Director of Architectural Services Michael Li said on Tuesday officials are discussing "smarter" ways to mitigate remedial measures for construction violations by the contractor of three light public housing projects in order to ensure that the projects are delivered on time.

The problem first came to light after officials found that some screws had been cut short without approval, with subsequent checks discovering that holes linking metal panels had been widened at the Siu Lam, Chai Wan and Tuen Mun project sites.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, Li said screws that were shorter than the prescribed lengths offered reduce strength and could pose structural safety risks.

He said many of the building components in the modular integrated construction projects had already been assembled and that the joints were now hidden and hard to access.

The worst-case scenario, he added, would be to take apart all the assembled parts for full checks but that process could take up to five months.

"The most direct solution would be to take all assembled parts apart for full checks, but are there any other mitigation measures?" Li said.

"We're looking at them."

Engineering-sector lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok said the problem looked like a site management problem as it was unlikely for mistakes made by workers at different sites to cause the same issues on three different projects.