Macau, 1 August 2019

The communal electrical installations in buildings are jointly owned by property owners, who are responsible for arranging regular inspection and maintenance for the installations to ensure their own personal safety. However, property owners often overlook the importance of regular inspection, resulting in the prolonged lack of regular maintenance, repair and replacement of the buildings’ communal electrical installations. As a result, there has been frequent occurrence of short-circuit faults and even fires.

In view of this, in July, CEM co-organized seminars on “Responsibility and Maintenance regarding the Communal Electrical Installations in Buildings” with the Working Committee for Buildings and the Building Management Resource Centre of General Residents Association of Macau (UGAMM), the Macau Institution of People's Alliance (API), the Property Management Business Association Macao (PMBA) and the Macau Real Estate Management Professional Technicians Association (MREMPTA) to raise public awareness of electrical safety. Representatives attended the seminars include Chon Chong, Supervisor of Building Management Resource Centre of UGAMM; Un Hon Kuan, Deputy Chairman of Supervisory Board and Officer of Building Services Committee of API; Paul Tse, President of PMBA; William Yong, President of MREMPTA as well as over 200 representatives from the property management industry and property owners.

Currently, there are more than 4,000 buildings that are over 20 to 30 years old in Macau. Many of these buildings have safety hazards due to lack of regular maintenance of their communal electrical installations. This has increased the risk of equipment failure and fire accident. Common problems include rusting of power equipment, short-circuit faults caused by water seepage, improper wire connections which could result in poor contact and heat buildup, and power equipment that is non-compliant with the existing specifications.

To ensure that communal electrical installations operate under safe conditions at all times, CEM urges property owners to face up to the problem and hire experienced electrical contractors to conduct regular inspection and maintenance for the relevant electrical installations, including main low-voltage switchboard, distribution circuit breaker, collective line distribution board, building main low-voltage circuit breaker and meter board. If the repair work involves power suspension and restoration, property owners can contact CEM for assistance and request a test report from the responsible electrical contractor after inspection and maintenance.