Ongoing Info on the Highrise Tower Fires in Hong Kong
There are lots of lessons and take aways to be gathered from the recent tragedy in Hong Kong. Of upmost importance is the stark reminder that the General Contractor and its trade contractors are responsible for life safety during operations. Never forget that the design team references building codes to ensure life safety, but that only applies to the completed structure. During construction, it's the contractor that is responsible for things like temporary shoring and bracing to ensure structural stability, methods to prevent fires, and planning for emergency services access in case something goes wrong.
In this case, investigation is ongoing but centered on the lack of fire resistance of the netting and shoring system. Here is the best article I have found so far that includes many details being left out of the typical media reporting - including the fact that the buildings where owner managed.
From Engineering News Record: