Inspector failed to spot illegal alterations, Hong Kong fire probe hears

A Hong Kong building inspector mistook illegal alterations to emergency staircases at a housing estate ravaged in a deadly fire for protective measures on “broken” windows, because he based his assessment solely on documents and did not carry out a site visit, a public inquiry has heard.Senior maintenance surveyor Nick Yung Siu-lun, the head of the minor works team of the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit, said on Thursday he thought the wooden boards used to cover the temporary openings at Wang Fuk Court’s eight buildings were designed to protect the original non-fire-rated windows due to be replaced with fireproof panels during a HK$336 million (US$43 million) renovation project.He told an independent committee that he did not realise the windows had been deliberately removed to give workers access to scaffolding when he inspected photos of the modifications in a document review in May last year.