Twenty-nine claims for compensation each exceeding $50 million have been received from contractors on public works projects.
In a written reply to legislators, Secretary for Works Kwong Hon-sang said the total amount claimed by contractors under these contracts was $8.6 billion.
The claim represented 26.7 per cent of the contracts' total value of $32.2 billion.
Of this $8.6 billion, $5.1 billion had been resolved and contractors had been paid $1 billion by the end of January. The unresolved claims are still being assessed.
Disturbances to work for which the contractor was not responsible and delays in possession of work sites were among the reasons for the claims.
Mr Kwong stressed the number of new claims would drop as Airport Core Programme projects neared completion.