9th September 2026 – (Hong Kong) Nine months after the Wang Fuk Court blaze in Tai Po killed 168 people and injured 79, the Buildings Department today laid 259 prosecutions against project consultant Will Power Architects Company Limited, main contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., Limited and four men tied to the estate’s major renovation.
The individual defendants are Will Power director Wong Hap-yin, registered inspector Ng Yeuk whom the firm employed, and Prestige directors Hau Wa-kin and Ho Kin-yip. The summonses allege they permitted or authorised building works using defective materials or materials that did not meet Buildings Ordinance standards; permitted or authorised works whose inspection or method caused injury and property damage; and failed to properly supervise repair works, among other counts.
According to the department, Will Power’s registered inspector did not adequately supervise the prescribed repairs and failed to ensure the buildings were safe or had been made safe. During the works Prestige and Will Power are accused of allowing or authorising non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets and canvas, non-fire-retardant foam boards to block windows, and the removal of staircase fire-escape windows to cut so-called “living mouths” — openings later covered with non-fire-retardant material. Prosecutors say those arrangements let flames spread rapidly and hindered escape, contributing to the death and injury toll.
Prestige told the Buildings Department early this year that it would no longer act as a registered general building contractor, and in February 2026 the department struck the firm from that register under the Buildings Ordinance. Removal from the register, officials stressed, does not wipe criminal or other liability for the company or related persons. Whether or not the registered building professionals are convicted in court, the department said it would still refer them to the relevant professional disciplinary committees for possible disciplinary action.
Under section 40(2A)(a)(i) of the Buildings Ordinance, a person directly concerned with minor works who permits or authorises defective or non-compliant materials commits an offence. Section 40(2B) makes it an offence to carry out, authorise or permit minor works in a manner that injures anyone or damages property. Conviction on those tracks can bring a fine of HK$500,000 and 18 months’ imprisonment. Section 40(2AE) hits registered inspectors who fail to give proper supervision of prescribed repairs that are minor works with a fine of up to HK$150,000, while section 40(2AF) targets registered inspectors or registered general building contractors who fail to ensure buildings under their prescribed repair minor works are safe or have been made safe — again carrying a maximum of HK$500,000 and 18 months inside.