Introduction

Your owned property is a major investment, and very often a place you call Home. It would be a shame to let it fall into disrepair.

The SARS outbreak has awakened the community to the importance of proper upkeep of buildings. As with disease, prevention is better than cure. It is high time that we find a long-term solution to prevent building neglect and decay.

Need For New Direction

That solution requires the collective efforts of individual owners, the community, the industry and the Government. In this consultation exercise, the Government advocates that -

• Owners must accept responsibility for keeping their buildings in good repair, including the necessary financial commitment.
• Building management and maintenance should be integrated to provide a sustainable solution to the building neglect problem.
• The relevant industries should come up with user-friendly and cost-effective management and maintenance services with a view to assisting owners in discharging their responsibilities. The Government, in addition to enforcing the law, should be a supporter and facilitator of the above efforts working in conjunction with the relevant non-government bodies.

Where Are We Now

• The Government, working mainly through the Home Affairs Department and the Buildings Department (BD), are incurring $484 million annually to assist owners in building management and maintenance and in enforcing the law on building safety.
• About 11,000 private buildings have no Owners' Corporations (OCs) and no management company servicing them. Another 13,900 private buildings, although serviced by management companies, do not have OCs.
• About 50% of some 50,000 statutory orders issued by BD in 2002 in respect of building defects and unauthorized building works (UBWs) remain outstanding one year after they were issued.
• Over 700,000 UBWs throughout the territory pose a potential danger.
• 69 incidents of unsafe building parts caused personal injuries over the past three years.
• Dilapidated buildings are seriously affecting Hong Kong's cityscape.
• BD's Co-ordinated Maintenance of Buildings Scheme (CMBS) achieving some success in encouraging 15,000 owners of target buildings to maintain their buildings and the Building Safety Loan Scheme (BSLS) having assisted 5,800 owners.
• Urban Renewal Authority's rehabilitation initiatives demonstrate the benefits of proper maintenance, and pointing a practical way forward.

Options Before Us

There are broadly three options in addressing the long-standing building neglect problem. The first option is to maintain the status quo, thus relying on voluntary actions by owners in proper building upkeep and statutory enforcement by the Government to safeguard building safety. No doubt this will fail to arrest urban decay.
The second option involves mandating owners of buildings over a certain age to conduct periodic inspections and carry out rectifications. Since inspections are oriented towards cure rather than prevention, they lack sustained impact and do not offer an effective solution.
To effectively tackle the building neglect problem, we believe that making building maintenance an integral part of on-going building management provides a long-term and sustainable solution. Integrating building management and maintenance is therefore a preferable option.

Benefits of Integrated Building Management and Maintenance

Buildings need constant care throughout their lifetime. Integrating management with maintenance enables continuous care for the building. Benefits include -

For owners

• Safe and clean living environment.
• Preservation and restoration of property value.
• Prolonged useful life of the property.
• Long-term cost savings based on preventive maintenance.
• Predictable and regular contributions rather than large ad hoc bills.

For the community

• Improved quality of the living environment.
• A more attractive cityscape.
• Reduced social and economic costs from building dilapidation and urban decay.

How Can The Industry Help

An all-round building management and maintenance industry will help property owners in discharging their responsibility -

• Pulling together all related disciplines - architectural, surveying, legal etc.
• Providing one-stop service -
• day to day management.
• regular building inspection and maintenance.
• support to owners.

Support Measures by Government

• Support measures to complement the promotion of building management and maintenance include -
• Institute some mandatory form of management for buildings in multiple ownership.
• Facilitate the recovery of contributions to management and maintenance from building owners.
• Promote recognition of high standard of management and maintenance through a voluntary building classification system.
• Provide financial help for the genuinely needy, such as the elderly with little income.

Let Us Have Your Views

Building management and maintenance involves complex issues. Full public discussion is essential. The Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands has undertaken in the 2003 Policy Agenda to consult the public on this important subject. We need broad community consensus on the main principles before turning to the implementation details. Your views will provide invaluable input to our work.

The consultation exercise lasts until 15 April 2004. Copies of the Consultation Document on Building Management and Maintenance may be obtained from District Offices, or downloaded from the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau website at http://www.hplb.gov.hk/.

Submissions should be in writing and sent to -

Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau
9/F Murray Building, Garden Road, Hong Kong, (Attn: AS(UR)4)
Fax: 2845 3489
Email: bmm@hplb.gov.hk

Enquires may be forwarded to the above address or by phone at 2848 2718.

An aged building can remain a quality building through proper management and maintenance. Let us work together for a better living environment.

Note: The Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau reserves the right to publish all views and comments received. Please indicate in your submission if you do not want your name and/or views to be disclosed.