The Construction Industry Council (CIC) on Friday said the government's new requirements to only install scaffolding nets that are sampled on site, and pass safety tests at designated laboratories, will help ensure the material quality.

Contractors must also provide fire-retardant certifications by suppliers, while the administration will also carry out spot checks after the mesh nettings are put up.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, executive director Albert Cheng noted that contractors can turn to his council for collective procurement of up to standard nets and testing services in the interim.

Despite the surge in demand for compliant nets, he believes it will not drive up the cost of mesh nets.

"We have dozens of mainland manufacturers. The mesh nets they produce will not only be for Hong Kong, but also for the whole of the mainland," he said.

"This time, we are only collectively purchasing nets for some 200 to 300 buildings. This shouldn’t pose a significant fluctuation to the overall market production capacity."

The government has yet to release a list of designated testing centres, but Cheng expects inspections can also be conducted outside of Hong Kong, as many laboratories on the mainland are also accredited.

As for how the testing is carried out, he said the process has to abide to the International Organisation for Standardisation's requirements, such as the number and size of nets samples.

He stressed the whole batch of nets have to be forfeited even if only one sample fails a safety test.

Chau Sze-kit, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, told the same show the new requirements will allow the sector to be more vigilant.

However, he also expressed concern over the capacity of laboratories to handle the volume of tests due to the high demand.

There has to be supervision to ensure the effectiveness of the requirements, Chau added.