Hong Kong authorities to probe 42-storey hotel development after site found to have used steel bars meant for separate project
- Buildings Department announces probe shortly after a concern group alleged problematic construction practices at the site
- Reports show construction at hotel’s 29th to 39th floors used steel bars originally intended for industrial building project
Hong Kong authorities will investigate a 42-storey hotel development in Tsim Sha Tsui after the site was found to have used steel bars intended for a separate project.
The Buildings Department revealed the investigation on Saturday shortly after public affairs concern group Chinat Monitor alleged there were problematic construction practices in the project to redevelop the former Mariners’ Club into a hotel.
“If it is found that a person or the registered contractor has breached the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance, the Buildings Department will take follow-up actions seriously, including instigating prosecution and/or disciplinary action,” it said.
The department said it had told the site’s registered structural engineer to submit relevant test reports after receiving complaints about the quality of the project’s steel reinforcing bars between last September and November.
Test reports for 17 batches of reinforcing bars were found to have complied with the approved plans and regulations with “no irregularity” in their quality.
But authorities said one of the batches involving the construction of the 29th to 39th floors of the hotel were revealed to be originally intended for an industrial building project on Ta Chuen Ping Street, Kwai Chung.
The hotel’s building professionals told the government that the bars in question had been sampled and tested in accordance with the construction standards at the Kwai Chung site, and some were delivered to and used at the Tsim Sha Tsui site.