Those figures speak for themselves about the scale of high-rise fire risk in Hong Kong’s old buildings. The lessons of the blaze that engulfed seven of eight towers at Wang Fuk Court must be learned and compliance with safety standards effectively enforced.
So it is good that the inspection exercise is being extended for two years until April 2028 as officers continue to check high-risk old buildings or those undergoing renovation.
“Each resident had an average living space of just five square metres, presenting numerous fire safety hazards,” Ho said. Under the new ordinance, which requires subdivided flats to meet minimum standards, owners have until the end of next February to register their flats. Once registered, they get a 36-month grace period to make properties compliant. Ho said the authorities had recently received 11,800 subdivided flat applications.
The law setting minimum standards falls short of expectations that subdivided flats be outlawed for good. A ban is unrealistic at this stage given the size of the market. But compliance and enforcement of better standards should be positive for fire safety.