What are the measures taken by the Hong Kong government to supervise minor building works?
The department began a comprehensive review of the Buildings Ordinance and its regulations in 2000. The objective of the review is to rationalize the building control regime and strengthen the safety requirements.
The proposed amendments include, among other things, the introduction of minor building works which can be carried out without the prior approval of the Building Authority provided the work is done by registered contractors and, as appropriate, supervised and certified by qualified building professionals. This will provide a fast and proper channel for owners to carry out alterations and additions to their buildings.
The proposed amendments will also empower the department to issue warning notices on illegal structures and register such notices against the property title. It is also proposed that the department should be empowered to prosecute any uncooperative owners, if they obstruct an Owners Corporation in complying with an order issued by the department.
In addition, as a deterrent it is proposed to increase the maximum fines for serious offences involving substandard building works or construction dangers.
Legislative amendments have also been proposed to rationalize the composition of the Contractors Registration Committee for specialist contractors and the requirements for renewal of the registration of an authorized person/registered structural engineer/registered contractor; and to enable the department to charge fees for providing non-certified copies of documents and plans, and for public inspection of them.
Furthermore, statutory requirements will also be introduced for provision of emergency vehicular access to all new buildings and for appointment of registered geotechnical engineers to undertake the investigation, design and supervision of geotechnical works.
It is expected that these amendments will be introduced into the Legislative Council in 2003.
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