Officials are planning to introduce tougher penalties for unauthorised handling of fire service installations following the Wang Fuk Court blaze, a Fire Services Department assistant director said on Friday.

Keung Sai-ming, who’s responsible for licensing and certification, told the inquiry probing the deadly inferno that there was a need to enhance deterrence for anyone violating the Fire Service (Installation and Equipment) Regulations.

Among the proposed amendments are increasing the current maximum penalty of a HK$50,000 fine to introduce a jail term for non-licensed parties that handled fire service equipment.

“The deterrence [of the current penalty] is not enough ... We need to raise [the maximum penalty] quite drastically,” said Keung, the first government official to testify at the hearing.

The independent committee looking into the blaze heard that the fire department is also considering stipulations which require fire services contractors to seek prior approval from authorities before shutting down systems.

Other proposed changes include making property management companies legally responsible for ensuring buildings’ fire safety, and introducing a licence renewal system for fire services contractors, among other things.

One of the key issues throughout the hearing was the shutdown of the main power supply controlling both fire alarms and pumps at the housing blocks, which Keung said was “unnecessary” to drain the rooftop fire water tanks and called it an “elementary mistake”.

He said it was illegal for Wang Fuk Court’s property management company to handle the system, and that he had never seen — in his 30 years of service — the main power supply being turned off by anyone other than a licensed contractor.

Representatives of fire services contractor Victory Fire Engineering, a fire services contractor, earlier testified that they did not submit a shutdown to the FSD after learning that another contractor — China Status Development and Engineer — had turned off the main switches.

He also contended a remark by Victory Fire’s director, who noted it is industry practice to not teach others how to do their job.

“The ultimate goal is to protect a building’s residents,” said Keung.

Keung said the FSD conducts an on-site assessment upon receiving a shutdown notice, but admitted the department does not verify the notice or check whether other fire safety systems are operational.

The committee’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes, asked if it meant the current mechanism relied on the contractor’s integrity to make accurate declarations, to which Keung agreed and said the department could identify other issues through random inspections.

On fire hazards during a major renovation, Dawes questioned why the authorities did not conduct more surprise inspections of fire services systems.

Keung said district fire stations had been conducting inspections for deployment preparations in case of a fire, adding the department planned to step up checks following the deadly blaze.


Edited by Tony Sabine