It may be time for officials to revise outdated regulations on illegal structures

Over the past few months we have been inundated with a litany of transgressions of the Building Department's laws and codes committed by many top government officials, including our just-retired chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.

Now, it is apparent that even our new Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, broke the building code, despite his assurance he did not during his election campaign.

Mr Tsang and Mr Leung talked about having hired experts to ensure alterations to their properties complied with building regulations.

No experts are required. My advice is for people to make a quick call to the Buildings Department to clear up any doubts about an alteration to a structure. If the department does not approve it, then it is illegal.

Two reasons come to mind why such a large number of officials would break the law.

One could be that these high officials regard themselves as above the law. However, I believe it could also be that they regard the department's rules as being too intrusive and perhaps outdated.

Any modification, even the most minor, needs to be drawn by an architect and no work can take place unless approved by the department.