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Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Court owners are reminded that they are responsible for the proper maintenance of their own courts.
In response to a newspaper report revealing that HOS courts owners may have neglected their building maintenance responsibility, a spokesman for the Housing Department (HD) made the above statement today (September 11).
¡§Same as the private properties owners, it is the responsibility of individual owners (or their owners corporation) to maintain their buildings properly. Where a building is left in a state of disrepair, enforcement action under the Buildings Ordinance will be initiated requiring the owners (or their owners corporation) to carry out investigation, repair or restatement works as necessary,¡¨ he said.
¡§The 10-year Structural Safety Guarantee (SSG) provided by the Housing Authority (HA) for HOS courts aims to provide additional assurance to owners on the structural safety and integrity of the buildings,¡¨ the spokesman stressed, adding that the Guarantee is not intended to take over owners¡¦ maintenance responsibility.
Under the SSG, the HA will be responsible for all structural repairs, including those necessitated by spalling and cracking to any structural component of the building to uphold its structural stability and integrity of the building as a whole structure within the guarantee period of 10 years from the date of completion.
¡§This would exclude defects not related to structural stability and integrity, such as water seepage through ceilings or windows, cracks in plaster, and repair works in the external areas and facilities, as well as those arising from structural alterations or improper usage of the building,¡¨ the spokesman explained.
The Owners Corporation (OC) of Hong Nga Court in Lam Tin alleged that the falling off of spalling concrete was caused by the corrosion of steel Vemo Anchor channels embedded in the soffit of the ledgers of the units for hanging window-type air-conditioners. The OC submitted a request for HA to rectify the defects before the expiry of the SSG in 2003.
¡§The partially exposed galvanized steel channels are prone to corrosion and worsened by the lack of maintenance, both for the corroded channels and the external fabrics in the past years¡¨, the spokesman said.
He stressed that the problem of spalling and falling concrete found in Hong Nga Court did not fall within the scope of SSG provided by the HA for 10 years for HOS Courts.
¡§The Independent Checking Unit (ICU) of the HD has been delegated with the power of building control over HOS courts under the Buildings Ordinance by the Building Authority. Several Advisory Letters have been issued by the ICU to the OC of Hong Nga Court since May 2006, asking them to investigate and rectify the defects. If they fail to do so within a reasonable period, ICU may consider issuing a statutory order to the OC,¡¨ the spokesman added.
The HD has been maintaining a close dialogue with the OC of Hong Nga Court. With mutual consensus, a registered mediator was appointed in an effort to settle the disputes.
¡§An amicable settlement was reached in a mediation meeting held in June. The settlement was reached on a without admission of fault or liability basis by either party,¡¨ the spokesman said.
Completed in 1993, Hong Nga Court is a HOS Court with 1,824 flats in three Harmony blocks. The ten-year SSG provided by HA expired on 8th August 2003.
There are very few blocks in HOS Courts fitted with Vemo Anchor channel. Though varying degree of rusting may exist, no similar problem like the one in Hong Nga Court is found.
Ends/Monday, September 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:47
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