January 2013 has been a very busy month for the BSD. We attended two meetings with the Shenzhen Project Management Engineers Association (深圳市監理工程師協會), five certificate presentations for the HKIS Building Surveying Scholarship and Eddie Lee Memorial Education Foundation for Secondary School Students 2012, one press conference on the “Proposed long-term strategy to handle Unauthorised Building Works,” one workshop on “How to avoid the traps when carrying out mandatory inspections and repairs” for IOs, and two corresponding press releases.
HKIS Building Surveying Scholarship and Eddie Lee Memorial Education Foundation for Secondary School Students 2012
Interviews for the scholarship were held on 22 December 2012. Based on an applicant’s academic results, recommendation by the school principal, and interview performance, scholarships of HK$5,000 each will be awarded to the secondary students listed below. I want to express my sincere congratulations to them for their success in the scholarship scheme and wish them flying colour results in their upcoming Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examinations.
1. CHAN Yuet-man (S.K.H. Lam Kau Mow Secondary School)
2. LAI Chi-yau (St. Francis’ Canossian College)
3. LAW Yik-tung (Kwun Tong Maryknoll College)
4. LEE Ting-yung (CCC Kei To Secondary School)
5. LEUNG Chin-wai (Kwok Tak Seng Catholic Secondary School)
6. LI Ho-yin (The Church of Christ in China Chuen Yuen College)
7. PUN Wing-yin (HKMA David Li Kwok Po College)
8. TAM Yi-ting (St. Mary’s Canossian College)
9. TSUI Yan-ki (Good Hope School)
10. WONG Yan-yee (Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School)
On 21 January 2013, accompanied by Sr Alan Sin, I presented the Certificate to Lee Ting Yung. The Scholarship Working Group Chairman, Sr Dr Daniel Ho, and Sr Nelson Ho presented the Certificates to Tam Yi-ting and Leung Chinwai on 22 & 23 January 2013, respectively. The Scholarship Working Group Convener, Sr Jason Law, and I received a very warm welcome from the senior form students of HKMA David Li Kwok Po College during the certificate presentation to Pun Wing-yin at their Form Assembly on 25 January 2013. The Immediate Past Chairman, Sr Vincent Ho, and Sr Peter Dy presented the certificate to Law Yik-tung on 28 January 2013.
The BSD Council decided that an additional scholarship of HK$5,000 will be awarded to a student who pursues his/her undergraduate studies in the surveying program at City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, or the University of Hong Kong.
Press Conference on the “Proposed long-term strategy to handle Unauthorised Building Works”
BSD Spokesmen, Sr Vincent Ho, Sr Andrew Kung, and Sr David Chan, held a press conference on 10 January 2013 to present our proposed long-term strategy on how to handle Unauthorised Building Works. The conference received good media coverage on the following day. President Sr Stephen Lai also forwarded the strategy to the Secretary for Development on 17 January 2013, so we hope our ideas and proposals can be further explored by the Administration.
A brief English translation of the associated Press Release is appended herewith:
We note that the current control and definition of Unauthorized Building Works (UBWs) may have been slightly overdone with the result that there is now a tendency to unnecessarily control construction and cause a nuisance to homeowners. In this context, we would like the government to thoroughly review its UBW enforcement policy so as to minimize the anxiety that owners face. The BSD held a press conference on 10 January 2013 to deliver its proposal to the government on its UBW enforcement policy.
The UBW problem has been an issue for decades. Recently, it became a controversial topic that aroused widespread public discussion and concern. It is a pity that society and the government has not come up with a comprehensive UBW-handling strategy. After great efforts and limited resources were committed to dealing with UBWs over the last decade, over 400,000 of them remain. Therefore, we opine that both the government and society should view this issue from a new angle and adopt a long-term strategy to resolve it.
According to the Buildings Ordinance (BO), a UBW can be roughly categorized into two types:
1. Building works that were carried out without first having their building plans approved under the BO. It does not matter if they had complied with the building designs and standards approved by the Regulations.
2. Exempted works under the BO that were carried out, but which contravened the current regulations.
Even with the implementation of the Minor Works Control System (MWCS), there are still a lot of works that were unauthorized. Hence, the BSD proposes that the government implement a new set of timely and pragmatic enforcement policies that should include:
1. A review and categorization of the nature of a UBW by focusing on tackling those UBWs that constitute an obvious or imminent danger to life or property and those constituting a serious hazard or environmental nuisance, while handling other UBWs flexibly.
2. 2.The formulation of a set of building safety and health standards that are independently suitable for the addition and alteration works to existing buildings.
3. The formulation of a comprehensive evaluation system to regulate existing UBWs and allow for a certain degree of rectification work, when appropriate, to be carried out to correct any sub-standard work after evaluation and recognition by a registered building professional.
We advise that our proposal on UBW policy could be implemented via or together with the ten-year planned inspection under the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) so as to ensure the overall safety and health standards of buildings while the associated rectification works could be implemented under the MWCS. Please refer to our website for the original Press Release in Chinese: http://www.hkis.org.hk/ufiles/20130110_pr_chi_FINAL.pdf.
Workshop on “How to avoid the traps when carrying out mandatory inspections and repairs”
On the evening of 22 January 2013, we organized a workshop in The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building in North Point for some Owners Corporations (OC) in order to introduce the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme. We also advised them on how to avoid the “traps” set by “cowboy” consultants.
Sincere thanks go to our YSG members for their attractive drama, which reinforced the main theme of the workshop, and Sr Vincent Ho and Sr Kenny Tse for delivering the presentation. We introduced the concept of “3-6-9” to the OC in order to present a balanced view while preparing the tender for a consultant to carry out a mandatory building inspection and any necessary repair work recommended in a Registered Inspector’s report. We also gave advice on how to assess the performance of a consultant. The face-to-face interviews after the presentation were also well-received by the OC, and these interviews lasted until the end of the event. The tips offered by the workshop and the sample agreement of engagement for professional services will be offered to the OC. Subject to administrative arrangements, members may receive broadcast news on the relevant materials presented by the workshop.
Professional Service for the Development of Qianhai
We met for an entire day with the Shenzhen Project Management Engineers Association (深圳市監理工程師協會) on 11 January 2013. This was the first meeting of our joint working group to implement the collaborative agreement framework signed on 9 December 2012. The group established the mode of future cooperation and the targets to be achieved. The main target of the working group is the implementation of a project management service for development projects in Qianhai District. It is also the common goal of the group for the service to be provided by joint venture companies comprised of Hong Kong Building Surveyors and Mainland Supervision Engineers.
The second working group will meet on 29 January 2013.
Our members in the working group are:
- Sr Vincent Ho (Head of the HK delegation)
- Sr Robin Leung (Convener of the HK delegation)
- Sr Andrew Kung
- Sr Nathan Lee
- Sr Billy Wong
- Sr Philip Tse
- Sr Edgar Lee
