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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in moving the second reading of the Fire Safety (Buildings) Bill in the Legislative Council today (February 14):

Madam President,

I move that the Fire Safety (Buildings) Bill be read the second time.

The Administration's policy objective is to take progressive steps to upgrade the statutory fire safety standards of old buildings to better protect people working or living there from the risk of fire. As a general indication, the fire safety construction and fire service installations (FSIs) in pre-1987 buildings do not meet present day standards. We introduced the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance and its Amendment Ordinance in 1997 and 1998 respectively to require the upgrading of fire safety measures in commercial premises with heavy traffic of people (such as banks, supermarkets, off-course betting centres, jewellery or goldsmith shops, department stores and shopping arcades) and pre-1987 commercial buildings to modern standards. Our next priority is old composite and domestic buildings. We propose to introduce the present bill to deal with them.

According to the findings of a territory-wide buildings survey conducted by the Fire Services Department (FSD) in 1998, the fire safety condition in old composite (commercial/domestic) buildings was the most unsatisfactory. Only about 10% of these buildings were found satisfactory. In view of the high fire load and heavy traffic of people in the commercial parts of these buildings, we have to deal with them as a priority. Upon implementation of the legislation, we will undertake a ten-year programme comprising two phases to require owners or occupiers of composite buildings to upgrade FSIs and the fire safety construction in their buildings. In the first six years, we will deal with about 5 000 pre-1973 private buildings. In the remaining four years, we will cover some 4 000 private buildings built between 1973 and 1987. It is necessary to tackle pre-1973 private buildings first as the installation of sprinkler systems in the commercial parts was not made a mandatory requirement for these buildings when they were built.

Upon completion of the improvement programme for composite buildings, we will deal with about 3 000 pre-1987 private domestic buildings above three storeys, with priority given to the pre-1973 buildings.

The new legislation will also apply to buildings sold by the Housing Authority under the Home Ownership Scheme or the Tenants Purchase Scheme, as well as public rental housing blocks.

The new fire safety standards for the commercials parts of composite buildings are modelled on those stipulated under the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance. These include the installation of sprinkler systems to contain the spread of fire, and improvements to fire safety construction in buildings to protect exit routes and fireman's access, and to prevent spread of fire between compartments of different uses or adjoining buildings.

For the domestic parts of composite buildings and for domestic buildings generally, taking into account the lower fire load and fire risks normally associated with residential purposes, we require the provision of only the most essential items (such as fire hydrant and hose reel systems), and the protection of exit routes.

Regarding the enforcement mechanism, we will follow the arrangements under the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance and empower the enforcement authorities, i.e. FSD and the Buildings Department to issue directions to require owners or occupiers of composite buildings and domestic buildings to upgrade the fire safety measures of their buildings to the required standards. If an owner or occupier fails to comply with the requirements in a direction without a reasonable excuse, the authorities may apply to a magistrate court for a compliance order. If an owner or occupier fails to comply with a direction or a compliance order, the authorities may apply to the court for a prohibition order prohibiting the occupation of the relevant building or part of the building in case of substantial fire risks and when it is reasonable and necessary to do so. Failure to comply with the requirements specified in a direction or compliance order shall be an offence punishable by a fine, whilst failure to comply with a prohibition order shall be punishable by a fine and by imprisonment.

Upon implementation of the legislation, the enforcement authorities will progressively carry out inspection to buildings covered by the legislation and issue fire safety directions. They will undertake a flexible and pragmatic approach in handling cases where owners encounter practical difficulties in complying with the fire safety directions. For example, the owners may propose other effective fire safety measures in place of the original requirements specified in the directions. To ensure fair and impartial consideration of any alternative proposals made by the owners themselves, we propose the setting up of independent advisory bodies whom the Director of Fire Services and the Director of Buildings may consult if necessary. Membership of such bodies will include professionals from the building industry, representatives of institutions and academics. Moreover, we will encourage owners of old buildings to employ qualified professionals to inspect their buildings and put forward proposals to the enforcement authorities for upgrading fire safety measures to the required standards of the Bill so that the improvement works can start as early as possible. The owners may also employ qualified professionals to inspect and certify the satisfactory completion of the improvement works. This would help the enforcement authorities to confirm that the fire safety condition of the buildings has complied with the new statutory standards. With the cooperation of the owners, the trade, the enforcement authorities etc., we look forward to expeditious implementation of the whole programme to improve the fire safety of old buildings, so that those working or living in these buildings will benefit from the enhanced fire safety measures as soon as possible.

To optimise the use of market forces to help achieve the objective of improving fire safety in old buildings, we propose to empower the enforcement authorities to register in the Land Registry a compliance order or a prohibition order issued by the court against a building or such parts of it to which the order relates. Such registration would make the fact of potential liability known to any prospective property buyers who may be interested to do a land search. It would thus help to provide an incentive for a building owner to comply with the outstanding court order so as to maintain the value of his property.

To help alleviate possible cash flow problems that some building owners may encounter, we plan to extend the scope of the existing Fire Safety Improvement Loan Scheme (FSILS), so that eligible owners affected by the Bill can have recourse to a non-means-tested loan. A Task Force under the Planning and Lands Bureau is spearheading a proposal to merge the FSILS and the Building Safety Improvement Loan Scheme (BSILS) to form a $700-million loan scheme under broader terms of reference to provide comprehensive financial assistance to building owners. Among others, owners affected by the Bill will be covered. The revised loan scheme, with details being worked out, will be submitted to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council for consideration.

The Security Bureau and the Home Affairs Bureau jointly conducted public consultation on a package of proposals to improve fire safety in private buildings from June to August 1998. The public was supportive of the Administration's objective. Subsequently, the Building Management (Amendment) Bill 2000 was approved by the Legislative Council in June 2000 to improve building management; this Bill aims to take forward those measures for upgrading fire safety standards of buildings. We briefed the Legislative Council Panel on Security on the proposals in November 2000. We will also brief the 18 District Fire Safety Committees to help the public understand better the requirements specified in the Bill.

I hope Members will support the above proposal and pass the Bill at an early date.

Madam President, with these remarks, I beg to move.

End/Wednesday, February 14, 2001

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