Old buildings in need of regular inspection and maintenance

The members of the board. President Lawrence Wong in the center, front row

The Macao Association of Concrete Inspection, Maintenance and Waterproofing announced its inception last week, holding an inaugural ceremony yesterday to welcome its leaders. The association aims to develop durable concrete repair techniques and the best practices for building waterproof concrete.
Association president Lawrence Wong acknowledged that the local government had addressed the issues of building maintenance and repair in 2005. However, he said no relevant solutions were proposed.
“We hope that non-governmental associations take the initiative to promote legislation in this sector,” said Wong, adding that the association can assist the city before the legislative work commences.
Current regulations require local buildings to be inspected once every five years.
According to Joe Eddie Wu, president of the association, condominium communities are both insufficient and inept, given the number of buildings in existence.
“Homeowners will only arrange a meeting to solve certain problems after accidents occur,” stated Wu, adding that “there are between 5,000 to 6,000 existing buildings, but only 200 condominium associations.”
The association says the lack of civil engineers exacerbates these problems, and expects to improve specialized inspection routines by training local civil engineers. Following Hong Kong’s example, this will give the engineers experience in practical work.
The local government launched a series of programs offering funds and subsidies to homeowners for building management, inspection, and maintenance functions. However, due to the lack of mandatory legislation, these programs have thus far yielded only partial results. The association hopes that this will lead to Macau’s adoption of a legal framework similar to that of Hong Kong and Taiwan, so as to prevent future accidents from happening.
According to the Statistics and Census Services (DSEC), there are currently more than 4,200 buildings over 30 years old. The number is expected to increase. Staff reporter