Small Hong Kong firms struggling with scaffold net safety costs: contractor
‘Bigger contractors can usually handle the testing process … But for small and medium-sized firms with only one or two projects, it’s much harder,’ representative says
Hong Kong’s construction watchdog should help small firms procure approved scaffolding nets at a lower cost, a leading contractor has said, after inspectors found two sites using plastic meshes that failed safety tests.
Lawrence Ng San-wa, permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub-contractors Association, said on Monday that the industry was concerned about procurement and inspection costs to meet authorities’ new requirements following the deadly Tai Po fire.
He said 50,000 scaffolding nets procured by the Construction Industry Council (CIC), which started arriving in batches last month, would be fully delivered before Lunar New Year.
“Bigger contractors can usually handle the testing process because they have a higher volume of projects. But for small and medium-sized firms with only one or two projects, it is much harder,” he told a radio show.
“If the CIC establishes a whitelist with implementation methods and offers guidelines to facilitate the process, I believe it will make operations much more convenient.
“Contractor associations should also take the lead in coordinating bulk procurement for their members, similar to the CIC.”