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LCQ20: Assisting owners of old buildings in carrying out improvement works to enhance fire safety
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     Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, in the Legislative Council today (March 28):
      
Question:
 
     In recent years, the authorities have from time to time issued Fire Safety Directions (Directions) or Fire Safety Compliance Orders (Orders) under the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) to owners of composite and domestic buildings, demanding them to install fire service installations such as water tanks and hose reel systems to meet the current requirements on fire safety. Quite a number of members of the owners' corporations (OCs) of old buildings and owners of buildings which do not have an OC or residents' organisation and have not engaged any property management company (commonly known as "three-nil buildings") have coincidentally relayed to me that they have encountered a lot of difficulties in taking forward fire safety works in old buildings pursuant to the Directions or Orders. The difficulties include: most of the owners, being elderly persons and retirees, have little knowledge about applying for the relevant building maintenance subsidies or loans and inviting tenders for the works concerned; some of the owners do not know how to form an OC; and the costs of the works are substantial. In view of this, I, together with a number of members of the Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin District Councils, held a meeting earlier with representatives of the Fire Services Department, the Buildings Department and the Urban Renewal Authority to (i) relay the difficulties and constraints encountered by owners of old buildings in complying with the Directions or Orders, (ii) discuss ways to assist such owners in applying for building maintenance subsidies or loans, and (iii) urge the authorities to relax those policies that are considered to be too stringent and cause nuisance to the public (e.g. giving sympathetic consideration to relaxing the requirement that fire resisting windows of the stairway in single-staircase buildings must be sealed, having regard to the fact that elderly persons need more fresh air as they need more time and effort to climb up and down the stairs). On assisting building owners in complying with the fire safety requirements, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the subsidy or loan schemes currently in place to assist owners of old buildings in undertaking fire safety works; whether the authorities will consider increasing the amounts of subsidies or loans under such schemes so that they may benefit more owners with financial difficulties;
 
(2) as the Chief Executive (CE) proposed in the Policy Address delivered in October last year that $2 billion be deployed for launching the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme (FSW Scheme), of (i) the number of buildings which are 50 years old or above across the territory the fire safety facilities of which may be improved under the FSW Scheme, (ii) among such buildings, the respective numbers of those situated in Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin Districts, and (iii) the respective percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of old buildings in the two districts, as estimated by the authorities;
 
(3) as it is learnt that since the FSW Scheme will benefit only those owners who have not complied with the Directions or Orders, but not those who have spent several million dollars on complying with the Directions or Orders, some owners hold the view that such practice of the authorities is nothing but making "the black dog gets the food, the white dog takes the blame", whether the authorities will set a retrospective period for the FSW Scheme, thereby enabling those owners who have complied with the Directions or Orders within a certain period of time to apply for the subsidies;
 
(4) given that CE announced in the Policy Address delivered in October last year the launch of Operation Building Bright 2.0, of the (i) details, (ii) eligibility criteria for application, and (iii) implementation timetable of the programme; whether the authorities will distribute the relevant information to owners of the target buildings; the expected number of buildings across the territory the fire safety facilities of which may be improved under the programme, and among them, the respective numbers of those situated in Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin Districts;
 
(5) given that owners of three-nil buildings have not complied with the Directions or Orders because they have not formed an OC and some of the owners are uncooperative, resulting in those innocent owners among them who are willing to cooperate being punished, of the authorities' measures to prevent those owners who are willing to cooperate from being caught by the law, and whether they will consider exempting them from punishment;
 
(6) whether it will consider setting up a dedicated fund and empowering the enforcement authorities to carry out fire safety works for owners of three-nil buildings who have not complied with the Directions or Orders and recover the costs from the owners concerned upon completion of the works; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(7) given that most owners of old buildings are elderly persons and retirees and are unwilling to spend their limited old-age savings which are commonly known as "funeral savings" to meet the substantial costs of fire safety works, of the authorities' policies to encourage them to comply with the Directions or Orders;
 
(8) given that the authorities announced last year the launch of a pilot scheme on the use of existing fresh water supply systems and rooftop fresh water tanks for firefighting purpose, of (i) the current number of buildings across the territory which have joined the scheme, (ii) the eligibility criteria for applying for the scheme, and (iii) whether the scheme is subject to a time limit;
 
(9) as some residents of old buildings have relayed that as the distance between the buildings in which they reside and the adjoining buildings is less than six metres, the fire resisting windows of the stairway are required to be closed under the current requirement, lest fires broken out in the adjoining buildings might spread to the buildings in which they reside, whether the authorities will conduct studies on, through allowing such buildings to apply fireproof/fire-resistant coating on the exterior surface, granting such buildings exemption from the requirement to keep the fire resisting windows closed, in order to keep the stairway well-ventilated so that elderly residents (especially those residing in single-staircase buildings) will not feel the stuffiness when climbing up and down the stairs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(10) as it has been reported that some owners of old buildings are unable to comply with the Directions or Orders due to technical difficulties of the fire safety works and the high costs which may be as high as several million dollars, whether the authorities will consider imposing more lenient fire safety requirements on those old buildings which are not far away from fire stations and can be reached by fire service vehicles within a specified time, such as requiring the provision on each floor of a fire alarm system and fire extinguisher only, instead of the installation of fire hydrants/hose reel systems connected to the fire alarm system, so as to alleviate the financial burden on the owners concerned; and
 
(11) as some community organisations have relayed that quite a number of members of the public do not know how to operate fire safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and fire hose reels, rendering them being useless in the event of a fire, whether the authorities will enhance public education to teach members of the public how to use fire safety equipment?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) (the Ordinance) stipulates that the fire safety protection of composite and domestic buildings (target buildings) which were constructed on or before March 1, 1987, or with their plans of the building works first submitted for approval on or before that day, should be enhanced to meet the current requirements. The Ordinance is enforced by the Fire Services Department (FSD) and the Buildings Department (BD). The two departments will issue Fire Safety Directions (Directions) to owners and/or occupiers with regard to fire safety measures of the relevant buildings and specify the required fire safety improvement works.
 
     We are aware that some owners may encounter financial difficulties, problems in coordination amongst owners/occupants, or structural or spatial constraints of the buildings in complying with the requirements under the Ordinance. As such, FSD and BD have been maintaining close liaison with the Home Affairs Department (HAD), the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The two departments have also been taking an active part in offering professional advice to owners of old buildings in relation to technical support, financial support and owners/occupants' coordination, with a view to assisting the owners to comply with the Directions as soon as practicable.
      
     Having consulted the Development Bureau and the relevant departments, the consolidated replies to various parts of the question raised by the Hon Tse are as follows:
 
(1) to (3), (7) In order to assist owners of private buildings in conducting maintenance and repair of their buildings, the Government, HKHS and URA have been implementing various financial assistance schemes for owners in need. Those schemes include the Building Safety Loan Scheme, the Common Area Repair Works Subsidy (CAS) and the Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Elderly Owners (BMGSEO). Fire safety improvement works pertaining to the Ordinance have been incorporated into the list of works eligible for subsidies or loans under these schemes.  In particular, CAS offers eligible owners an additional hardship grant of $10 000, while BMGSEO provides financial assistance for elderly owner-occupiers to meet the costs of repairing the buildings they occupy, and each eligible owner may receive an allowance of up to $40 000. Please refer to URA's website for details of the above financial assistance schemes.
 
     To further assist owners of old buildings in carrying out improvement works to enhance the fire safety standards, the Government proposes to devote $2 billion to launch the "Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme" (FSWS) for subsidising owners of old composite buildings in complying with requirements of the Ordinance.  We estimate that the fund will benefit around 2 000 target buildings. The amount of subsidy for eligible building owners, which will be higher than that of existing financial assistance schemes, can be up to a maximum of 60 per cent of the costs of the fire safety improvement works and consultancy fees, or the subsidy ceiling for the corresponding category of buildings, whichever is the less. Subject to funding availability, FSWS is expected to be rolled out in mid-2018.
 
     The aim of FSWS is mainly to provide financial assistance to encourage and assist owners with greater financial difficulty in complying with the Ordinance's requirements. The targets of the scheme are therefore building owners who have received Directions but have not commenced the relevant works, or those with works commenced but yet to be completed, so as to encourage these owners to complete the works as soon as possible for improving the fire safety standards of their buildings.
 
     By end February 2018, FSD and BD have issued Directions to 181 buildings in Wong Tai Sin District and 126 in Kwun Tong District. Whether these buildings are eligible for joining FSWS will depend on factors such as whether their average rateable values of the residential units are below $162 000 per annum (for buildings in urban areas including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Sha Tin, Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan) or $124 000 per annum (for buildings in the New Territories) at the time.
 
(4) To protect public safety, the Government plans to launch the Operation Building Bright 2.0 (OBB 2.0) at a cost of $3 billion to provide technical and financial assistance to eligible building owners to comply with the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) requirements. Based on a risk-based approach, OBB 2.0 would focus on residential and composite buildings aged 50 years or above with relatively low average rateable values, having regard to the relatively higher building safety risks of these buildings.
 
     For inspection and repair works specified for the common parts of a building, all eligible applications (except elderly applicants) will be subsidised 80 per cent of the cost subject to a cap of $40 000 per unit. Elderly eligible applicants aged 60 or above will be subsidised 100 per cent of the cost subject to a cap of $50 000 per unit. In addition, for private projecting structures under MBIS, all eligible property owners will be subsidised 50 per cent of the cost subject to a cap of $6 000 per unit. It is estimated that the funding under OBB 2.0 would be able to support the commissioning of the inspection and repair works of 2 500 buildings.
 
     The Government will partner with URA in the implementation of OBB 2.0 and intends to, subject to funding availability, accept the first round of applications in mid-2018. The target for the first round of applications will be eligible buildings with outstanding MBIS notices or pre-notification letters.
 
     In view of the lead time required for owners to reach a consensus, URA sent publicity materials to relevant buildings in February 2018 and is conducting a total of 10 briefings on the details of OBB 2.0 and FSWS in different districts from March to April 2018.
 
     At present, there are some 100 and 130 residential and composite buildings aged 50 years or more in Wong Tai Sin District and Kwun Tong District respectively, but whether they are eligible to participate in OBB 2.0 will depend on the annual average rateable values of their residential units at the time. In regard to whether the subsidies from OBB 2.0 will be utilised to fire safety facilities of the buildings, it will depend on the circumstances of individual cases.
 
(5) and (6) We understand that the owners of those buildings commonly known as "three-nil" buildings may encounter difficulties in coordinating fire safety improvement works. As such, FSD and BD will refer a list of target buildings without owners' corporations (OCs) to HAD for the latter to assist in encouraging owners to set up OCs. 

     FSD will publicise the recruitment of Fire Safety Ambassadors Building and Fire Safety Envoys after issuing Directions to "three-nil" buildings, with a view to enhancing the residents' awareness of fire prevention and facilitating coordination of improvement works for fire service installations and equipment (FSI) in the future.  The Social Services Team appointed by BD would also provide further support if the need arises, including coordinating residents of the buildings in carrying out the related works and assisting them in applying for financial assistance schemes as appropriate, etc.
      
     On prosecution, FSD and BD will, having regard to the circumstances of individual buildings and information provided by the owners, OCs or their authorised persons or consultants in relation to the execution of the Directions, reasonably relax some of the requirements or extend the compliance period of the Directions. If owners fail to comply with the Directions within a reasonable period, and cannot provide sufficient justifications to support their applications for time extension, the departments have the statutory duty to take actions under the Ordinance. The evidence and circumstances of each case, including follow-up actions taken by individual owners on the Directions, will be considered before prosecution is initiated. 
 
     There is no provision in the Ordinance empowering FSD and BD to carry out works relating to improving fire safety measures for target buildings. Since undertaking fire safety improvement works would involve various feasible proposals and works arrangements (such as where the facilities and what alternative equipment should be installed), and the scale of the works and associated costs would vary rather significantly depending on the proposals to be adopted, the owners of the buildings must discuss among themselves having regard to the building's circumstances and reach a consensus before the works are carried out. It is therefore not appropriate for the enforcement authorities to make such decisions and to carry out the works for the owners. If the departments were to forcibly carry out the works, it could lead to unnecessary disputes or even litigation. The progress of the works would also be delayed. In addition, fire safety improvement works would require subsequent maintenance. For instance, the owners of FSI must, in accordance with the statutory requirements, arrange annual inspection to ensure that the installations or equipment are in efficient working order. We therefore consider it appropriate to assist owners of old buildings in establishing OCs in order to carry out fire safety improvement works.
 
(8) and (10) We are aware that some old building owners may not be able to fully comply with the requirements set out in the Directions due to structural or spatial constraints of their buildings. As such, FSD and BD have been, on the premise of not compromising basic fire safety, adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach in handling individual cases. After careful consideration of the Department's response time in attending to building fire calls and its operational efficiency, FSD has also introduced a series of measures to suitably adjust the capacity requirements of the fire service water tanks so as to facilitate the owners in complying with the Directions.  For example, FSD has lowered the capacity requirement of fire service water tanks to be installed in most of the target buildings of four to six storeys from 2 000 litres to 500 litres. Furthermore, for target buildings of seven storeys or above, provided that direct vehicular access to one of the major facades of the building is available and a street fire hydrant is located within a distance of 50 metres, the capacity requirement of fire service water tanks may be substantially reduced from 9 000 litres to 4 500 litres. The above improvised measures have significantly reduced the size and capacity of water tanks and resolved the spatial and structural constraints in relation to the rooftops of most target buildings.
 
     The pilot scheme on utilising the existing fresh water supply systems and rooftop fresh water tanks for supporting the fire service systems is mainly for target buildings of seven storeys or above. FSD already issued letters to notify owners of the target buildings concerned and invited them to join the pilot scheme by the end of last year. As it requires expertise for technical calculations, owners may appoint fire service installation contractors, authorised persons or consultants to submit formal applications to FSD. FSD and the Water Supplies Department will assess the practicability of the proposals put forward on a case-by-case basis. To date, FSD has accepted three suitable target buildings as trial spots for evaluating the effectiveness of the new measure and the feasibility of its full implementation.
 
     For the suggestion of replacing the fire hydrant/hose reel system with fire alarm system and fire extinguisher, FSI requirements under the Ordinance are basic fire protection measures which are imperative to reduce fire risks and for the protection of life and property. For example, a hose reel system is crucial for the fire safety of a building as it can effectively control the spread of fire in a building at the initial stage of a fire. A fire extinguisher provides limited fire protection due to limitations of its size and quenching distance and should not be regarded as a full replacement of a hose reel system. Furthermore, as a hose reel system is connected to a fire alarm system, when the former is activated, it will trigger the alarm to alert residents of a fire to evacuate in a timely manner.
 
(9) In accordance with the requirements under the Code of Practice for Fire Resisting Construction 1996 published by BD, if any window of a required staircase opposes and is within six metres of any unprotected openings of a building (e.g. a window of a unit in the same building or a window of an adjoining building), the staircase should be protected by fixed light with a fire resistance period so as to prevent the spread of fire and smoke within the staircase. It provides a safe route for the occupants to escape in the event of fire, and allows firemen to enter the fire scene safely and smoothly for firefighting and rescue. Since the required staircases are crucial to the occupants in multi-storey buildings for escaping from the fire scene promptly, it is necessary to have the required staircases properly protected against the fire.
 
     If it is considered necessary to enhance the ventilation within the required staircase after the installation of fixed light, the building owners may consider other alternative proposals without adversely affecting fire safety, such as enlarging the top vent at the top storey for enhancing the cross-ventilation with the exit at ground floor of the required staircase. In addition, the building owners and their appointed authorised persons may submit proposals in lieu of provision of fixed lights to BD for consideration, such as the installation of specially designed wind guard outside the openable window of the staircase. BD would consider whether the alternative proposals are acceptable and meet the fire safety requirements taking into account factors such as the number of storeys of the building, designs of the required staircase and staircase windows, as well as the distance between the staircase windows and nearby unprotected openings.
 
(11) To enhance the public's awareness of fire safety and knowledge on FSIs including fire extinguishers and hose reels, FSD has been organising various fire safety publicity activities in collaboration with other government departments and the District Fire Safety Committees, as well as in liaison with different local organisations, including schools, building management companies, OCs, elderly centres, etc. Apart from fire safety talks, seminars, fire safety exhibitions and fire drills across the territory, FSD provides training to volunteers from different sectors of the community to become Fire Safety Ambassadors and Building Fire Safety Envoys.  Training under these schemes includes the uses, types, operation and maintenance of FSIs.
 
     Moreover, FSD produces promotional leaflets, posters and pamphlets regarding the proper use of FSIs. The Department also makes active efforts to disseminate information on the correct use of fire extinguishers and hose reels to the public through different channels such as the FSD Mobile Applications, the FSD YouTube Channel, the Fire and Ambulance Services Education Centre cum Museum, the Mobile Publicity Unit, the Fire Safety Education Bus, etc.
 
Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:19
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