Fire threat at building sites

Fire is the greatest threat to many protected buildings on construction sites, said the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Wednesday, who have ordered the developers to safeguard buildings 24 hours a day.

"Law enforcement officials visited 13 construction sites where there's renovation or a new building project involving heritage protection buildings, and they commonly found inflammable construction waste," said Yin Jun, administration publicity official.

Yin said they deliberately chose construction sites involving immovable cultural heritage and listed heritage protection units. These sites often attract scrutiny and criticism from media and scholars, Yin said.

Construction companies were warned to remove waste and put protective barriers around heritage buildings a month ago, but only one real estate developer was found to have complied, with a 24-hour security office on site.

"Real estate companies like Beijing Huarong Infrastructure Investment Company didn't do anything the authorities ordered. They can certainly expect a serious fine," said Yin, although the amount of money involved is not yet decided.

Beijing Huarong declined to comment Wednesday.

"There is always a lack of proper protection when a site is slated for reconstruction," said Liu Zheng, a member of the China Cultural Relics Association.

"I think it's great the authorities have upped the frequency of inspections to once a month, and hopefully we'll avoid a repetition of unapproved demolitions, like that of [architect] Liang Sicheng's former house," said Liu.