Sin Fong Garden | Construction companies ordered to pay compensation to gov’t

The Court of First Instance (TJB) has ruled in favor of the government in the case against the companies involved in the construction of the Sin Fong Garden building.
In the ruling, the TJB ordered the companies involved in the construction as well as those with the duty of supervising the construction to pay compensation of over 38 million patacas.
According to a statement from the Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI), all of the involved, including the company that performed construction works in the land plot contiguous to Sin Fong (Soho Residence), were considered to be responsible for the structural damages caused to the building, leading to the subsequent need to demolish it.
The court noted that the penalty enforced on the contractor of the Soho Residence was determined by the fact that the concrete used in Sin Fong was of inferior quality, and came to the conclusion that the method of placing piles in the Soho Residence building lot also contributed to the structural problems of Sin Fong, which was believed to be at risk of collapsing.
Due to such risk, the authorities have required the residents of the building to abandon their houses and to be relocated to other places at the government’s expense, since 2014.
The judgment from TJB noted that it took into account the approximately 13 million patacas that the government has spent in consolidation works to prevent the Sin Fong building from collapsing and put the residents and other citizens at risk, as well as 25.4 million patacas spent by the Social Welfare Bureau to relocate the residents from the building over the years.
The courts also noted that, in addition to the government, several property owners of the building have jointly submitted a legal action in the courts against the builders of the Soho Residence lot seeking compensation for the damage caused to six housing units and four parking spaces.
The court notes that such a process is still pending.
In the same statement, the Office of the president of TUI also remarked that no lawsuit has yet been filed at the TJB regarding compensation for the cost of rebuilding the Sin Fong building.