The following press release is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
Following the announcement by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) in May 2020 that it will carry out proactive inspection of the communal drainage pipes for all of its public rental housing (PRH) to tie in with the Government's initiative to inspect the drainage pipes on external walls of target private residential and composite buildings in Hong Kong, the HA released details of the programme today (October 27).
"Under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many members of the public are concerned about the conditions of the drainage systems in their buildings. As a preventive measure, the HA's inspection programme will commence tomorrow (October 28) and is expected to complete in 18 months. It will cover inspection of the drainage pipes of about 1 500 PRH blocks, of which 600 blocks have communal drainage pipes located externally while the remaining 900 blocks involve 410 000 flats with communal drainage stacks located inside the flats," a spokesman for the HA said.
Under the programme, the HA will deploy inspectors to check the communal drainage pipes of PRH, including those inside some of the rental flats. If defects such as pipe leakage and loose pipe brackets or connections are identified, appropriate repairs will be made for the tenants when necessary.
"If unauthorised alterations to the drainage system by tenants are identified, the tenants concerned will be held responsible for undertaking the rectification works required at their own expense," the spokesman said.
"Inspection priority for pipes will be given to those estates/blocks with confirmed COVID-19 cases. For other estates, inspection priority will be determined according to the criteria of the percentage of elderly tenants, the age of estates/blocks, and drainage leakage/backflow history."
If tenants have any questions about the programme or the current condition of their drainage pipe works while waiting for inspection, they can contact the respective estate management office.
"The HA has been proactively inspecting and undertaking immediate repair works for toilets and associated drains of all PRH flats along the same drainage stack with a flat that has a confirmed COVID-19 case. The HA has all along encouraged tenants to take the initiative to report suspected defects of drainage pipes. Meanwhile, through the prevailing Responsive In-flat Maintenance Services, tenants will continue to be provided maintenance and repair works for their units," the spokesman added.
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