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The Buildings Department (BD) today (June 1) issued a revised practice note requiring a detailed breakdown of all gross floor area (GFA) concessions granted in new building developments to be shown on building plans. Furthermore, the information will be published upon completion of the development.
"This is to follow up an undertaking by the Secretary for Development in the Legislative Council in November 2009 to enhance public knowledge about GFA concessions granted in individual building projects," a spokesman for the Buildings Department said.
Prior to this new arrangement, members of the public had to access approved building plans and related documents on a fee-paying basis upon completion of the development to inspect the GFA concessions granted, and even if the BD were to provide such documents, members of the public had to compile the various GFA concessions from separate plans and submissions.
A spokesman for the department said that the BD had reviewed the existing practice stipulated in the relevant Practice Note for Authorised Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers. Having consulted the stakeholders concerned, a revised practice note was issued today with the aim of enhancing transparency of information on GFA concessions in newly completed buildings.
"The revised practice note requires that in making application for approval of a building development involving GFA concessions, a detailed breakdown of the areas of all kinds of GFA concessions, including exempted, disregarded and bonus GFA, should be clearly specified on the final building plans submitted to the Building Authority for approval," the spokesman said.
The new arrangement will supersede the existing practice that Authorised Persons only have to specify on the building plans the areas eligible for bonus GFA and certain kinds of facilities exempted from GFA which are subject to a cap on the GFA concessions (such as balconies, wider common corridors and lift lobbies, recreational facilities, etc), while the disregarded or exempted GFA of other facilities such as car parks and plant rooms are not required to be specified on the plans.
Apart from the requirement to specify the areas of various GFA concessions on the building plans, the revised practice note also requires Authorised Persons to provide a summary of all GFA concessions upon application for occupation permits.
The BD will publish the summary of GFA concessions on its website after issuance of occupation permit for the respective building development. For further details of the GFA concessions granted, the public can inspect the latest approved building plans upon completion of the development at the department's Building Information Centre in person or through its Building Records Access and Viewing On-line System on the Internet, the spokesman added.
The revised practice note will be applicable to newly completed buildings for which an application for an occupation permit is submitted on or after September 1, 2010.
Members of the Building Sub-Committee of the Land and Development Advisory Committee and the Authorised Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers Committee have been consulted. They generally agreed to the revised measures.
Ends/Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:28
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