The recent fire tragedy at a residential tower during a maintenance project in Hong Kong has several lessons for the Australian building industry to learn from and act on. With the 168 fatalities, this incident has been described as the worst fire event in Hong Kong in nearly 80 years.
Spinifex is an opinion column. If you would like to contribute, contact us to ask for a detailed brief.
There is now stronger evidence challenging the hypothesis that using bamboo scaffolding was the major cause of the tragedy.
Experts and the media gradually shifted their focus to the use of a non-fire-retardant safety net on the scaffolding, as well as their misuse of highly flammable foam boards to block windows.
Is it the material or the system to blame?
Subsequent reports pinpointed two plausible scenarios that led to the use of non-fire-resistant netting products.
First, the contractor chose cheaper alternatives because they had to pay extra to replace the nets damaged by a typhoon a few weeks before the tragedy.
Second, when multiple contractors faced the same issue and rushed to meet targets, it exposed deeper supply-chain vulnerabilities: a scarcity of certified products in the market and inadequate quality assurance measures.
How is this incident a learning lesson for Australia’s building industry?
The big lesson to learn may not necessarily be linked to fire, but to the risk created when industry rushes to “meet targets” and fail implement ideal risk mitigation.
In Australia, when federal and state governments set bold housing targets, some stakeholders tend to overreact and fight for funding and grants to render “support”.
But for whom? There is rarely sufficient support for the construction industry, and the businesses at the frontline of delivering on the targets to ensure best practice.
Modular construction has several advantages over traditional construction for its ability to systematise delivery of housing to a particular standard.
But while Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) like Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) and Volumetric Modular Construction (VMC) are touted as game-changers for speeding up the construction process, does Australia have a robust supply chain to support this industry?
Because the level of risk mitigation and compliance with standards very much depends on the inputs it can source for its processes, in the same way as any business must rely on its supply chain.
The latest IBISWorld statistics indicate that Australia’s modular construction sector might be gradually reducing its reliance on imports.
However, no evidence shows that our domestic manufacturers have a magic wand to significantly boost output to a level that could meet government targets.
Yet if the industry is to rely on imported prefabricated products, it needs to manage the potential for non-compliance, which is one of the biggest risks.
As we can see in the case of the Hong Kong fire, builders and developers are under pressure to accelerate housing delivery, timeframes can face critical constraints in modular construction projects with conditions that can be hard to predict.
In addition, the wide diversity of overseas suppliers, each with different designs, materials, and product specifications, poses substantial challenges for regulators, inspectors, and contractors in conducting rigorous quality assurance.
If pressure to deliver fast housing results in a failure to implement best practice compliance and risk management we could be exposing ourselves to tragedies.
This can be countered by government measures, such as effective enforcement of regulatory quality requirements and the national voluntary manufacturer certification scheme.
We need an inventory of endorsed suppliers
Industry-led strategies can also contribute to achieving ideal objectives.
Among these, developing an inventory of endorsed suppliers could represent a breakthrough solution. Similar approaches have been adopted in other contexts, including Sustainability Victoria’s Buy Circular Directory, which provides a curated list of endorsed suppliers of recycled products.
More suggestions to prevent mission drift can also be found in the position paper that the RMIT Post Carbon Research Centre submitted to the Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria.
Among its recommendations are:
- Regulatory quality requirements of the prefabricated products are suggested to be introduced in the National Construction Code (NCC)
- Setting housing targets should not ignore the voices of frontline construction companies and prefabricated products manufacturers.
- Further support to improve the productivity and business environment for domestic prefabricated products manufacturers.
- Further support for the construction sector to source qualified prefabricated products and introduce more effective methods for modular construction.