Hong Kong lift contractor faces fraud probe after fire-rated door frames were left out of 90% of its lifts
Hong Kong's Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said Monday that Taizoom Elevator is suspected of fraud and false statements after inspectors found fire-resisting door frame parts missing from about 90% of the lifts it installed, even though the firm filed fire-rating certificates and reported the work complete.
The department's statement, reported by the South China Morning Post, also pointed to preliminary evidence of serious negligence and misconduct. Police opened a case in October and arrested a 79-year-old director and shareholder of Taizoom Elevator Company (HK) Limited and two registered lift engineers, aged 82 and 63, on suspicion of fraud, The Standard reported. Police said the two engineers had examined the installations and certified the safety paperwork. None of the three has been convicted.
The case started with complaints and unannounced inspections at two Tenants Purchase Scheme estates: 39 replacement lifts at Sha Tin's Pok Hong Estate, finished between May 2025 and July 2026, and nine at Kwun Tong's Tsui Ping (North) Estate. Taizoom submitted fire-resistance certificates for the doorsets but installed only the doors, without the matching frame components, then reported the jobs complete. Police described the missing frames as smoke-blocking parts required by fire safety specifications. The department said the lifts can still run safely.
A citywide check of Taizoom's work followed. By Oct. 19, inspectors had found missing frame components in 338 buildings, roughly 90% of those inspected, The Standard reported. Taizoom has to pay for the retrofits, which run under the department's supervision with help from trade bodies and other registered lift firms. Checks on lifts installed by other contractors had turned up no similar gaps.
Detectives searched the company's Chai Wan office and took estate files, staff records and meeting minutes. The Housing Authority, which still owns unsold flats in both estates, told owners at a third estate, Fu Heng in Tai Po, to hold off awarding their lift modernization contract.
Why it matters: Paperwork certified a fire-rated assembly whose frames were never installed. On any rated opening, check every installed part against the tested assembly before you sign off or pay. A certificate alone does not show what went in.
Sources
- Three arrested over missing fire door frames in public estate lift overhaulThe Standard, Oct 16
- Missing lift door frames found in 338 buildings handled by Taizoom, EMSD saysThe Standard, Oct 19
- Hong Kong lift contractor under probe for fraud over missing fire-safety framesSouth China Morning Post, Nov 9