【明報專訊】THE WANG FUK COURT FIRE exposed fatal flaws in scaffolding nets, prompting the government to unveil a new regulatory regime that introduces a three-tier control mechanism for flame-retardant performance—in theory, enough to ensure every net meets the mark. Yet years of corner-cutting, safety breaches and bid-rigging scandals have made it painfully clear that the trade harbours far too many bad actors. Tweaks and patches alone will not cleanse the rot. The authorities must break through vested-interest barriers, put the industry through a proper spring-clean, and crack down hard on slackness while rooting out corruption—or public trust will not return.
The Development Bureau and the construction sector yesterday (11 December) announced a new control regime for external scaffold netting, built around three main pillars: first, contractors must provide valid certification and test reports on the netting's flame-retardant performance; second, once the nets arrive in Hong Kong, a prescribed number must be randomly sampled under government procedures and tested at designated laboratories before use; third, regulators will conduct on-site random checks after deployment.
To prevent tampering or switching of materials prior to installation, every procurement batch must undergo third-party random sampling, with the entire process recorded on video. If even one sample fails to meet the approved standard, the contractor must scrap the whole lot. To ease the transition, the Construction Industry Council will bulk-buy compliant nets, aiming to bring the first approved batches to market within about a month.
Past practice on flame-retardant checks for scaffolding nets was not merely inadequate — it was perfunctory. Contractors often accepted certificates at face value, rarely probing authenticity or retesting flame resistance. Local building-materials retailers note that non-retardant and flame-retardant nets differ markedly in weight and density—strong evidence that some traders have been deliberately mixing the two. The public is right to believe the industry is perfectly capable of proper checks but chooses not to, or worse, wilfully deceives, then blames mainland suppliers when scandals erupt, posing as "innocent consumers" duped by others.
Since the Wang Fuk Court blaze, forged fire-resistance certificates for scaffolding nets have surfaced one after another. Now comes another scandal: a subcontractor on Princess Margaret Hospital's expansion project is allegedly falsifying calibration certificates for vibration monitors. In construction, forgery kills.
Closing loopholes matters, but the higher the bar, the sharper the crooks. Unless the prevailing culture of sloppiness propped up by blind luck is broken and corruption uprooted, bad actors will continue to thrive. Even if the authorities patch up the scaffolding-net regulatory system, the next disaster may already be looming. The government must show political will, clean up the trade, clamp down hard on malpractice and stop shielding wrongdoers.
明報社評2025.12.12：害群之馬為數難低估 整頓建造業政府有責
宏福苑大火暴露棚網安全問題，政府公布監管新制度，就棚網阻燃效能，設定三重把關機制，理論上可確保棚網符合阻燃標準。然而，這些年來一系列偷工減料及罔顧安全事故，還有圍標斂財等問題，確實令人覺得業界害群之馬未免太多，單是制度上的修修補補，不足以正本清源。當局必須敢於打破利益藩籬，從嚴整頓行業、打擊苟且腐敗行為，否則無法恢復公眾信心。
發展局與建造業界昨天公布監管外牆棚網新制度，重點大致有三：一是承建商必須提供棚網阻燃效能的證明書和檢測文件；二是來貨抵港後，必須按政府要求，以指定方式隨機抽取指定數目樣本，通過政府指定的檢測中心的檢測，方能上架；三是棚網上架後，執管部門會實地隨機抽樣覆核。
為防棚網上架前有人「做手腳」或魚目混珠，當局要求每個訂購批次皆要安排第三方隨機選取棚網，整個取樣過程要以錄像記錄，任何一個樣本不符合認可標準，承辦商都要將整個範圍內的物料移除。為了讓業界有足夠時間適應新做法，過渡期內，由建造業議會集體採購合規棚網，以求約1個月內，首批棚網完成檢測程序後陸續上架。
以往業界對於棚網阻燃檢測，不是「零把關」，也是非常馬虎。承建商採購棚網，往往收下一紙證書就了事，既不深究文件真偽，亦不就棚網是否符合阻燃標準再做檢測。有販售棚網的本地建材店東指出，不具阻燃能力及具阻燃能力的棚網，在重量及密度上有明顯分別，相信坊間有人會刻意「溝網」。外界完全有理由相信，業界並非無能力把關，只是懶得做，甚或存心魚目混珠，問題鬧大了，就把責任推給內地棚網供應商，彷彿自己只是「受騙」的「無辜消費者」。
宏福苑大火後，棚網阻燃證書接連被揭造假，近日又爆出瑪嘉烈醫院擴建工程有分判商懷疑偽造監測震動儀的校正證明。有些行業的造假足以害命，而建造業正是其中之一。
當局反思制度是否存在「空子」防範害群之馬，固然重要，然而道高一尺，魔高一丈，若不匡正業界苟且僥倖文化、切實斬斷腐敗之根，害群之馬繼續肆意妄為，就算當局修補了棚網監管制度，未來還有可能鬧出其他重大事故。政府必須拿出政治決心，從嚴整治業界，遏抑行內歪風，而不是給業界護短。
■Glossary 生字 /
prescribe : state authoritatively or as a rule that (an action or procedure) should be carried out
tamper : to make changes to sth without permission, especially in order to damage it
dupe : to trick or cheat sb
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