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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kam-lam and an oral reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, JP in the Legislative Council today (December 3):
Question:
As accidents which involved the plunging of lifts and snapping of lift suspension ropes recently occurred one after another in public housing estates ("PHEs") - Fu Shin Estate, Wan Tau Tong Estate and Tsui Ping South Estate, public housing residents are very concerned about the safety of lifts in their PHEs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the criteria adopted by the Housing Department ("HD") for selecting contractors for the installation and maintenance of lifts in PHEs; whether HD will revise such criteria in the wake of the above accidents; whether the housing estates under the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS estates") which have not yet formed their owners' corporations are still using the same lift maintenance contractors originally engaged by HD;
(b) given that HD would have handed over the estate management to the owners' corporations of TPS estates upon their establishment, whether HD has monitored the lift maintenance standards of such PHEs to safeguard the safety of tenants; if so, whether it has assessed effectiveness of the monitoring work; and
(c) whether HD has any measure to ensure that the quality of lift maintenance service will not be affected by adopting the tendering practice of "the lowest bidder wins" when the TPS estates which have not yet formed owners' corporations are selecting lift maintenance contractors?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the three-part question is as follows:
(a) Apart from the procurement and installation of lifts, the tender contracts on lift works of the Housing Authority (HA) requires the provision of future maintenance and repair services so as to ensure that the lifts are maintained by the original contractors. Lift contractors bidding for HA's tenders must be a lift contractor on the approved list maintained by the HA. These listed contractors of the HA must be a lift contractor registered with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) and meet other requirements such as experience and financial condition prescribed by the HA. Contractors failing to meet the performance standards specified by the HA or having dereliction of duty (e.g. serious industrial accident) will be disqualified from submitting tenders temporarily or be removed from the approved list.
When vetting tenders, apart from considering the bidding price, the HA will also make a full assessment and analysis on all factors including past performance, professional capability, financial condition and safety records of the contractors. As such, the lowest bidder may not necessarily win the contract.
With respect to lifts in public housing estates under the HA, even though the lifts in the same estates are of different brands due to different completion dates or phases of development, the Housing Department (HD) will follow the principle of maintaining the lifts by original contractors: the contractors that are the selling agent of the brand of the lifts will be engaged in providing maintenance works for that brand of lifts. The HD will not ask the contractors to carry out maintenance works for lifts of brands other than those for which the contractors are the selling agents. In other words, the HD will not adopt the "bunching approach" for lift maintenance. The HA will continue with its existing arrangement of engaging original contractors to provide lift maintenance to ensure that the lifts are maintained in the best operation condition when providing safe and reliable service for the tenants.
With all 39 Tenants Purchase Scheme estates (TPS estates) having formed their Ownersˇ¦ Corporations (OCs) under the Building Management Ordinance, the duty of appointing lift contractors for maintenance service has been handed over to these OCs.
(b) As with other private housing estates, the management and maintenance of the TPS estates are undertaken by their OCs, and the day-to-day business of the OCs is run by their management committees. Hence, the OC is the body that bears ultimate responsibility for monitoring matters such as day-to-day management and maintenance of the estates. Being the owner of the unsold flats of the TPS estates, HA participates in the management of the estates by appointing an officer of the HD as a member of the management committee. The HA representative will assist the OCs in the proper and effective management of the estates as far as possible, and encourage the owners to make decisions in the overall interests of the estates, so as to safeguard the interests of all owners and the HA.
Like other private buildings, lifts in TPS estates are regulated by Lifts and Escalators (Safety) Ordinance (Chapter 327). Therefore, as stipulated in the law, only registered lift engineers and registered lift contractors are qualified to carry out maintenance works for the lifts in TPS estates. These works shall be conducted in compliance with the safety standards according to the Code of Practice promulgated by the regulatory authority, i.e. the EMSD.
(c) As I have mentioned before, OCs have been established in all TPS estates. The management of these estates, including the handling of maintenance matters, has also been handed over to these OCs. In owners' meetings, the HA's representative will only vote for the appointment of the original contractor to undertake the maintenance service so as to ensure that the best lift maintenance arrangement is adopted.
Ends/Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:46
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