A fire contractor that notified the government about deactivating Wang Fuk Court‘s fire safety systems did so despite never conducting inspections at the estate, the firm’s director has said.
Hearings into the deadly Tai Po blaze in November continued on Wednesday with testimony from Leung Ping-kay, a director of China Status Development and Engineering, one of the two fire safety contractors at the estate.
Leung appeared at City Gallery, where the hearings held by an independent committee tasked with investigating the fire are taking place. He answered questions from lawyers about his firm’s involvement in overseeing fire safety at Wang Fuk Court.
He said the company was tasked by Prestige Construction & Engineering, the main contractor for the large-scale renovation project at the estate, to apply to the Fire Services Department (FSD) to shut down the fire hydrant and hose reel system so that water tank maintenance could be carried out.
China Status applied for shutdown notices for Wang Fuk Court’s eight blocks between April and September last year, filing for a total of 85 extensions as each shutdown lasts a maximum of 14 days under FSD rules. Wang Tai House and Wang Chi House had 16 extensions each, while the other six blocks had between five and 13.
Leung signed off on the notices as one of the company’s directors.
When Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, the independent committee’s lead lawyer, likened their work procedure to a “rubber stamp,” Leung stayed quiet but appeared to agree.
He confirmed that neither he nor company personnel went to Wang Fuk Court to understand the proposed maintenance work or the necessity of disabling the fire hydrant and hose reel system.
Dawes pulled up conversations from a WhatsApp group that comprised Leung, his colleague Daisy, and a man from Prestige surnamed Cheung.
Dawes showed screenshots of the group, consisting mostly of files sent by Daisy of the shutdown applications and corresponding notices to be placed in buildings to inform residents about fire safety systems being disabled.
The lawyer pointed out that Leung never raised questions about the maintenance work or its progress.
When Dawes asked why, Leung said the group was “just for sending documents.”
Leung also said he did not know who was actually carrying out the water tank maintenance. He said Prestige may have sub-contracted workers from another firm, but that he never asked.
‘Responsibility’
The investigative hearings began in mid-March, with dates scheduled on almost every weekday until the end of April.
Prior to Leung’s testimony, representatives from other parties presented their evidence, including staff at Victory Fire, the other fire safety contractor hired by Prestige.
Workers from ISS EastPoint Properties – Wang Fuk Court’s estate management company – also testified, with an electrician saying that he turned off main switches in all eight buildings because he thought it was necessary ahead of water tank maintenance.
He said he was not aware that doing so would also deactivate fire alarms. That the alarms did not go off has been blamed as one of the reasons for the high death toll in the fire, which killed 168 people.
On Wednesday, Leung asked Dawes whether they would have turned the main switch back on if personnel from his company had noticed that it was off. Leung said he believed they would have.
“If [your company] had lived up to its responsibility as a registered fire installation contractor and did an inspection… the fire alarm system would not be turned off,” Dawes said.
Leung said that might not “absolutely” have been the case.
After being pressed, he admitted that his company bore some responsibility for the fire alarms not working on the day of the blaze.
Shutdown notifications
During the hearing, Dawes also read out parts of a letter issued by the FSD to contractors in January 2021 on revised procedures for handling the shutdown of fire safety installations.
Fire safety contractors are required to notify the FSD of shutdowns of fire safety equipment if work is expected to be carried out overnight or for more than 24 hours continuously, under the rules.
Dawes highlighted the part of the letter that stated the shutdown duration should be capped at 14 days each time, and that shutting down fire safety systems “for a prolonged period should be avoided.”
Leung said he was aware. He also confirmed that the company had already been punished once in late 2021, after it failed to inform the FSD about a suspension of fire safety equipment that lasted more than 24 hours at a building in Kwai Chung.
When asked by Dawes whether the company reviewed its procedures after that, Leung said this was handled by another colleague.
Leung concluded his testimony on Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that he would be the only person testifying from China Status.
Dawes asked why another director, surnamed Yim, would not be testifying despite providing a comprehensive written submission that was useful to the committee. Leung said he was not sure why.
The hearings will continue on Friday.
