Person who was not a registered inspector fined for certifying prescribed inspections under Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme
A person who was not a Registered Inspector (RI) was fined $10,000 at Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Courts on September 21 for certifying prescribed inspections in respect of the projections of two premises under the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS).
Statutory notices were issued requiring the owners of the two premises in Mei Foo Sun Chuen to appoint an RI to carry out a prescribed inspection and, if necessary, prescribed repair in respect of the projections of the premises, under section 30B(5) of the Buildings Ordinance. At the same time, statutory notices requiring the owners to appoint a Qualified Person (QP) to carry out a prescribed inspection in respect of windows of the premises under the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS) were issued under section 30C(4) of the Buildings Ordinance.
The Buildings Department (BD) later received specified forms of MBIS and MWIS from a person who claimed that he was an RI and a QP. In these specified forms, the person confirmed that the inspections were completed, the projections and windows of the premises concerned were safe and no repair was required.
The specified forms of MBIS were selected for audit checks and it was found that the person was only a QP but not an RI. The BD instigated prosecution of the person, who pleaded guilty and was fined $10,000 on September 21.
A spokesperson of the BD reiterated that any person other than an RI certifying a prescribed inspection under the MBIS is a serious offence. The BD will conduct audit checks on the inspection and completion reports and certificates in the specified forms submitted by the RIs in order to ascertain that the inspections and repairs have been carried out in accordance with the regulation and the guidelines issued by the BD. If irregularities by the service providers are found, the BD will consider instigating prosecution or disciplinary actions against them.
Pursuant to section 40(2H) of the Buildings Ordinance, any person other than an RI who, without reasonable excuse, certifies a prescribed inspection (other than a prescribed inspection in respect of a window in a building), or certifies or supervises a prescribed repair (other than a prescribed repair in respect of a window in a building), in respect of a building commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for six months, and to a further fine of $5,000 for each day that the offence continues.
Ends/Friday, October 14, 2016