On March 18, the contractor performing renovations on the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong sent a cease-and-desist letter to residents demanding them to stop posting “false” statements about the company online. Eight months later, at least 151 people died at the apartment complex as fire spread across the safety netting used to cover scaffolding and protective styrofoam panels installed around windows to support renovation, engulfing the complex in flames.
Wang Fuk Court is a subsidized housing complex located in Taipo, in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Completed in 1983, it contains eight residential blocks, each 31 stories high, and roughly 2,000 residential units. Prestige Construction and Engineering Company (宏業建築工程有限公司) was hired to renovate the complex in early 2024, primarily to retile the facade and update drainage and fire safety systems.
A preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, attributes its rapid spread to illegal, sub-standard netting and flammable foam panels that were installed by Prestige to facilitate construction work on the buildings’ exteriors. Following Super Typhoon Ragasa in September, Prestige deceived government inspectors by replacing the higher-quality, fire-resistant netting only at the bottom of the building where they knew samples would be taken. Elsewhere, cheaper mesh was used. After the fire, officials found that this cheaper mesh did not meet fire safety standards. Although these specifics came to light after the fire, residents of Wang Fuk Court have been concerned about materials used and Prestige’s track record for many months, social media posts show.
Ever since Prestige won the renovation contract, Wang Fuk Court’s community Facebook page has been flooded with complaints about the cost, safety and transparency of the project. As Reuters previously reported, residents complained back in September of last year about the flammability of the styrofoam screens that Prestige used to cover the windows. Domino Theory found more evidence of this in the Facebook group. One resident presented research into which kinds of foams would be safer alternatives. Another complained about the community not being consulted by Prestige over the use of styrofoam panels to seal the windows, as opposed to transparent ones that are often used instead.
Some residents even created their own “inspection” group to monitor the renovations and the leadership of the estate because their needs were being overlooked. “[It] is time to reform the old‑style governance of the Corporation [homeowners’ committee], which has been more concerned with its own rules than residents’ needs,” one resident said.
Posts in this Facebook group also reveal that residents were concerned about hiring Prestige to do the renovations in the first place. On January 28, 2024, the homeowners’ committee held a meeting to decide which contractor to choose out of 57 bidders, and Prestige was chosen. Residents voiced their concerns in the Facebook group shortly after, indicating that at least some residents knew that Prestige was facing disciplinary action from the Labour Department around that time. Throughout February 2024, residents posted more details on Prestige’s past offenses, including two safety-related convictions that occurred as recently as November 2023.
On February 26, one resident blamed the homeowners’ committee for not allowing the residents to ask questions and receive transparent answers during the January 28 meeting. In the same post, the resident pointed out that the report submitted to the homeowners’ committee by Will Power Architects (鴻毅建築師有限公司), the consulting company hired to help carry out the renovations, documented Prestige’s record only up until July 2023. This means that its most recent offenses weren’t taken into consideration. Multiple residents voiced a theory that unauthorized ballots were submitted during the meeting on January 28 to give the contract to Prestige.
When residents filed complaints with the Buildings Department and the Urban Renewal Authority about the validity of Prestige’s license and its ability to carry out renovations, their concerns were dismissed.
In the ensuing months, residents would issue more complaints to the Labour Department and the Fire Services Department about the safety of the materials used by Prestige in the renovations. These were also dismissed.
Residents successfully ousted the homeowners’ committee in September 2024. And they continued to express their frustrations in the Facebook group.
“We hereby demand the immediate removal of all untrue posts and comments relating to us from all public online platforms,” the cease-and-desist letter from Prestige reads. “Failure to comply with this demand may result in legal action.”
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