The Development Bureau is reviewing the supervision and acceptance of lift works at Queen Mary Hospital after lift problems disrupted the planned launch of clinical services and delayed the handover of the new building.
The bureau has asked the Architectural Services Department and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to submit reports on their monitoring, supervision and acceptance work for the project. The review will examine whether the work was properly carried out and whether any guidelines were not followed.
Development Secretary Bernadette Linn said the review would also consider whether the system for supervising and accepting such works needed broader improvement. She said she currently believed the matter involved an individual project rather than a confirmed territory-wide problem.
Several lifts in the hospital’s new building were reported to have problems. One report said 24 of the 28 lifts were affected, but that figure has not been independently confirmed in the other reports supplied.
A report said Linn attributed the operating problems to dimensional deviations in the lift-shaft walls, which left insufficient clearance during installation. It did not give measurements or further details about the deviations.
The review is expected to be completed in October. Linn is then expected to brief the Legislative Council’s Panel on Development, with the Panel on Health Services, the Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority also participating or sending representatives.
Repair work was reported to be due for completion in the fourth quarter. The actual completion date, the full acceptance status of the lifts and when related services will be fully restored have not been provided.