The Fire Services Department (FSD) will conduct inspections at a Tsim Sha Tsui construction site where a fire broke out on March 2, to ensure that fire protection measures are complied with.

The department made the remarks today in response to media enquiries about the No. 4 alarm fire that broke out at the construction site at 11 Middle Road in Tsim Sha Tsui last week.

In accordance with the construction progress of construction sites, FSD officers will conduct inspections and provide appropriate advice based on the Fire Services Ordinance to ensure that the responsible people comply with the requirements in the department's circular letter Fire Protection Measures in Construction Sites, and that the facilities are in efficient working order at all times.

When the facilities are damaged or require a temporary shutdown or alteration, the responsible people should notify the local fire station as soon as possible and put in place appropriate alternative measures.

The circular letter stipulates that construction sites are required to provide water relaying facilities to facilitate the department to speedily fight fires that have broken out in high-rise buildings.

If the requirements are not properly met, the department will issue a fire hazard abatement notice to the responsible people in accordance with the Fire Services (Fire Hazard Abatement) Regulation requiring them to abate the fire hazard within a specified time. Non-compliance may lead to prosecution.

According to the circular letter, a construction site should provide water relaying facilities depending on the height of the building under construction, which requires water relaying facilities if it is 30m or above.

If the design height of the building is between 30m and 80m, the contractor should install a closed-circuit type water relaying system or put in place fire pumps on the appropriate floors.

The contractor should install a closed-circuit type water relaying system to ensure the safety of the construction site if the design height of the building exceeds 80m.

The FSD noted that during a firefighting operation, the water supply source comes from fire hydrants on the street. At the Tsim Sha Tsui site, fire personnel found that the fire pump on the ground floor did not function properly.

The department has already issued a fire hazard abatement notice to the site contractor according to the regulation.

During its last inspection of the site in August last year, FSD officers conducted tests on the water relaying facilities to ensure that they were functioning properly and provided fire safety advice to the site's responsible person.

While the fire is still being probed by the department's Fire Investigation Group, evidence at this stage indicates that the cause of the blaze was not suspicious.