LCQ17: Fire safety of old industrial buildings, commercial buildings and residential buildings
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Question:
Last month, a No. 4 alarm fire broke out on several storeys of an industrial building in Kowloon Bay, which had been sub-divided into mini-storages. The fire has caused two firemen to die on duty, and has once again, aroused concerns among various sectors about the fire safety hazards in three types of buildings (namely, old industrial buildings, commercial buildings, residential buildings) and mini-storages. The inter-departmental working group led by the Security Bureau has rolled out follow-up actions, including inspections conducted by the Fire Services Department (FSD), the Buildings Department (BD), the Lands Department (LandsD) and the Labour Department (LD) on all mini-storages and similar premises in Hong Kong for any breach of the provisions under existing legislation. These departments will inspect in the first month the 154 mini-storage units located in 86 industrial buildings without automatic sprinkler systems, and then inspect in the subsequent month the 487 mini-storage units located in 259 other industrial buildings. It has been reported that the mini-storage units in which the fire broke out has previous records of breaching the Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123) and fire safety requirements. Moreover, the media have uncovered that there are people living in mini-storages installed with separate electricity meters in industrial buildings, but such premises are full of fire hazard traps including locked escape doors, the absence of automatic sprinkler systems and narrow corridors, etc.. There are comments that stepping up inspections alone cannot resolve the fire safety problems relating to mini-storages located in old industrial buildings. Unless cooperation of mini-storage tenants has been secured, fire personnel basically cannot inspect the locked mini-storages. As such, mini-storages may have already become dangerous goods stores. However, the authorities have no counter-measures at this moment and therefore it is impossible to eliminate potential fire safety hazards. In addition, some Members of this Council have opined that the inter-departmental working group should consider amending the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) to bring old industrial buildings aged over 30 years within the ambit of the Ordinance directly, or consider enacting a Mini-storages Ordinance, etc.. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of the aforesaid three types of buildings in Hong Kong which are without automatic sprinkler systems; if it has, of the details, together with a breakdown of the number by District Council (DC) district and use of building; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether it will introduce legislation to make it mandatory for the aforesaid three types of buildings to be installed with automatic sprinkler systems; if it will, of the details (including the legislative timetable); if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether it knows, among the buildings mentioned in (1), the number of those the rooftops of which cannot bear the weights of fire services water tanks necessary for automatic sprinkler systems, together with a breakdown by DC district; whether it has studied if it is technically feasible to install such water tanks at other parts of the buildings (e.g. underground); if it has studied, of the outcome;
(4) whether it knows the reasons, apart from the problem of insufficient load-bearing capability of the rooftops, for the buildings mentioned in (1) not being installed with automatic sprinkler systems;
(5) how the authorities will follow up buildings in which automatic sprinkler systems cannot be installed due to technical problems and provide assistance to the owners concerned to ensure the fire safety of such buildings;
(6) whether it will introduce legislation to require the installation and purchase of other fire prevention equipment (e.g. dry sprinkler systems, fixed fire-fighting installations, fixed fire pumps, portable fire-fighting equipment, etc.) for those buildings in which automatic sprinkler systems cannot be installed; if it will, of the details (including the legislative timetable); if not, the reasons for that;
(7) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of operators, among those of the existing mini-storages in Hong Kong, who have been warned, prosecuted or imposed an encumbrance (i.e. with the warning letters issued to them being registered at the Land Registry) because their premises failed to meet fire safety requirements; if it has, of the details, together with a breakdown of the numbers by DC district; if not, the reasons for that;
(8) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of operators, among those of the existing mini-storages in Hong Kong, who have been warned, prosecuted or imposed an encumbrance because their premises have breached the Buildings Ordinance; if it has, of the details, together with a breakdown of the numbers by DC district; if not, the reasons for that;
(9) among the cases mentioned in (8), of the number of cases in which the operators concerned had completed the rectification works within the deadline and had received confirmation by BD that the works had been completed; the number of cases in which the rectification works had not been completed within the deadline, and whether it knows the reasons for that; whether and how further follow-up actions were pursued in respect of such cases;
(10) given that most mini-storages are currently locked up by the tenants, how the authorities know during inspections whether inflammable and dangerous goods are stored in the mini-storages;
(11) apart from requiring mini-storage operators to take measures to prevent their tenants from storing dangerous goods in the mini-storages, of the authorities' other means to prevent mini-storages from being used as dangerous goods stores; whether they know the places in Hong Kong where members of the public can store dangerous goods legally;
(12) how the authorities will take law enforcement actions upon uncovering during inspections that someone is residing in a mini-storage; whether they uncovered such cases in the past five years; if they did, whether they have instituted prosecutions against the operators concerned; if they have, of the details and the number of such cases; if not, the reasons for that;
(13) of the respective numbers of regular and surprise inspections conducted by the relevant government departments on mini-storages in the past five years, together with a breakdown by DC district; whether non-compliant cases were uncovered during the aforesaid inspections;
(14) if it has reviewed whether FSD and BD currently have sufficient manpower to cope with the additional work of conducting inspections and taking follow-up actions on mini-storages; if it has reviewed and the outcome is in the negative, whether it will increase the manpower concerned; if it has not, of the reasons for that;
(15) of the workflow for the inspections being conducted by FSD, BD, LandsD and LD on mini-storages and similar premises in Hong Kong, and how these departments coordinate their work among themselves;
(16) regarding cases of non-compliance involving mini-storages uncovered during inspections, how the authorities will impose punishments on the operators concerned; whether they will increase the penalties stipulated in the existing provisions to enhance the deterrent effects; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(17) when it will submit to this Council concrete proposals for regulating mini-storages, and whether there is a legislative timetable; if there is not, of the reasons for that; and
(18) whether it will consider setting up a "subsidy scheme for the maintenance of fire safety facilities for buildings" to provide subsidies to owners/owners' corporations for the installation and maintenance of fire safety facilities for their buildings; if it will, of the details, if not the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Consolidated replies to various parts of the question are as follows:
(1) to (6) Buildings of all types shall comply with the fire and building safety requirements applicable at the time they were completed, as well as other applicable statutory requirements. FSD will examine the plans of building works of the relevant buildings or premises according to the requirements of the Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123), and require the provision of necessary fire service installations and equipment in the building or premises according to the Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Service Installations and Equipment. Prior to March 1973, the Code of Practice did not mandate the installation of sprinkler systems in industrial, commercial, composite and domestic buildings.
As revealed by the territory-wide industrial building survey conducted by FSD in Hong Kong in 2010, a total of 358 industrial buildings have not installed any automatic sprinkler systems in Hong Kong. These industrial buildings are mainly located in Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Wong Tai Sin, Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan districts.
According to the records of BD, there are around 1 870 old commercial buildings constructed or with their plans of building works submitted to the Building Authority for approval before March 1987, and about 13 000 old composite or domestic buildings in the territory. FSD does not keep separate statistics on the numbers of such old commercial and composite buildings equipped with automatic sprinkler systems.
FSD and BD do not have any breakdown information on whether the rooftops of individual old buildings could bear the loading of the fire services water tanks for automatic sprinkler systems. From their experience in enforcing the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance (Cap 502) and the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572), FSD and BD understand that owners or occupiers of the buildings concerned may not be able to fully comply with the requirements stipulated by the departments, e.g. installation of water tanks, due to difficulties in coordinating among owners the fire safety improvement works, or the structural or spatial constraints of their buildings. FSD and BD will, without compromising basic fire safety, adopt a flexible and pragmatic approach in handling individual cases. For example, FSD and BD will, having regard to the circumstances of individual buildings and information provided by authorised persons such as the height and spatial constraints of the buildings, consider enforcing certain requirements with flexibility or accepting alternative proposals put forward by the owners.
(7) to (9) and (13) Upon receipt of complaints or referral cases about mini-storages suspected of breaching fire or building safety requirements, FSD and BD will conduct inspections and follow up on the non-compliance cases. Nonetheless, the two departments do not keep separate statistics on irregularities identified in mini-storages.
On another front, in general, when LandsD receives complaints or referrals, or suspects breaches of land leases, it will conduct site inspections and, in light of the actual circumstances of the cases and the terms and conditions of the leases concerned, determine whether there are any breaches of land leases. If breaches are confirmed, LandsD will take appropriate lease enforcement actions. Whether individual mini-storages are in breach of lease conditions cannot be generalised and depends on the actual operation of the mini-storages concerned and the terms and conditions of the relevant leases of the lots. If the relevant land leases specify that only “industrial” use is permitted on the lot, the operation of any godown, including mini-storage, is in general in breach of the land leases. For industrial buildings whose land leases specify that “industrial and/or godown” use or “godown” use is permitted on the lot, mini-storages are in compliance with the use stipulated in the land leases. According to records, from January 2014 to June 22, 2016, LandsD issued warning letters to the owners of six industrial building units regarding the operation of mini-storages in breach of land leases. The industrial buildings concerned are located in Kwun Tong (one), Yau Tsim Mong (three) and Tsuen Wan (two). In three of the cases (one in Kwun Tong, and two in Tsuen Wan), as the owners failed to rectify the breaches before the deadlines, warning letters were sent to the Land Registry for registration, commonly known as “imposing an encumbrance”. In the other three cases, the unit owners applied to the District Lands Offices concerned for short term waivers to temporarily relax the restrictions in the land leases. The applications concerned are being processed.
LD conducted over 350 regular and surprise occupational safety and health (OSH) inspections of mini-storages in the past five years. LD does not keep breakdown of these inspections by District Council districts. Besides, LD took out two prosecutions in the past five years for contravention of OSH legislation by mini-storages located in Kowloon City and Tai Po.
(10), (11) and (14) to (16) Any person who stores dangerous goods in excess of the quantities exempted by the Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations (Cap 295B) is obliged to obtain a dangerous goods licence from FSD, or to store the goods in a store already granted with a dangerous goods licence.
Upon receipt of complaints about over-storage of dangerous goods, FSD will send its personnel to conduct an investigation. FSD may, with reasonable suspicion, enter the premises for inspection under the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap 95). FSD will continue to combat illegal activities regarding over-storage of dangerous goods through enforcement actions. In order to enhance public awareness of safe storage of dangerous goods, FSD will from time to time remind operators of different industries about the importance of safety management of dangerous goods.
On the other hand, FSD, in collaboration with the relevant departments including BD, LandsD and LD, has begun inspecting mini-storages in the territory to check if there is any breach of the existing statutory requirements. The inspections will first target mini-storages located in industrial buildings without automatic sprinkler systems, before covering other mini-storages. It is expected the whole inspection operation would take around two months.
During the inspections, the FSD personnel will pay attention to whether any dangerous goods are stored, and will obtain relevant information from the operators. For any breaches of the Fire Services Ordinance or the Dangerous Goods Ordinance identified during inspection, FSD will institute prosecution against or issue a Fire Hazard Abatement Notice (FHAN) to the person(s) concerned under the relevant provisions. Any person who stores dangerous goods in excess of the exempt quantity under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance is liable to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. In addition, if a person whom a FHAN is served fails to comply with a requirement of the notice within the period specified in the notice, he could be liable to a fine of $100,000, and to a further fine of $10,000 for each day during which the offence continues.
On identification of unauthorised building works, BD will issue orders for removal of such works under the Buildings Ordinance. If the removal orders are not complied with without reasonable excuse, the owners could be liable to a fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for one year, and to a further fine of $20,000 for each day during which it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the offence has continued. For any breach of OSH legislation identified, LD will handle the case in accordance with the laws, and any breach of OSH legislation is liable to a fine of up to $500,000 and imprisonment for up to 12 months.
FSD and the relevant departments have also met with major operators of mini-storages in the territory, asking them to take all possible management measures as soon as possible to improve fire safety of mini-storages.
Currently, FSD and BD take up the extra workload arising from inspections and follow-up actions on mini-storages through internal deployment of manpower. The two departments will review the need of additional manpower in a timely manner and apply for additional resources required under the existing mechanism.
(12) From the commencement of the territory wide inspection of mini-storages on June 28 to July 10, 2016, BD has not found any cases of inhabitance in the mini-storages. If inhabitance or other irregularities are identified, BD will take follow-up actions in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance and the prevailing enforcement policy, including issuing removal and/or discontinuation orders to the owners. In case of non-compliance with the orders, BD will instigate prosecution against the owners concerned, as well as consider applying to the court for a closure order to close down the premises and arranging for government contractors to carry out the necessary rectification works, and recover the cost of the works, supervision charge and surcharge from the owners upon completion.
From the perspective of land lease, it is generally stipulated in the leases of industrial buildings that the lots concerned shall only be used for “industrial” purpose or “industrial and/or godown” purpose. If the industrial buildings are used for other purposes (such as residential purposes), such uses are not in compliance with the relevant lease conditions. LandsD will take appropriate lease enforcement actions in conjunction with the enforcement actions taken by BD under the Buildings Ordinance.
(17) The inter-departmental working group led by the Security Bureau will consider how to amend the law in order to strengthen the regulation of fire safety of mini-storages. The working group will consider various legislative approaches, and upon resumption of the Legislative Council (LegCo), report progress to the relevant Panels as soon as practicable, with a view to putting forward legislative amendment proposals within the next LegCo session.
(18) In order to assist owners of private buildings in conducting maintenance and repair of their buildings, the Urban Renewal Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society and BD have been operating various financial assistance schemes for owners in need. Those schemes include the Building Safety Loan Scheme, the Integrated Building Maintenance Assistance Scheme and the Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Elderly Owners. Fire safety improvement works have been incorporated into the list of works eligible for subsidies or loans under these schemes. The application procedures of these schemes have also been streamlined, such that the owners may apply for multiple schemes by completing a set of application forms under the Integrated Building Maintenance Assistance Scheme.
Ends/Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:58
Issued at HKT 17:58
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