Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (May 22):
Question:
I have received complaints from quite a number of property owners expressing their dissatisfaction with the Buildings Department (BD)/Housing Department (HD) issuing "statutory notices" under the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (the Scheme) to them/the owners' corporations (OCs) of their housing estates. Some owners of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats have pointed out that HD is turning a blind eye to the problem of window safety of older HOS courts by selecting some HOS courts aged 10 to 15 years only for carrying out mandatory inspection of windows, but not those HOS courts aged 25 years or above in the same district. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the private buildings/housing estates and HOS courts to whom the owners/OCs of which (i) BD and (ii) HD had respectively issued the "pre-notification letters" under the Scheme in the past six months, and of the ages of and numbers of households in the buildings concerned (set out in the table below);
(i) Issuance of pre-notification letters by BD
Name of private Number of
building/housing Age of the households
estate building(s) involved
---------------- ----------- ----------
(ii) Issuance of pre-notification letters by HD
Number of
Name of HOS Age of households
Court building(s) involved
------------- ----------- ----------
(b) of the private buildings/housing estates and HOS courts to whom the owners/OCs of which (i) BD and (ii) HD had respectively issued the "statutory notices" under the Scheme in the past six months, and of the ages of and numbers of households in the buildings concerned (set out in the table below);
(i) Issuance of statutory notices by BD
Name of private Number of
building/housing Age of the households
estate building(s) involved
---------------- ----------- ----------
(ii) Issuance of statutory notices by HD
Number of
Name of HOS Age of households
Court building(s) involved
------------- ----------- ----------
(c) whether HD had issued (i) pre-notification letters and (ii) statutory notices under the Scheme to owners/OCs of housing estates under the Tenants Purchase Scheme in the past six months; if it had, of the names, ages and numbers of households of the housing estates concerned (set out in the table below);
(i) Issuance of pre-notification letters
Name of Number of
housing Age of households
estate building(s) involved
------------- ----------- ----------
(ii) Issuance of statutory notices
Name of Number of
housing Age of households
estate building(s) involved
------------- ----------- ----------
(d) as the Government has indicated that in the selection of target buildings under the Scheme, "[v]arious relevant factors will be taken into account… including building age, state of repair and maintenance, records of inspection and repair, and location", whether the authorities will review such criteria and accord the highest priority to buildings of older ages in the selection of target buildings;
(e) whether HD had issued, in the past six months, pre-notification letters under the Scheme to the owners/OC of Kam Tai Court in Ma On Shan, which is only 11 years old; if it had, of the justifications; whether it had, during the same period, issued pre-notification letters to the owners/OCs of other HOS courts aged over 20 years in the district (including HOS courts such as Kam Ying Court, Chevalier Garden, Saddle Ridge Garden, Kam Lung Court, etc.); if it had, when the letters were issued; if HD had issued the letter to Kam Tai Court but not the other HOS courts mentioned above, of the reasons for that;
(f) whether BD and HD have deployed staff to convene or attend residents' meetings at the housing estates of target buildings to explain the relevant arrangements to the owners (especially the elderly owners); if they have, of the housing estates the residents' meetings of which such staff members had convened or attended in the past six months; if not, whether these two departments have ignored the needs of the owners (especially the elderly owners);
(g) of the channel through which the owners/OCs of the buildings selected as target buildings under the Scheme may put forth their requests for removing the names of their buildings from the list of target buildings;
(h) whether the Government has collaborated with non-governmental organisation(s) for deploying social workers to assist the elderly owners concerned in complying with the Scheme; if it has, of the details (including the name(s) of its partner organisation(s)); if not, whether the Government has ignored the needs of the elderly owners; and
(i) whether the Government has set up a dedicated financial assistance programme for the Scheme; if it has, whether the leaflets and application forms of such a financial assistance programme have been attached to the pre-notification letters sent to the owners/OCs concerned so as to facilitate the owners/OCs to make applications; if no dedicated financial assistance programme has been set up, whether it has assessed if the Scheme will cause hardship to the owners (especially the elderly owners) of the target buildings?
Reply:
President,
The Buildings Department (BD) fully implemented the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS) on June 30, 2012 to tackle the problem of building neglect in Hong Kong at source. The MBIS and the MWIS cover all private buildings aged 30 years or above and 10 years or above respectively, except domestic buildings not exceeding three storeys in height. On the other hand, based on the delegated authority from the Director of Buildings, the Independent Checking Unit (ICU) of Housing Department (HD) has implemented the MBIS and the MWIS in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance (BO) over the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) courts, the Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) estates and the public rental housing estates with divested retail and carparking facilities.
Under the MWIS, building owners are required, within a specified timeframe, to carry out a prescribed inspection and a prescribed repair found necessary of the windows in the building once every five years. One to two months before the issue of statutory notices, BD and HD will issue a pre-notification letter to the owners' corporation (OC) or post the letter at a conspicuous part of the target building to alert the owners/OC to get prepared and organised.
BD and HD have respectively established a panel for the selection of target buildings, which comprise representatives from professional institutions, relevant non-governmental organisations, property management professionals, District Councils and relevant Government departments, to tender advice on the selection of target buildings for the two inspection schemes. The target buildings selected each year will represent a mix of buildings in different conditions and age profiles in different districts. Moreover, to minimise disturbance to building owners, BD and HD will synchronise the implementation of the MBIS and the MWIS, whereby buildings selected for the MBIS (i.e. buildings aged 30 years or above) will also be selected for the MWIS under the same cycle so that owners can carry out inspection and repair works under the two schemes concurrently. The remaining target buildings will carry out the MWIS only.
My reply to the nine-part question is as follows:
(a) As selected target buildings may for various reasons be removed from the building list after the issue of pre-notification letters (see below for details), BD and HD will not announce at the first instance the initial list of selected buildings for the implementation of the MBIS and/or the MWIS.
During the 10-month period from the full implementation of the MWIS on June 30, 2012 to end April 2013, the numbers of private buildings that had been issued pre-notification letters by BD for the implementation of the MWIS and the building age distribution are set out below. The total number of households involved is around 300 000.
Number of
Building age buildings
------------ ---------
Between 10 and 15 years 357
Between 15 and 20 years 739
Between 20 and 25 years 925
Between 25 and 30 years 669
30 years or above* 1644
---------
Total 4334
* These buildings were selected to implement the MBIS and the MWIS concurrently
During the same period, the numbers of buildings in HOS courts that had been issued pre-notification letters by the ICU of HD for the implementation of the MWIS and the building age distribution are set out below. The total number of households involved is around 38 000.
Number of Number of
HOS domestic
Building age Courts buildings
------------ --------- ---------
Between 10 and 15 years 1 12
Between 15 and 20 years 5 19
Between 20 and 25 years 15 40
Between 25 and 30 years 2 10
30 years or above* 4 24
--------- ---------
Total 27 105
* These buildings were selected to implement the MBIS and the MWIS concurrently
(b) After the statutory notices under the MBIS and/or the MWIS have been issued, the building list concerned will be uploaded to the websites of BD and HD for public information. During the period from the full implementation of the MWIS to May 10, 2013, BD had uploaded to its website (https://mwer.bd.gov.hk/MBIS/MBISSearch.do?method=SearchMBIS) the addresses of 342 buildings which have been issued statutory notices under the MWIS. The total number of households involved is around 18 000, and the building age distribution is set out below. Given the large number of buildings involved, the details are not exhaustively set out in this reply. Members of the public may review the information on BD's website.
Number of
Building age buildings
------------ ---------
Between 10 and 15 years 14
Between 15 and 20 years 36
Between 20 and 25 years 39
Between 25 and 30 years 35
30 years or above* 218
---------
Total 342
* These buildings were selected to implement the MBIS and the MWIS concurrently
HD has yet to issue statutory notices to any of the target buildings selected for the implementation of the MWIS.
(c) During the period from the full implementation of the MWIS on June 30, 2012 to end April 2013, the numbers of buildings in TPS estates that had been issued pre-notification letters by ICU of the HD for the implementation of the MWIS and the building age distribution are set out below. The total number of households involved is around 8 500.
Number of Number of
TPS domestic
Building age estates buildings
------------ --------- ---------
Between 10 and 15 years 0 0
Between 15 and 20 years 0 0
Between 20 and 25 years 1 15
Between 25 and 30 years 0 0
30 years or above 0 0
-------- ---------
Total 1 15
As mentioned above, HD has yet to issue statutory notices to any of the target buildings selected for the implementation of the MWIS.
(d) Founded on the principle of "prevention is better than cure", the MBIS and the MWIS aim to require owners to carry out regular inspection and timely repair for their properties so as to tackle the problem of building neglect at source. It is not the objective of the schemes that a building is included in the schemes only when it has become defective or dangerous. In respect of the MWIS, BD and HD will consider a host of factors when selecting target buildings, including the distribution of eligible buildings (i.e. buildings aged 10 years or above) in the 18 districts, the maintenance conditions of the windows in the building, repair records of the windows, the traffic and pedestrian flows adjoining the buildings, location and building clusters, etc. The MWIS needs to cater for buildings in different age groups. In fact, according to BD's records, in the past there were reports on accidents associated with windows in younger buildings. On the contrary, in respect of older buildings with good maintenance and repair conditions, there is relatively less urgency for carrying out the MWIS.
(e) In respect of the implementation of the MWIS in HOS courts, in December 2012, the ICU of HD issued pre-notification letters to Kam Tai Court in Ma On Shan, which had then reached the age of 12 years. At that time, the ICU also issued pre-notification letters to two other HOS courts aged 20 years or above in that district (i.e. Sha Tin District). Buildings aged 10 years or above that have yet to be selected, including Kam Ying Court and Kam Lung Court which are under the jurisdiction of the ICU of HD as well as Chevalier Garden and Saddle Ridge Garden which are under the jurisdiction of BD, will be considered in future selection exercises based on the above-mentioned criteria.
(f) After the issue of pre-notification letters, BD and HD will, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) and/or the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), organise district briefing sessions in various districts respectively to explain to the owners of target buildings throughout the territory the details of the two inspection schemes and assistance packages available. So far, BD and HD have organised a total of 59 and 4 briefing sessions respectively. Moreover, since the two schemes were implemented, BD has visited the committees under the 18 District Councils and, upon invitation, attended a total of 31 residents' meetings and seminars arranged or organised by district organisations or OCs, to publicise the schemes in the community and answer residents' enquiries.
(g) BD and HD take into account a number of factors in selecting target buildings including their repair records. In general, if a building has undergone repair works in the common parts and on the external walls in recent years in compliance with a statutory repair order issued by BD or the ICU of HD under the supervision of an authorised person, or the building has repair works completed or being carried out under the Operation Building Bright, BD and HD will not select the building for the MBIS and the MWIS within a certain period after the completion of the repair works. However, a building having carried out repair works in recent years may still be selected for the MBIS and the MWIS if BD and HD have no record of the repair history of the building. In such cases, upon receipt of a pre-notification letter, owners may contact BD or ICU of HD to provide information about the repair works carried out in recent years. The departments will consider deferring the issue of statutory notices on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, an owner intending to raise an objection after receiving a statutory notice may lodge an appeal to the Appeal Tribunal under the BO.
(h) In association with various operations to enhance building safety, BD has appointed contract consultants to provide social services to needy owners affected by its operations including the elderly, thereby assisting them in complying with the requirements of BD including the statutory requirements under the MWIS. At present, there are a total of five organisations providing in-house social support services in BD, including Christian Family Service Centre, Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service, Methodist Centre, Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council and Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service. BD has also provided support to owners and the elderly of target buildings under the MBIS and the MWIS through the "Resident Liaison Ambassadors" recruited in the "Resident Liaison Ambassador Scheme" launched by the Home Affairs Department.
While the ICU of HD has yet to put in place such arrangement at present, it will make reference to BD's experience and consider whether to implement similar schemes.
(i) The Government, together with HKHS and URA, have launched various assistance schemes to assist owners in complying with the statutory notices under the MBIS and the MWIS. In respect of the MWIS, the "Home Renovation Interest-free Loan" under the "Integrated Building Maintenance Assistance Scheme" jointly administered by HKHS and URA, the Building Safety Loan Scheme administered by BD, and the Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Elderly Owners administered by HKHS provide various grants or interest-free loans to eligible owners for carrying out window inspection and repair. BD and HD have set out, in their pre-notification letters and statutory notices as well as the enclosed supplementary information to the owners, the names and the enquiry hotlines of the various assistance schemes mentioned above and the websites of HKHS and URA, so as to facilitate owners to contact the two supporting organisations direct and obtain details of the schemes.
Ends/Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:22
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