HOUSING AND LAND
101
construction, licensing, inspection, testing and maintenance of oil storage installations containing tanks with a capacity in excess of 110,000 litres.
Progress continued to be made in the control of unauthorised building works, with attention being directed mainly at buildings completed after July 31, 1975. The objective is to keep all buildings in this category under regular surveillance, with a view to instituting early action when irregularities are observed. By the end of 1978 the total number of such buildings under observation stood at 2,014. The extension of planned surveillance operations to embrace buildings constructed before August, 1975, was beyond available manpower resources, and statutory action in respect of these buildings was limited to instances of reported infringements which presented a serious hazard. Statutory action generally was directed at contraventions affecting areas of buildings in common use. The more prevalent offences were interference with means of escape arrangements, unlawful construction of balconies and the erection of unlawful structures on rooftops. A total of 1,500 notices were served, compared with 330 in the previous year.
The increased level of activity in the control and enforcement field highlighted a number of problems, of which one of the most frequently encountered was general ignorance of the law. To overcome this particular aspect, a working party was estab- lished to explore ways and means of increasing public awareness of the laws relating to building, and the dangers associated with illegal building works. As a first step, a series of illustrated explanatory leaflets was produced for distribution. These depict the more common types of unauthorised building works and highlight the associated dangers.
In February, 1978, a registered contractor lost his appeal against conviction for the unauthorised erection of a factory building in the New Territories, and the sentence of one month's imprisonment imposed by a lower court was upheld. The case was significant in that it represented the first occasion that a custodial sentence had been imposed for a breach of the Buildings Ordinance. Later in the year, a director and foreman of another construction company were also jailed for one month, having lost their appeals against conviction for offences under the Buildings Ordinance. In this instance, a 14-storey industrial building had to be demolished in 1977 after a life of only seven years. It was declared dangerous by the Building Authority after it was determined that seriously substandard concrete allegedly had been used in the construction.
The Specialist Branch of the Buildings Ordinance Office, comprising the Dangerous Buildings and Works Divisions, continued its principal role of seeking out and dealing with potentially dangerous private buildings, and carrying out building works on behalf of owners who failed to comply with statutory notices. Both divisions were heavily committed following Severe Tropical Storm Agnes in July. Two pre-war buildings partially collapsed in Central District during the storm, and the excep- tionally heavy rainfall weakened a number of other old buildings to the extent that they had to be statutorily closed and subsequently demolished.
Earlier in July, in Western District, the wall of a partially demolished three-storey building collapsed during demolition work, killing three people and injuring a number of others. Following an inquest into the deaths of the three people, a building con- tractor was charged with manslaughter.