Opinion | How to fix fire safety in Hong Kong’s ageing buildings
- The latest wake-up call was a deadly fire in a 60-year-old building that had failed to comply with fire safety orders for years
- One way to solve the problem is for the authorities to directly engage contractors to carry out repairs and then charge building owners a high premium
Some problems seem too big to solve, especially those that have been inherited from the past. Over a long period of time, buildings and structures that were once new start to deteriorate and require continuous upkeep. However, it’s impossible to tear down all the ageing buildings in dilapidated neighbourhoods and start afresh.
Meanwhile, the construction sector evolves and introduces new materials and standards; often, building codes also become more stringent to ensure users’ health and safety.
The result is that around the world, building owners and regulators face a cycle of playing catch-up. Given that it is practically impossible for some buildings to meet every new requirement, however, the authorities might only be able to ask that the best possible measures be implemented.
Here in Hong Kong, despite our government’s fiscal strength and our capable civil service, we have not been able to eliminate the problem of ageing buildings that have not complied with regulations. How many times have we walked into an old building without proper egress routes and functional fire doors, or with blocked stairways?
