Contractors’ botches lead to bans on bidding for Hong Kong public projects

Contractors at the centre of construction botches at three Hong Kong light public housing sites last year have been banned from bidding for public projects for up to a year, the government has said.\nThe firm responsible for overseeing work quality, Able Engineering, has also been ordered to pay the extra costs for fixing the problems. It also faces a disciplinary hearing for alleged “serious negligence or misconduct in the construction works”, and a possible criminal investigation by police.\nThe punitive measures followed a government probe into building problems at the three sites in Siu Lam, Tuen Mun and Chai Wan, completed last November.\nNotices had been served to the companies involved about the sanctions imposed on them, the Development Bureau said.\nThe cases came to light last September when authorities discovered a construction violation at the Siu Lam project during an inspection the previous month.\nThe issue involved at least 23 screws connecting formwork used for casting the concrete core walls. They were found to have been cut short without approval.\nAuthorities subsequently inspected two other sites in Tuen Mun and Chai Wan managed by the same contractor, Able-Chun Wo Joint Venture. Similar violations were discovered.\nAuthorities said the problem was limited to on-site screw installation and had nothing to do with the Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) method used, where pre-finished modules are built in factories and then assembled on-site into complete buildings.\nThe structural safety of the blocks was unaffected, authorities said.\nUnder the bureau’s measures, announced in a statement on Friday, Able Engineering will be banned from bidding for public work projects for a year.\nAble’s business partner in the project, Chun Wo Construction and Engineering, was not penalised because authorities were satisfied its role was to provide advice on construction planning and was not involved in the site works or supervision.\n\nThe company hired by Able to provide and manage resident structural engineers, C M Wong and Associates, was also banned for one year from bidding for government projects.\nA six-month ban was imposed on the government-hired project management company, Wong Tung and Partners.\n“The six-month suspension period was set with due consideration that not all of the project sites under its management were discovered with deficiencies in supervision,” the government said.\nThe Architectural Services Department (ASD), meanwhile, also asked Able to carry out remedial measures and bear all the related costs.\n“In addition, should the remedial measures result in any delay in the contract completion dates, [Able] will be liable for liquidated damages,” the statement said.\n“Moreover, the [ASD] has required [Able] to replace all site supervision personnel, including site agents, works supervisors and resident structural engineers.”\nThe department has also strengthened its supervision by deploying full-time government staff to monitor the sites and has arranged for its structural engineers to conduct additional on-site spot checks and audits to ensure strict quality control for the projects, according to the statement.\nIt added: “Based on preliminary evidence, Able is suspected of serious negligence or misconduct in the construction works. The [ASD] told the Building Authority to refer the case to the Registered Contractors’ Disciplinary Board.”\nIn the worst case, Able may have “its directors, senior personnel, or individuals” removed from the relevant registers.\n“As the investigation revealed that the incident may involve criminal acts of providing false statements, the [ASD] has already reported the case to the police,” the statement added.\nKenny Tse Chi-kin, vice-president of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, said the heavy sanctions showed the government took it seriously.\n“Given the current market environment, it is a rather big blow to a company if it cannot bid for government work for a year,” he said.\nTse also called for tighter site supervision and more workers’ education.\n“Sometimes, the workers try to get around things for convenience or to save time. When they see that some screws do not fit their corresponding pre-drilled holes or there is a gap, they will use their own ways to fix it instead of reporting to the site supervisors.\n“Given a properly devised safety factor, the structure will not collapse just because of several substandardly installed screws. But we can’t be too careful when it comes to building safety.\n“The site managing team should step up inspection and also brief the workers on the workflow or what they should do when they encounter unexpected problems,” Tse said.\n