Key facts
- Hong Kong will replace the Independent Checking Unit with a Public Housing Building Control Section within the next month, per the report.
- Former resident Dorz Cheung, 34, questioned whether the new oversight bodies would prevent another disaster.
- An independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire recommended the changes, per Hong Kong Business.
- Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong said liaison officers would handle homeowners' enquiries and complaints, RTHK reported.
Hong Kong will replace its Independent Checking Unit with a new Public Housing Building Control Section within the next month, the South China Morning Post reported on November 7, 2026, citing former Wang Fuk Court resident Dorz Cheung's doubts about whether the new oversight bodies would prevent another disaster.
Cheung, 34, questioned whether systemic reforms to tackle shoddy building maintenance and bid-rigging could be undermined by poor implementation. "No matter how well the system is reformed, it is people who put it into practice," Cheung said, according to the report.
The reforms follow a deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. An independent committee investigating the blaze recommended the changes, and the government announced comprehensive reforms to the building maintenance industry, RTHK reported.
Deputy Financial Secretary and Acting Secretary for Housing Michael Wong said on Monday that liaison officers would be assigned to handle homeowners' enquiries and complaints regarding future building renovation projects, RTHK reported. The Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit would be decommissioned and replaced by the new section this month, according to RTHK.
The government has allocated HK$100 million in this year's Budget as start-up capital for a new Building Maintenance Support & Services Council, with a further HK$200 million earmarked for fee concessions, Hong Kong Business reported.