45% of fire safety shutdowns run past new 2-month cap after Tai Po blaze
Official figures show 5,674 of 12,558 deactivation notices filed in past two years involved work that lasted for more than two months.
A spokesman for the Fire Services Department told the South China Morning Post that the new rules would also apply to existing notices.
Department figures obtained by the SCMP showed that 5,674, or 45 per cent, of the 12,558 shutdown notices received in 2024 and 2025 involved work that lasted for more than two months.
Of these, 2,663, or 20 per cent of the total, extended beyond six months, while 44 lasted more than a year. It is unclear how many of these projects are still ongoing.
The new rules were part of measures imposed or proposed after last November’s fire at the estate in Tai Po exposed a raft of fire safety and building management problems. The inferno killed 168 people and displaced about 5,000 others.
At present, contractors are only required to notify the department by submitting a shutdown notice after deactivating firefighting systems, for example, for maintenance or renovation work.