“The bureau has also instructed [the operator] to carry out a comprehensive inspection for the entire project (including households and common area not affected by the incident) according to the bureau’s established procedures and relevant regulatory requirements,” a spokesman said.

“The bureau will continue to closely follow up on the incident.

“There are numerous projects in the territory constructed using the Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) approach with assured standards. The water seepage in this case is not related to MiC.”

The technique employs free-standing and integrated modules from a mainland Chinese factory that undergo quality inspections before being installed at the project site.

The construction of T-Loft@Kai Tak commenced in December 2022 and was completed in February this year with residents moving in a month later. The four-storey complex has 519 flats and houses about 1,460 residents. The project cost about HK$280 million (US$36 million).

MiC has been widely applied in government projects in recent years, including temporary housing covering transitional homes and light public flats.

Housing Secretary Winnie Ho Wing-yin earlier announced that the government had secured enough land to meet its target of 21,000 transitional flats by early next year, with 13,600 already in operation.

Authorities have said they aimed to complete 84 transitional public housing estates by 2024-25, with more than half of the promised flats set to be located in the New Territories.

The Post earlier reported that photos taken by residents showed visible water stains at the bottom of walls, with mildew and mushrooms sprouting out of them. The water damage had also caused several floor tiles to come loose.

During rainy days, corridors half open to the elements were covered in water puddles, forcing residents to place sandbags against their doors to prevent water from flowing into their flats.

The bureau said the operator had immediately ordered the architectural consultants and contractor of the project to make rectifications and improvements as soon as possible.

The repair works on the water pipes were completed in early May, while pipe inspections and rectifications were finished between June and July for all 40 flats where workers were granted entrance by the households, it added.

It said repairs for about 60 affected flats had been carried out as of the end of July.

“The operator has been liaising with the remaining 20 or so households, who were unable to let maintenance staff in earlier for inspection or repairing, to arrange the date and time for entering their units, to carry out rectification works as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.

“The operator has targeted to complete all rectification works by September this year. It is learned that a small number of tenants refused to let maintenance staff in for rectification works.”

Ho urged the remaining households to cooperate with the operator to allow the repair works to be conducted smoothly so that the problem could be solved as soon as possible “to avoid mouldy walls and other conditions that may affect the living environment as a result of the delayed works”.

“Generally speaking, as long as the affected households responded, the contractors will be able to arrange and complete the works within one week,” she said.

Ho also said in her social media post there were many projects built with the MiC technique in Hong Kong and the method’s quality was guaranteed, stressing that the water seepage was unrelated to the building process.

“T-Loft@Kai Tak is a four-storey low-rise building with a direct water supply system, which is different from high-rise buildings with water tanks. When the water pressure in the water supply system fluctuates more than expected, additional pressure-reducing devices have to be installed to stabilise the water pressure,” she explained.

“The relevant works were completed on July 30 and no further water seepage problems have been reported by the residents so far.”