As you aware the Advisory Committee for the regulation of Property Management Industry is now working in full speed preparing the draft legislation. I have raised our concern of the proposed pre-requisites on academic and professional qualifications for the registration of property management practitioners through our representatives in the committee. While we still hold our view that it is not appropriate to introduce licensing of property management practitioners but if the Committee choose to go ahead with such licensing, then we will recommend a two-tier system i.e. general and professional grade. Another very important aspect is how to clearly delineate the obligations and liabilities of a licensed property management practitioner (licensee), and what kind of penalties will be charged to the licensees of contravening the provisions of the proposed Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation. Our council will make every endeavour to address our concerns regarding the aforementioned issues to the Home Affairs Department (HAD).
We shall be meeting with the concerned officials of HAD to discuss and exchange views on matters related to CEPA, Building Management Ordinance Review and Licensing of Property Management Companies and Practitioners by early April. I shall report the outcomes after the meeting in due course.
We are invited to visit and meet the programme team and students studying Bachelor of Arts in Housing Management by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED) on 28 March 2012. According to the programme documents, it offers a full-time mode of study with an overarching aim to provide the academic framework that helps future housing professionals to develop and strengthen their basis of knowledge and decision making process. We are glad to have the chance to meet them as we are of the view that their graduates might be our potential intake of associate members of PFM division.
Following the closing of nomination submission for Green Building Award (GBA) 2012, the Organizing Committee are now grouping up the assessors from different professional institutes including HKIS to carry out the initial assessment of over 80 nominations under the following 4 categories:-
1) New Building (NB)
2) Existing Building (EB)
3) Research & Planning (RP)
4) Building Products (BP)
Four of our council members including Edmond Cheng, Kays Wong, Dr Lam Kwok Wing and I have joined the HKIS assessors team.
Members may be aware of the HKIS broadcast of the Best Landscape Award for Private Property Development 2012 organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. I urge your full support and participation to this event as we share their objective to sustain the betterment of living environment and to promote excellence in greening by outstanding landscape design and horticultural maintenance. This award is now open for nomination until 23 April 2012.
After the Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO) was put into gazette on 3 December 2010, it will come into full operation on 21 September 2012. Under the new BEEO, all newly constructed buildings will be required to comply with the minimum energy efficiency standards and requirements as specified in Building Energy Code (BEC). Existing buildings will be required to comply with BEC only when major retrofitting works are carried out. Commercial buildings and commercial portions of composite buildings will be required to carry out energy audits in accordance with the technical requirements as specified in Energy Audit Code (EAC).
Members’ attention is drawn that the energy audit will only apply to central BS installations of commercial buildings and commercial portions of composite buildings. The owner of a building is required to engage a Registered Energy Assessor to conduct energy audit every 10 years. In addition, pursuant to schedule 5 of BEEO, the 1st round of energy audits will be completed in phases within 4 years and the newer the building (by OP date), the earlier the energy audit should be done. Hence, members are strongly recommended to familiarize with the new BEEO and the requirements of EAC and BEC in details. For further information, please visit EMSD website:
www.emsd.gov.hk.
