The blaze has prompted an examination into the building’s history, with its owners’ corporation involved in at least two ongoing non-compliance cases dating as far back as 2008 involving the need to upgrade protection measures.

It had also met consultants over the years to discuss the issue.

Authorities have said five prosecutions were filed against owners in the past decade, with the charges related to obstruction of escape routes, failure to maintain fire fighting equipment and a lack of annual gear inspections.

Chris Ip Ngo-tung, a member of Yau Tsim Mong’s district council, said on Thursday that he had tried to work with the owners’ corporation in the past, but found the process was complicated by disputes “between various people”.

“There has been some chaos in terms of management, I would say,” he told a radio programme.

The building is home to hundreds of residents and includes 35 registered guest houses and about 100 subdivided flats. The building also has a gym, shops and offices, as well as several traditional Chinese medicine clinics.

The district councillor said he tried to help owners resolve the building’s compliance issues around 2018, but members were divided over whether to simply carry out the order or conduct major repair works.

“In fact, the disputes became quite severe,” he said. “They ended up refusing further assistance from we district councillors and government officers, so we had to drop the case.

“I don’t know what happened to them in the end, but we did remind them they needed to resolve the issue because orders from the Buildings Department cannot be ignored.”

A severe imbalance in various owners’ stakes also contributed to the lack of a unanimous decision and caused the problem to drag on for many years, he said.

Ip said older buildings in particular fuelled disagreements between owners since they also had to deal with maintenance issues.

“Owners have to raise funds together and also agree on a construction company and consultants. It can get quite difficult,” he added.

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Hong Kong fire kills 5, injures dozens in Kowloon commercial and residential building

Hong Kong fire kills 5, injures dozens in Kowloon commercial and residential building

The district councillor said the increasingly high cost of upgrading fire prevention facilities and equipment, especially in the bidding process, had not helped.

He urged authorities to consider increasing the help available to owners, with the city home to many buildings more than 50 years old that should be included in a priority upgrade plan.

Lam Kin-kwan, commander of the Fire Services Department’s Kowloon South division, told the same radio programme that the presence of so many subdivided flats had inevitably hampered rescue efforts.

“It means there were more people at the scene … it can skew the occupation ratio,” he said.

The fire service commander said unregistered modifications to some internal structures had only increased the safety risks. Illegal changes were one line of investigation being pursued, he added.

Wednesday’s fire mainly affected the building’s first and second floors, as well as three staircases, Lam said.

He also said initial investigations uncovered an abundance of plastic items at the scene, including construction materials, that could have contributed to the thick smoke.

Some residents had also complained to the Post that guest houses left belongings in corridors, while the building’s safety equipment was of a very poor standard.