Registered General Building Contractor disciplined for being convicted by court of offences relating to building works
The Registered Contractors' Disciplinary Board has completed a disciplinary inquiry and decided that a Registered General Building Contractor (RGBC) under the Buildings Ordinance (the Ordinance) shall be disciplined for being convicted by the court of offences relating to building works.
The Board ordered the respondent, the RGBC, to be reprimanded and to pay the costs of inquiry of the Board and the Building Authority in the sums of $101,200 and $40,100 respectively. The Board's decision was published in the Gazette today (November 11). Details are available at the following link: www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20162045/egn201620456341.pdf .
The respondent was convicted on November 4, 2010, and April 14, 2011, of 22 site safety offences related to building works at the construction site at a commercial building at Kowloon Station Development under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59). Most notable was the offence in 2009 in which a wall-mounted platform in the construction site collapsed, which led to the loss of lives of six workers.
After the conduct of the disciplinary hearing, the Board made the above decision and order in December 2015 in accordance with sections 13(4)(c), 13(4A) and 13(6) of the Ordinance.
A spokesperson for the Buildings Department emphasised that contractors registered under the Ordinance may be disciplined if they are convicted by any court of an offence relating to building works. They may be liable to criminal prosecution if they commit other offences under the Ordinance.
Ends/Friday, November 11, 2016