Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority will help owners of 40 housing estates undergoing maintenance work to hire temporary reviewers for their projects, after their original consultant came under investigation following the deadly Tai Po fire.
The authority announced on Tuesday that it would launch tenders for the 40 estates that had previously engaged Will Power Architects as their consultant and had already begun maintenance work, as the company was “extremely unlikely” to continue its supervisory duties under investigation.
Last year, directors of Will Power were arrested and the company reportedly ceased operating after the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which killed 168 people. The estate was undergoing large-scale renovation under its supervision.
“The 40 cases have commenced works. They have an urgent need to clarify the completed yet unpaid work costs, as well as to prepare new tender documents to appoint a new consultant for maintenance works,” the authority said.
“The authority will provide a ‘transitional’ service to these cases by assisting them to hire an independent reviewer as soon as possible in the short term to conduct third-party assessments and draft tender documents [for a new consultant].”
The authority said tenders and evaluations would take considerable time if the estates were to appoint new consultants to take over Will Power’s supervisory duties.
It said the reviewer could help assess payments and reduce the risk of owners being sued by contractors.
It added that the reviewer could include details of uncompleted work in the tender documents, helping owners to hire a new consultant under the revamped “Smart Tender” scheme, which will be rolled out in the fourth quarter.
The scheme intends to strengthen support for owners in engaging consultants and contractors to carry out proper building maintenance works, such as requiring a background check on companies.
The authority said estates that had used its services – 37 cases – could hire an independent reviewer for free, and it would bear all the additional costs incurred. It added that it would consider offering a paid service for the remaining three cases in providing technical support.
The authority said it would contact all the affected estates and sign contracts with those accepting the service.
It noted that the owners’ corporation had to convene an owners’ general meeting to approve the independent reviewer recommended by the authority.
The authority said in its statement it had already launched a tender for an independent reviewer for On Kay Court in Ngau Tau Kok because of an “urgent situation”.
The tender will close on Wednesday. The authority said it would strive to complete its tender assessment as soon as possible.
The statement came after the owners’ corporation of On Kay Court reportedly said that the authority had postponed the tender deadline.
The authority earlier explained that it had postponed the deadline by a week as it received inquiries from a number of interested bidders.
