The owners’ corporation of a Hong Kong housing complex devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades failed to convince renovation workers to use fire-resistant materials due to the absence of statutory requirements, a public inquiry heard.

Tony Tsui Moon-come, chairman of the management committee of the incorporated owners of Wang Fuk Court at the time of the fire, said on Friday he and other residents were “helpless” when trying to compel contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering to replace flammable polyfoam boards with corrugated plastic sheets after the estate’s exterior overhaul began in July 2024.

Tsui, who became chairman in September that year, said Prestige insisted that the law did not prohibit the use of flammable materials, nor did it require any fire-retardant items to be certified before use.

He said he and other committee members only managed to persuade the contractor to purchase fire-resistant boards in the later stages of the HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) project, but those already in use would not be removed.

“We did our utmost to push for that, but we couldn’t find anything in Hong Kong law to justify our demands. We were very helpless,” Tsui said.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court last November resulted in 168 deaths and left nearly 5,000 others displaced.