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The Administration today (June 8) published in the Gazette the Building Management (Fee Revision) Regulation 2007 and the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Revision of Licence Fees) Regulation 2007.
The Building Management Ordinance (BMO) aims to provide a legal framework for the incorporation of owners to facilitate effective building management. The Building Management (Fees) Regulations (Cap.344A) set out the respective fees to be paid by the public to the Land Registry for its services provided under BMO, for example, the issue of a certificate of registration to a newly formed owners' corporation.
The Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (HAGAO) aims to provide for a statutory licensing scheme to regulate the fire and building safety of hotels and guesthouses. Schedule 1 to the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Fees) Regulations (Cap.349B) specifies the fees to be payable for the issue of licences under section 8 of HAGAO and Schedule 2 specifies the fees to be payable for the renewal of licences under section 9 of HAGAO.
The fee revision in respect of the two regulations is an annual exercise with a view to achieving achieve full-cost recovery gradually.
Following the last revision on January 1, 2006, a fresh costing exercise was carried out to review the fee items under the two regulations.
The exercise showed that the cost recovery rate for most of the fee items under the Building Management (Fees) Regulations are 35% or below, and the current fee levels under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Fees) Regulations cover 38% to 117% of the full cost of issue of new licences, and 90% to 104% of that of renewal of licences for hotels and guesthouses.
All fee items under the Building Management (Fees) Regulations are adjusted by a 20% increase whereas that under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Fees) Regulations are adjusted through a revision ranges from a 14% decrease to a 20% increase in 2007.
The Building Management (Fee Revision) Regulation 2007 and Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Revision of Licence Fees) Regulation 2007 will be tabled at the Legislative Council next Wednesday (June 13). The two amendment regulations are expected to take effect on November 1.
Ends/Friday, June 8, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:00
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