Letters | Building renovation management should not be entrusted to laymen
Readers discuss the law that makes owners responsible for common parts of buildings, the opening of the Chinese Medicine Hospital, and a robot’s record-breaking feat of endurance
I wholeheartedly agree with your correspondent’s observation that voluntary owners’ corporations with neither training nor expertise are ill equipped to oversee repair projects. In my humble opinion, this is the most fundamental systemic failure leading to the Tai Po fire tragedy.
The concept of common ownership of common parts is wholly unsuitable for the modern world, where multi-storey skyscrapers housing hundreds and thousands are abundant.
That idea might work for small estates, the management of which could be handled by people with no related expertise, essentially laymen, or who are retirees. These days, however, an estate easily consists of multiple blocks with thousands of units. A government-mandated renovation project in one of these estates can amount to tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.