The company, Aggressive Construction, lost its licence in 2023 after five workers died in three incidents since 2020.

That year, a worker died after being electrocuted. Then in 2022, a crane collapsed, killing three workers. And in 2023, a worker died in a fall.

During 2024, Aggressive had been ineligible to bid for new public contracts, but continued managing large projects previously won.

Application for renewal refused

Then last month on 22 May, Hong Kong’s Buildings Department kicked off an extraordinary turn of events when it refused Aggressive’s application to renew its licence.

It cited the 2020-23 fatalities and two court cases due to be heard in the coming months concerning the crane collapse and a manslaughter charge.

In making its decision, the authority said it had referred Aggressive’s renewal application to the Contractors Registration Committee and that, after several rounds of interviews, the committee had not been satisfied that Aggressive’s authorised signatories were “competent and capable in site supervision and safety management”.

The department then wrote to the owners of other projects Aggressive was managing, encouraging them to appoint “another suitable registered contractor to continue with the relevant works as soon as possible”.

Then on Monday last week, Aggressive appealed against the Buildings Department’s decision in Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance.

Two days later, last Wednesday, the court temporarily suspended the Buildings Department’s decision pending a two-day hearing on Aggressive’s appeal scheduled for July, South China Morning Post reported.

With Aggressive’s licence in a state of regulatory limbo, project owners, public and private, began terminating the company’s contracts.

The University of Hong Kong made its move last Friday, announcing it had replaced Aggressive on its four-tower “High West Redevelopment” scheme, which will provide accommodation for more than a thousand students and staff.

The university said it had appointed a joint venture of qualified contractors (Chevalier and Great Spirit), who would take on existing labour, subcontractors and suppliers.

It said it expected completion to be “slightly postponed” to the first half of next year.

Housing Authority follows suit

This Monday the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the biggest home-builder in the autonomous region, followed suit by ejecting Aggressive from three major contracts, saying its performance on them was “far below” requirements.

The three contracts are for a 5,200-unit public housing development in Tung Chung Area 100, a 1,000-unit public housing project in Tuen Mun Area 29 West, and the underground link of Pak Tin Estate redevelopment Phase 10.

After Aggressive won its temporary stay last week, the Authority said it was “committed to completing the remaining works, so that people in need can move into the public housing units at the earliest time possible”.

Aggressive’s parent company Great Harvest Group has been contacted for comment.

GCR will report on Aggressive’s appeal hearing next month.