The reporter learned from the Shenzhen Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau that the Shenzhen University Xili Campus (Phase I) project, a major livelihood project in Shenzhen, experienced serious quality problems due to cutting corners during construction, constituting a general quality accident. The contractor, Shenzhen Guanglei Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd., was severely penalized. The company objected to the penalty, and on the afternoon of March 17, the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau held a hearing on the case.

The reporter learned that in May 2015, the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau received a report stating that in Section I of the Shenzhen University Xili Campus (Phase I) construction project, the pile foundation works of the A5 Life Sciences Laboratory Building and the A6 Medical School Library Complex Building had a large number of substandard piles, resulting in serious quality problems. The bureau immediately set up an investigation team and organized experts in geotechnical investigation, design, and construction to investigate and verify the situation. It was determined that the project quality had three major problems: the pile foundation bearing stratum did not meet design requirements, the thickness of sediment at the pile bottom seriously exceeded the standard, and the actual pile length did not match the construction records. If the above quality problems had not been discovered in time and construction had continued, the pile foundation would not be able to bear the load of the superstructure, which would cause uneven settlement, cracking, or even collapse of the superstructure, leading to a major public safety accident. According to expert assessment, Building A6 required comprehensive pile reinforcement, and the direct economic loss caused by pile reinforcement and testing was about 2.33 million yuan, which already constituted a general quality accident.

Based on the construction contract, investigation records, expert technical analysis reports, pile foundation testing reports, and other evidence, the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau determined that Shenzhen Guanglei Foundation Co., Ltd., as the subcontractor for the pile foundation project, failed to perform the contract in accordance with the law and organize construction according to the engineering design drawings and construction technical standards, did not conduct self-inspection of project quality and rectify existing quality problems, compiled false construction records and falsely reported pile lengths, and cut corners during construction, causing the pile foundation project quality to fail to meet design and specification requirements and causing a quality accident with serious circumstances. The bureau intended to impose a fine of 310,400 yuan according to relevant regulations and suspend its qualification certificate for three months. The company's project manager, Wei Moumou, bears primary responsibility for the quality accident and is suspected of a crime. The Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau has transferred relevant clues and evidence to the public security organ for further investigation.

The hearing was chaired by a hearing panel composed of three hearing officers from the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau. Case investigators, the hearing applicant, and its entrusted代理人 attended the hearing. The hearing panel listened to the case investigators' statements on the facts of the party's illegal acts, evidence, administrative penalty recommendations, and legal basis, and also listened to the party's cross-examination and defense opinions. Both sides also debated. In its statement, the representative of Guanglei Company defended the company, saying: the company is not a subcontractor in the legal sense, but only an internal operating unit; due to timely rectification, no direct loss in the legal sense was caused, so it does not constitute a general quality accident but only a quality hazard; the main responsible units for the quality hazard are the general contractor, supervision unit, and others, not the company.

After the hearing, the hearing panel stated that it would submit a hearing report as soon as possible based on the hearing situation and make a handling decision in accordance with the law.

The reporter learned that after the case occurred, the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau quickly ordered relevant parties to take effective remedial measures. After testing, the quality of the remedial works met the standards. The project has now been topped out.

A responsible person from the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau said that Shenzhen University Xili Campus is a major livelihood project in Shenzhen, and such a quality accident is very rare in the engineering construction field in recent years. If it had not been discovered in time and effective remedial measures taken, the consequences would be unimaginable, especially since it occurred during the city's two-year construction quality governance and five-year improvement action, and the circumstances are serious.

The responsible person said that in order to implement the deployment of the municipal party committee and municipal government for the urban management and governance year, further strengthen interim and post-event supervision of project quality and safety, and truly safeguard the lives and property of the people, the Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau will punish the responsible units and personnel in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. It is understood that the bureau will also punish the supervision unit, the general contractor, and relevant responsible personnel of the project involved in accordance with the law.