3 arrested over missing fire-safety parts in 48 Hong Kong lifts, source says

Hong Kong police have arrested a director and two registered lift engineers on suspicion of deception in connection with faulty replacement works on 48 lifts at two housing estates, the South China Morning Post has learned.

A source said on Friday that the three suspects were from Taizoom Elevator, which replaced nine lifts at Tsui Ping (North) Estate in Kwun Tong and 39 lifts at Pok Hong Estate in Sha Tin.

One of the suspects was a 79-year-old director and shareholder of Taizoom. The other two were registered lift engineers, aged 63 and 82, respectively.

The arrests came a day after the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said its inspection, triggered by a complaint, found that Taizoom had installed fire-resistant doors without the required door frame components at the two estates.

The department said the contractor had submitted a fire-resisting rating certificate and claimed it had completed the works.

Suspecting fraud and false statements, the department reported the case to police.

The insider said officers raided the company’s office in Chai Wan, and the investigation had found that the outstanding components were “critical smoke control devices”.

“The registered contractor and the registered engineer responsible for inspecting the lifts allegedly concealed the construction defects intentionally and falsely reported to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the owners’ corporation that the works were completed in accordance with the contract,” the source said.

The case has been referred to the regional crime unit for New Territories South.

According to the department’s quarterly performance rating for lift contractors, Taizoom scored three out of five in service quality and had the same score in safety performance as other companies.

The deficiencies came to light two months after 24 of the 28 lifts in Queen Mary Hospital’s new 34-storey clinical block were deemed unfit for use.

Law Wing-chai, a registered lift engineer involved in the hospital project, was sentenced to 160 hours of community service last month after being convicted of submitting misleading documents and improperly issuing safety certificates.