A fire contractor who notified the government of the deactivation Wang Fuk CourtFire Safety Systems did this despite never carrying out inspections at the property, the firm’s director said.
Hearings into the deadly Tai Po fire in November continued Wednesday with testimony from Leung Ping-kay, a director of China Status Development and Engineering, one of two fire safety contractors on the property.
Leung appeared at the City Gallery, where hearings are being held by an independent committee tasked with investigating the fire. 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 property, 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 closure notices for eight blocks of Wang Fuk Court between April and September last year, filing a total of 85 extensions as each closure 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 the notices as one of the company’s directors.
When senior counsel Victor Dawes, the independent committee’s lead lawyer, compared their working procedure to a “rubber stamp”, Leung remained silent but seemed 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 deactivating the fire hydrant and hose reel system.
Dawes extracted conversations from a WhatsApp group consisting of Leung, his colleague Daisy and a Prestige man surnamed Cheung.
Dawes showed footage of the set, consisting mainly of files sent by Daisy of shutdown applications and the corresponding notices that would be placed in buildings to inform residents about the deactivation of fire safety systems.
The lawyer noted that Leung never raised questions about the maintenance work or its progress.
When Dawes asked why, Leung said the group was “only for sending documents”.
Leung also said he did not know who was actually carrying out the maintenance of the water tank. He said Prestige may have subcontracted workers from another firm, but he never asked.
‘responsibility’
of investigative hearings began in mid-March, with dates scheduled almost every weekday through the end of April.
Before Leung’s testimony, representatives from the other parties presented their evidence, including staff IN Fire of Victorythe other fire safety contractor employed by Prestige.
Workers from ISS EastPoint Properties – Wang Fuk Court’s property management company – also testified, with an electrician saying he turned off the main switches in all eight buildings because he thought it was necessary before water tank maintenance.
He said he was not aware he would do that also disable fire alarms. The failure to raise alarms is blamed as one of the reasons for the high number of victims from the fire, where 168 people lost their lives.
On Wednesday, Leung asked Dawes if they would have put the master switch back on if personnel from his company had noticed it was off. Leung said he believed they would.
“If (your company) had fulfilled its responsibility as a registered fire installation contractor and carried out an inspection … the fire alarm system would not have gone off,” Dawes said.
Leung said that might “absolutely” not be the case.
When pressed, he admitted that his company bore some responsibility for the malfunctioning fire alarms on the day of the fire.
Closing Notices
During the hearing, Dawes also read portions of a letter issued by FSD to contractors in January 2021 on revised procedures for handling shutdowns of fire safety installations.
Fire safety contractors are required to notify FSD of shutting down fire safety equipment if work is expected to be carried out at night or for more than 24 hours continuously, according to the rules.
Dawes highlighted the part of the letter which said the duration of the shutdown should be limited to 14 days at a time and that shutting down fire safety systems “for a long period should be avoided”.
Leung said he was aware. He also confirmed that the company had already been fined once in late 2021 for failing to inform the FSD of a suspension of fire safety equipment that lasted more than 24 hours at a building in Kwai Chung.
When asked by Dawes if the company reviewed its procedures after that, Leung said it was handled by another colleague.
Leung concluded his testimony on Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that he would be the only person to testify from China Status.
Dawes asked why another director, surnamed Yim, would not testify despite providing a comprehensive written submission that was helpful to the committee. Leung said he wasn’t sure why.
The hearings will continue on Friday.
