full of garbage. The problems were resolved before inspectors arrived, according to department records, and the complaint was closed. A person who answered the phone at a number listed for Mr. Ackerman hung up when reached on Thursday evening. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
RTHK
23-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Call to minimise fallout from builder's projects ban
A lawmaker says the government had "no choice" but to pull the plug on a major contractor in charge of several public construction projects, saying work-site safety must come first when renewing the registration of Wai-kwok, who represents the engineering sector, also said he hopes authorities would do their best to ensure that existing subcontractors and staff can stay on when projects being handled by the major contractor are passed on to new made the call following an announcement by Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn on Thursday that Aggressive Construction will be removed from the government's list of approved general building contractors from June firm was involved in multiple construction incidents between 2020 and 2023, resulting in five on RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme on Friday, Lo explained why it took the government years to make up its mind."The time taken seems to be quite long, but we have to understand that to deal with such an application is indeed not an easy task," he said."The Buildings Department and the Contractor Registration Committee had to verify all the data submitted and analyse the incidents and the track record of the company, their submission."And they have to interview the authorised signatories and the project directors these really take time and it's not an easy decision."Aggressive Construction has been given one month to wrap up its said the firm is in charge of six public projects, including four housing estates."This, unfortunately, will cause delays for these projects, but I think we've got no choice," he speed up the transition, the lawmaker expects the government to directly engage "trustworthy" contractors, instead of inviting interested firms to lodge tenders.
