TNAG-1415-FCO40-1896-Public-finance-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 166

131.

The works for the construction of the supply sub-depot were certified substantially complete in January 1980 and the sub-depot was handed over to the British Forces, although an Inspection Board of the Forces recommended against acceptance of the refrigeration plant as it had not been suitably tested. Also the Principal Government Electrical and Mechanical Services Engineer was unhappy with the performance of the refrigeration plant but nevertheless was forced to take over the operation of the plant because of the urgency of handing over the Argyle Street Camp to the Government. During 1980 and 1981 frequent breakdowns occurred as a result of bursts and leakages which caused loss of refrigerant, temperature fluctuations and water contamination and despite extensive repairs and the replacement of defective parts it was decided eventually in early 1982 that in order to restore normal cold storage operations individual refrigeration units for each of the cold stores should be installed. In 1982 the defective parts of the plant, which included the refrigeration compressors and distributing piping, were dismantled and replaced by a new system at an additional cost of $1.1 million. The dismantled parts of the plant and the associated spares which in total cost approximately $460,000 are now in storage and no new use has been found for them.

132.

An audit review to determine why the refrigeration plant required replacement only two years after it had been installed revealed that the primary causes were that the design of the system was unnecessarily complicated, the time scale for the installation of the cold storage equipment was too short and no time was allowed for testing and commissioning after the completion of the installation. The situation was exacerbated by the inexperience of the Building Services Branch of the Architectural Office on this type of installation and the award of the sub-contract for the central plant to a contractor who was found to lack the necessary technical expertise and practical experience and whose organization and workmanship was poor.

133.

The Director of Building Development has informed me that the cold storage system in this case was the only one of its type ever handled by his department, that this was an unfortunate instance resulting from a number of unfavourable factors and that, with the experience gained, he hopes that such a case will never

The Director has also informed me that

prequalification of contractors is now a normal practice for projects requiring special attention and expertise, and that building services installations are always thoroughly tested and commissioned before being accepted from the contractor. The Director has stated that detailed requirements for testing and commissioning will be included in the General Specification for cold storage and air-conditioning installation which is now being revised, and that the site supervisory procedures have been streamlined.