The first 3,000 sheets of accredited mesh procured by the Construction Industry Council were distributed on Thursday to 11 contractors working on 19 building renovation projects, according to the council.

In the wake of the deadly Tai Po fire — which broke out on Nov 26 and claimed 168 lives  — the Hong Kong government issued a citywide order to remove all scaffolding mesh from buildings undergoing renovation, and assigned the CIC to procure 50,000 sheets of new mesh to be supplied for use on 418 such buildings.

The first 3,000 sheets of mesh — produced by two suppliers in Guangdong province — passed preliminary quality inspections and gained certifications with adherence to national standards on the Chinese mainland, and were cleared again in a second round of fire-retardant tests after arriving in Hong Kong on Jan 8, CIC Executive Director Albert Cheng Ting-ning told a press conference on Thursday.

Preliminary probes suggested that the fire’s rapid spread had been fueled by substandard, non-fire-retardant mesh, prompting the government to announce stricter accreditation procedures in December to ensure all meshing meets the safety requirements.

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New rules require contractors to present certificates and test reports proving the fire-resistant capabilities of the scaffolding mesh they are using, and to collect samples of the mesh as prescribed by the authorities for testing at approved local laboratories. A pass for all samples is required before any mesh installation can take place, and government inspectors will then perform random checks after the mesh is in place.

Contractors must also set up a government-approved tracking system for each sheet of scaffolding net to verify that those installed on-site are from a lab-tested and accredited batch, in accordance with the new accreditation mechanism.

The CIC paid HK$170 ($21.8) per sheet for the newly procured batch — up from around HK$100 per sheet charged for locally purchased mesh of a comparable quality due to added costs for the two-phase testing and a built-in radio frequency identification (RFID) tracker. “It’s a justifiable expense for proven safety,” Cheng said.

A QR code on each tag allows contractors and inspectors to easily access data on the net’s origin, production batch number, manufacturing date, and its initial and follow-up fire safety test results.

The remaining 47,000 sheets of mesh are due for delivery in early February to serve all locations, according to Cheng.

Though the bulk purchase is a one-off initiative, Cheng gave his assurances that the entire procurement process has been documented and will be formalized into an operational “playbook” to provide private contractors with guidance on compliance protocols, including manufacturer vetting procedures and requisite quality standards.

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Cheng also confirmed that the CIC plans to work with the industry in developing a whitelist of approved suppliers. “We are actively looking for other mainland suppliers that are willing to supply Hong Kong’s contractors going forward,” he said.

Cheng said that the two manufacturers involved in the production of the first batch of mesh sheets were brought onboard quickly and expressed his confidence that the pool of compliant suppliers will continue to grow.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com