CIVL6060

Maintenance Schemes for Private Buildings in Hong Kong

(Part 3)

Effect of Building Maintenance

Affect
 Safety
 Health
 Comfort
 Value

Maintenance Check List

Item Inspection Frequency

Cleaning* Daily
Security* Continuous
Carpark* Daily
Garden Watering* Daily
Pest Control and Fertilizer in Garden* 6 months
Inspect Playground Facilities* Monthly
Lubricate Playground Facilities* 6 months
Inspect Doors, Windows and Ironmongery 3 months
Lighting and Electric Appliances As necessary
Plumbing, Drainage and Gas Pipes As necessary
Clean Water Tanks 3 months
Maintenance of Water Pumps Annual
Clean Air Filter of Air Conditioners 3 months
Maintenance of Air Conditioners Annual
Inspect Fire Services Installation 3 months
Statutory Inspection of FSI Annual
Maintenance of Lifts Monthly
Statutory Inspection of Lifts Annual
Clean Gutters and Channels at Roof 3 months; after typhoon and heavy rain
Clean Channels on Slopes and Clear Grass 6 months; after typhoon and heavy rain
Repair Concrete Spalling and Cracks 10 years
Painting 5 years
Repair defective Finishes 10 years
Repair Water Leakage at Roof 10 years
NB Items with * are routine maintenance issues carried out by Property Management
Agency.

Categories of Maintenance Jobs

 Routine Maintenance
 Cleaning*
 Security*
 Carpark*
 Garden and Playground*

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 Doors, Windows and Ironmongery

 Lighting and Electric Appliances
 Sanitary Wares, Pipes and Water Tanks
 Building Works
 Water Leakage
 Structural Elements
 Wall and Floor Tiles
 Doors and Windows
 Painting
 Unauthorized Building Works
 Slope Works
 Clear Grass
 Clear Weep Holes
 Clear Channels
 Repair Leakage
 Repair Facing Material
 Building Services Works 風火水電工程
 Ventilation and Air Conditioners
 Town Gas
 Fire Services Installation
 Plumbing and Drainage
 Lighting and Electricity
 Lifts and Escalators

Buildings Ordinance of HK
 Objectives
 Safety
 Health
 Environment
 Control Aspects
 Planning
 Design
 Construction
 Inspection
 Repair

Control Mechanism of BO

 Statutory Agents
 Authorized Persons
 Registered Structural Engineers
 Registered Geotechnical Engineers
 Registered Contractors
 Registered General Building Contractor
 Registered Specialist Contractor
 Hurdles
 Approval
 Consent to commence works

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 Completion: Occupation Permit

Building Works

Approval and Consent

Under Buildings Ordinance, no person shall commence any building works without having
first obtained the approval and consent for commencement of works
 Appoint Authorized Person / Registered Structural Engineer / Registered Geotechnical
Engineer to design and supervise the general building works
 Follow simplified procedures for minor works, where scale is smaller and risk is less

Exempted Building Works

Works not involving the structure (and fire safety), no prior approval and consent is required
 Modify non-structural internal walls
 Erect lightweight dividing walls at roof or flat roof
 Erect metal security gate at entrance of building
 Erect metal security gate at entrance of individual units
 Minor repair to drain pipes

Minor Works Control System

 Requirements of current building control system are too stringent for minor works which
are of smaller scale and pose less risk
 This not only creates difficulty on control and enforcement, but also results in many
unauthorized building works
 The new minor works control system would facilitate public to carry out minor works
lawfully through simplified procedures, with an aim to improving building safety HK

Classes of Minor Works

126 items classified into 3 classes according to their nature, scale, complexity and risk to
safety
 Class 1 (44) – More complicated minor works, such as erection of internal staircases,
repair of columns and removal of large illegal roof-top structures

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 Class 2 (40) – Lower complexity and risk to safety, such as repair of non-load bearing
walls, repair of external rendering and erection of medium-size signboards
 Class 3 (42) – Common household minor works, such as supporting frames for
air-conditioners, drying racks and window canopies

Appointment of Technical Personnel

 No need to obtain prior approval of plans from BD to undertake minor works

 Owners can appoint technical personnel of different qualifications in accordance with
complexity of works

Class I Class II Class III

Appoint Prescribed Building Professionals   
Appoint Prescribed Registered Contractors   

Notify Buildings Department

 Depending on class of minor works, appointed Prescribed Building Professionals /

Prescribed Registered Contractor should notify BD

Class I Class II Class III

Provide simple notification, and submit
plans and documents to BD for record 7 days   
before commencement of works
Submit record plans, certificates and
documents to BD within 14 days after   
completion of works

Designated Exempted Works under MWCS

 Small slab openings

 Glass reinforced polyester water tanks
 Solid fence walls (H ≯ 1.1 m) and external mesh fence (H ≯ 3 m)
 External rendering / wall tiles (H ≯ 3 m)
 Metal gates at fence walls or at building entrance
 Excavation works (depth ≯ 0.3 m)
 Erection of signboard (B ≯ 150 mm & H ≯ 3 m)
 Removal of signboard (B ≯ 600 mm & H ≯ 3 m)
 Support for A/C units, water cooling towers / solar water heating systems / photovoltaic
system (H ≯ 1 m above ground)
 Support for A/C units and associated air ducts projecting from external wall (H ≯ 3 m
above ground)
 Non-concrete canopies (H ≯ 3 m above ground and projection < 500 mm from wall)
 Drying racks (H ≯ 3 m above ground and projection ≯ 750 mm from wall)

Unauthorized Building Works

In case building works do not fall into one of the following categories, they are UBW
 Building works with prior approval and consent
 Minor works

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 Exempted building works

The 3 types of UBW are

 Those subject to immediate enforcement action
 Those subject to prioritized enforcement action
 Common amenity features for which no enforcement action will be taken

Enforcement Policy against UBW

In view of very large no. of UBW in HK, BD gives priority to removal of following types of
UBW:
 Obvious or imminent danger
 New
 On rooftops, flat roofs, and yards and lanes
 Serious health hazard or environmental nuisance
 Major individual items
 Individual buildings with extensive UBW
 Buildings targeted for large scale operations
 Environmentally friendly features of buildings for which exemption from calculation of
gross floor area has been granted

Amenity Features erected without Approval

 Property owners need to put up amenity features for improving living or working
environment
 Incentives are given for provision of such features such as security gates, A/C boxes and
platforms, canopies, window hoods, window flower boxes and the like at design and
construction stage of new buildings, so as to obviate desire or temptation for UBW
 In existing buildings, these amenity features are commonly found. If these features were
erected without approval and consent, they are UBW and are subject to enforcement
action
 In recognition of genuine need for these features, a flexible approach for enforcement is
adopted

Flexible Approach for Amenity Features

Immediate enforcement action will not be taken for the existing amenity features satisfy all
requirements below:
 Apparent need
 Improves living or working environment
 Not excessive large
 Safe condition
 Not adversely affect safety and health
 Temporary and lightweight
 Not for domestic use

Maintenance of Slopes
Maintenance Inspection of Slopes

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 Routine Maintenance Inspection

 Inspection should be carried out at least once every year
 Maintenance should be completed before onset of wet season in April
 Engineer Inspection
 At least once every 5 years
 Regular Check of Buried Water-carrying Services
 Regular Monitoring of Special Measures

Routine Maintenance Inspection of Slopes

 Clearance of accumulated debris from drainage channels and slope surface

 Repair of cracked or damaged drainage channels or pavement
 Repair or replacement of cracked or damaged slope surface cover
 Unblocking of weep holes and outline drain pipes
 Removal of vegetation causing severe cracking of slope surface cover and drainage
channels
 Re-grassing of bare soil slope surface areas
 Repair of missing or deteriorated pointing in masonry walls
 Removal of loose rock debris and undesirable vegetation from rock slopes or around
boulders
 Repair of leaky exposed water-carrying services
 Repair or replace rusted steel slope furniture
 Maintenance of landscape treatment on slope

Engineer Inspections

 Carried out by RPE(Geotechnical) once every 5 years to look for slope safety problems
 Scope of inspection should include
 Assess state of maintenance not condition of slope and retaining wall
 Establish if stability assessment of slope and retaining wall have previously been
carried out and carry out review of these previous stability assessment
 Determine whether stability assessment and/or preventive maintenance or urgent
repair works or access provision are necessary
 Recommend, arrange, supervise and certify satisfactory completion of any
necessary works
 Prepare/update maintenance documentation and recommend improvement for
maintenance purpose

Regular Check of Buried Water-carrying Services

 Leakage from buried water-carrying services may not produce visible signs on surface of
slope or retaining wall, and yet may adversely affect its stability. Regular check should
be arranged for these services regardless of whether signs of suspected leakage have
been observed
 Frequency and extent of examination of services should take account of nature of
material and construction of pipes, performance history in respect of leakage, possible
presence of loose fill and likely effect on stability of slope or retaining wall should
leakage occur

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 The Maintenance Manual should specify frequency of regular checks. Otherwise,

engineer appointed for Engineer Inspection for Maintenance should recommend
frequency

Regular Monitoring of Special Measures

 Regular Monitoring of Special Measures is only necessary in fairly rare circumstances

such as prestressed ground anchors or subsoil drainage system
 Such requirements are normally established by the designer. Details of monitoring are
given in Monitoring Schedule, forming part of the Maintenance Manual

Legislation related to Building Services

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance

 The 4 key types of building services installation, namely, air-conditioning installation,

lighting installation, electrical installation as well as lift and escalator installation of
newly constructed buildings should comply with design standards of Building Energy
Code (BEC)
 The 4 key types of building services installation in existing buildings should comply
with design standards of BEC when major retrofitting works are carried out
 Owners of commercial buildings (including commercial portions of composite buildings)
should carry out energy audit for the 4 key types of central building services installation
therein in accordance with Energy Audit Code once every 10 years

Electricity (Wiring) Regulations

 Electrical works (including installation, commissioning, inspection, testing, maintenance,

modification or repair) must be carried out by registered electrical contractors

Periodic Inspection, Testing & Certification (PITC)

 Fixed electrical installations to be inspected, tested and certified at least once every 12
months for:
 Place of public entertainment
 Storage of dangerous goods
 Premises with high voltage
 Fixed electrical installations to be inspected, tested and certified at least once every 5
years for:
 Hotel, hospital, school or child care centre
 Factory with loading > 200A
 Premises (including commercial or residential) with loading > 100A

Endorsement of Periodic Test Certificates

 Employ registered electrical contractor to inspect and test electrical installations

 After test, request RC to issue “Periodic Test Certificate – Form WR2” within 1 month
from date of completion of work

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 Send WR2 together with application fee to EMSD for endorsement within 2 weeks from
issuance date of WR2
 EMSD may conduct check. The WR2, duly endorsed by EMSD, will be returned to
applicant
 Keep endorsed WR2 properly for inspection by EMSD officer upon request

Lifts and Escalators Ordinance

Responsible Person for Lift

 Owner of Lift; or
 Any person who has management or control of lift

Duties of Responsible Person for Lift

 Equipment in proper state of repair and safe working condition
 Lift not used during improvement work or no valid use permit
 Registered contractors to undertake
 Installation, major alteration and demolition
 Works affecting safe operation
 Registered lift contractor to inspect and maintain lift
 Display valid use permit at all time inside lift car
 Notify EMSD in specified form and RC within 24 hours for any serious incidents
 Keep record of log book for at least 3 recent years

Periodic Maintenance and Examination of Lifts

Maintenance and Examination Frequency

Inspecting, cleaning, oiling and adjusting Monthly
Periodic examination Yearly
Periodic testing of safety equipment Yearly
Full load safety test, overload device and brake tests 5-yearly

Fault of Lifts and Escalators

In case of fault, Responsible Person should:

 Inform registered contractor immediately to carry out maintenance works
 Stop operation of lift temporarily
 RC to arrive site to carry out work within 4 hours of notice by responsible person
 In fact RC cannot complete repair within 24 hours, RC should notify EMSM in specified
form and notify anticipated date of completion of repair

Modernization of Older Lifts

 Install a Double Brake System*

 Install an Unintended Car Movement Protection Device*
 Install an Ascending Car Overspeed Protection Device*
 Install Car Door Mechanical Lock and Door Safety Edge
 Add an Intercom and CCTV System
 Install an Obstruction Switch to Protect Suspension Ropes
 Add Automatic Rescue Device

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Plumbing and Drainage System

Regular Maintenance of plumbing and drainage system may avoid malfunction

 Suspension of Supply – Regular maintenance of water pumps, water tanks and water
pipes can prevent system breakdown or pipe bursting, and affect water supply
 Quality of Water – Regular maintenance of water pumps, water tanks and water pipes
ascertain quality of water, and prevent water dirty and smelly
 Public Health – Regular maintenance of drainage pipes prevent evil smell and spread of
bacteria
Maintenance strategy prevents inconvenience and spread of bacteria due to problems with
plumbing and drainage system

Waterworks Ordinance

 New parameters for testing of water samples

Test Parameters Acceptance Criteria
Lead (µ g/l) ≦ 10
Cadmium (µ g/l) ≦ 3
Chromium (µ g/l) ≦ 50
Nickel (µ g/l) ≦ 70
 General acceptance of water supply pipes and fittings would be valid for a maximum
period of 5 years from date of issuance of approval letter

Safety Precautions in Entering Water Tanks (Confined Space Regulations)

 All entrants must hold valid confined space “Certified Worker” certificate and attendants
must hold valid “Competent Person” or Certified Worker” certificate.
 Four-gas Detector (HC, CO, CO2 and O2) and communication equipment must be
prepared before, and used during, tank entry. Other equipment, such as ventilation
equipment, ladder, torch/lights, hand tool, safety harness, life lines, hard hat, Wellington
boots, must be prepared and used, if needed.
 Remove tank cover and drain out all water.
 Test atmosphere in tank with Four-gas Monitor before entry.
 Attendant must, during entire entry, stay at entrance of tank and frequently
COMMUNICATE with certified workers inside tank.

Twin Roof Tanks

 Allows continuous water supply to residents during regular tank cleansing, facilitates
maintainability and helps conserve environment by saving water

Gas Safety Regulations

 Only registered gas contractors can carry out gas installation, inspection and
maintenance work
 Registered gas supply company will arrange registered gas installer to carry out regular
inspection for customers once every 18 months to ensure safety of service riser and
installation pipe

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Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations

 Keep fire service installation or equipment in efficient working order at all times
 Have such FSI inspected by a registered contractor at least once in every 12 months
 Other than regular maintenance and inspection of FSI, RC also regularly inspects means
of escape, and carry out fire drill and fire prevention promotion
 Refer to Code of Practice for Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Installations and
Equipment for more details

Routine Inspection of FSI

 Smoke Stop Doors

 Missing or defective smoke stop doors
 Smoke stop doors wedged open or not properly closed
 Means of Escape
 Unit gates swing out onto escape routes and cause obstruction
 Doors/gates in escape routes with locking device not openable from inside without
use of a key
 Door to main roof locked up with locking device not openable from inside without
use of a key
 Staircase wall openings for exhaust fans, A/C, doors, windows, etc.
 Unauthorized structures such as cabinet, shelves or stores in escape routes
 Refuse, waste furniture or similar obstructions in escape route
 Emergency lighting in escape routes or exits damaged or not illuminated
 Exit signs damaged or not illuminated
 Fire Service Installations
 Extinguishers defective, damaged, missing or lack of maintenance
 Manual fire alarm call points defective, damaged or obstructed
 Fire hydrants/hose reels system defective, damaged or obstructed
 Signs of Fire Service Inlets/Sprinkler Inlets/Hose Reels or Hose Reel cabinets
illegible or missing
 Obstruction to Fire Service Inlets such as metal gate, fixtures, etc.
 Obstruction to Sprinkler heads -- clearance below sprinkler head < 500 mm
 Unauthorized tampering with FSI
 Fireman lift sign illegible or missing
 FSI is lack of maintenance or not inspected by Reg FSI Contractor annually
 Ventilating System is lack of maintenance or not inspected by Registered Specialist
Contractor (Ventilation Works) annually
 Certificate of Annual FSI not displayed at prominent position of building
 Electricity System
 Electric wires damaged or untidy

Contract Management for OC

3 Key Issues behind Project

 Objectives
 Expenditure
 Time

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Organization Structure of Project

 Owners’ Corporation
 Authorized Person / Registered Structural Engineer
 Contractor

Stages of Project

 Client’s Brief
 Feasibility Study
 Initial Design
 Design and Approval
 Tendering
 Construction
 Completion

Common Tendering Requirements

Tenderer List

Recommended by various Stake-holders

 Owners’ Corporation
 AP/RSE
 Property Management Office
 Government List (as necessary)
 Building Industry

Selection of Consultant / Contractor

 Qualified
 Legal requirements
 On Government List (as necessary)
 Past Performance
 Job reference

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 Performance Record
 Financial Status
 Tender Price

Corruption Prevention

 Equal
 Fair
 Open

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