Hong Kong officials identify 11 possible causes of roof collapse at sports centre
But the Buildings Department has not assigned blamed and questions about the nature of the greening project remain unanswered
The Buildings Department has identified 11 possible causes for a roof collapsing at a City University sports centre but says it is too early to draw conclusions or assign blame.
A preliminary report published on Friday said one factor may have been the use of construction material that was not specified in the original design.
While the CityU report focused on miscalculations by the contractor regarding the roof’s loading limit, the department looked at other possibilities, including poor workmanship, design failures and the use of substandard materials.
Apart from the building, drainage and structural plans of Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre, buildings officials also examined contract documents for the greening project, interviewed relevant personnel, and even studied rainfall records between September 2015 and May this year.
A detailed inspection of the collapsed roof, however, was not possible as stabilisation works were still under way to prevent the complex from toppling. The accident on May 20 injured three people and raised questions about the safety of such environmental projects on other buildings across the city.