Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn on Friday said the government would set up a new council by the end of the year to help homeowners through the full cycle of building repairs – offering a paid service to handle tendering and evaluation on their behalf.

Her announcement came after the independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire called, in its report, for enhanced support services that would be run by a new operator with a clearer, more interventionist mandate.

Speaking a day after the report’s release, Linn said the new Building Maintenance Support and Services Council would be a non-statutory body and take over, in phases, building-upkeep subsidy schemes presently being run by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA).

Unlike the URA's Smart Tender platform, which helps owners solicit bids but does not assess them, the council will arrange for tenders and evaluate them for owners and recommend up to three suitable bids.

Owners using government maintenance subsidies must choose from those recommended bids.

The council will also assign pre-engaged inspection consultants instead of requiring a fresh tender for each inspection, help appoint supervision consultants and contractors, monitor the supervision consultant during works, and give owners independent advice if contractors propose major scope or cost changes.

Linn said the fuller service could cost several thousand dollars per flat, versus the few hundred being charged under the Smart Tender platform.

Commenting on the charges for the fuller service, Linn pointed out that the new council would provide a paid service to help owners meet their duty to inspect and maintain private property.

Owners, she stressed, remain responsible for major repairs and the government is only stepping in because many of them lack the technical know-how.

Linn was also asked whether the council should take responsibility if trouble came up.

"Now that we have a new council recommending the consultants and contractors, it also has a role overseeing their performance. In case the council is being lax in its monitoring duty, then the council will have liability," she said.

"Likewise, if turn of events show that the council has overlooked some important matters when recommending certain consultants or contractors, then I'm sure the council will also have to take on civil liabilities under the service contract they have signed with the owners."

The council is expected to operate on a self-financing basis.

The government has reserved HK$300 million, Linn said, adding that the figure is made up of HK$100 million in seed funding and HK$200 million to ease fees for needy owners.

She said the council's priority would be the around 1,800 maintenance projects already in the Smart Tender system that had yet to appoint a contractor and were waiting for the new service.

At the news conference, Linn was also asked whether she had considered resigning over the fire.

She said she had thought about it but added that the decision was not simply down to her personal preference; as a senior member of the administration, she also had a duty to continue in her job to carry out the chief executive's directions.




Edited by Tony Sabine