Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hok-fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):
 
Question:

     The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Housing jointly implemented a pilot scheme on "Joint Property Management" (JPM) in 2022 for old single-block buildings in the "Lung Shing" area of Kowloon City. Assistance were provided to old buildings without owners' corporations (OCs) in establishing OCs, and different old single-block buildings were then coordinated to co-appoint a property management company for owners to enjoy professional management services at more affordable costs. However, in its experience report on Kowloon City's JPM Pilot Scheme submitted to the Government in March this year, URA mentioned that among the four buildings in the "Lung Shing" area participating in the JPM Pilot Scheme, half of them withdrew from the scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) as it is learnt that many owners of old buildings are elderly retirees who are not keen to participate in building management, leading to the near standstill of OCs of such buildings, of the Government's measures in place to encourage owners of old buildings to improve building management and carry out repairs, such as whether it will allow them to participate in the JPM Pilot Scheme or other subsidised building management schemes without the need to establish an OC;
 
(2) given that the Government launched the JPM Pilot Scheme in Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Tsuen Wan in June this year for a period of one year, and it is learnt that there are over 5 000 private buildings aged 30 years or above in Hong Kong Island West, whether the Government will extend the Pilot Scheme to old private buildings in Hong Kong Island West; if so, of the implementation timetable;
 
(3) given that some members of the local community have indicated that last month, a public fresh water mains burst incident occurred in an old composite and domestic building on Hollywood Road, but contractors engaged by some residential unit owners were unable to gain access to the ground-floor units to repair the water mains, leaving all residential units of the building without fresh water supply, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the number of cases in the past five years where building maintenance works could not be carried out in a timely manner due to human factors (such as delays or lack of cooperation from the owners concerned); if so, of the number and details of the cases;
 
(4) given that the Government amended the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap. 572) last year to empower the Hong Kong Fire Services Department and the Buildings Department (BD) to carry out fire safety improvement works in default of owners failing to comply with the requirements of Cap. 572, and to recover the costs from them upon completion of the works, and that under the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123), BD will also engage government contractors to carry out emergency works in default of owners, whether the Government will, drawing on the practices under Cap. ‍572 and Cap. 123, enact legislation to empower the Water Supplies Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department or other government departments to handle building maintenance cases such as water mains or sewer leakage in default of owners, and subsequently recover the costs from the owners; if so, of the timetable for the relevant work?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     The management and proper maintenance of buildings are the responsibilities of owners. The Government's role in building management is to act as a facilitator by providing a legal framework under the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) to enable owners to form Owners' Corporations (OCs), and by offering a series of support services to assist owners in discharging their responsibilities jointly relating to building management.
      
     Having consulted the Development Bureau, our consolidated reply to various parts of the question raised by the Hon Chan Hok-fung is as follows:
 
(1)and(2) To strengthen support for OCs and promote effective building management, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) has implemented the Owners' Corporations Advisory Services Scheme since 2018, under which property management companies (PMCs) are engaged to provide OCs in need with free advisory services on building management. These services include assisting in re-activating defunct or inactive management committees (MCs). For "three-nil" buildings which do not have any OC and have not engaged any PMC, the HAD has implemented the Building Management Professional Advisory Service Scheme (BMPASS) since 2022 to engage district organisations with experience in building management or related fields to reach out to the owners to encourage and help them form OCs. In addition, the Resident Liaison Ambassador Scheme is implemented to assist government departments in liaising with the residents to discuss and handle building management matters and promote the formation of OCs.
 
     In assisting OCs and owners on handling building maintenance matters, the HAD organises regular briefings via the Central Platform on Building Management. Relevant government departments and institutions, including the Buildings Department (BD), the Fire Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Labour Department, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Competition Commission, are invited to introduce various services and financial assistance schemes on building management and maintenance. These briefings are held on-site and broadcast via live steaming, with videos subsequently uploaded to the dedicated website of the HAD for easy access by OCs and owners.
      
     Also, the HAD and the 18 District Offices regularly organise various educational and publicity activities on building management, including seminars, training courses, talks, and exhibitions, to enhance OCs' and owners' knowledge of building management and maintenance. The HAD also invites members of the District Councils (DCs) to attend and participate in these activities, with a view to disseminating information to the community and residents through DC members and their district networks.
      
     Some old single-block buildings may encounter difficulties in engaging professional PMCs on their own to assist with day-to-day building management due to the small number of units in the buildings and the lack of adequate financial resources. In June 2025, the HAD launched a one-year Pilot Scheme on "Joint Property Management" (Pilot Scheme) in Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Tsuen Wan to engage district organisations with local networks and experience in building management to assist the old buildings in these districts in jointly hiring a single PMC to manage their buildings, so that the management fees can be apportioned and these buildings will be able to receive day-to-day building management services at a more affordable cost, thereby improving their living environment. For buildings wishing to participate in the Pilot Scheme but have not formed OCs, the district organisations concerned may refer them to the BMPASS to assist them in forming OCs. However, should individual buildings be unable to form OCs due to specific circumstances, but all owners agree to participate in the Pilot Scheme, the district organisations concerned will provide support to assist these buildings in implementing "joint property management".
      
     Within four months since its launch (as at September 30, 2025), the Pilot Scheme has made good progress. The district organisations engaged have reached out to nearly 130 buildings. OCs and owners have responded positively, with 70 buildings signing letters of intent to participate in the Pilot Scheme. Among these, three buildings were originally classified as "three-nil" buildings but formed OCs for participation in the Pilot Scheme. Currently, 16 buildings have agreed to a joint tender process so as to engage a PMC. They are jointly formulating a joint tender document, with a view to implementing the joint property management initiative as soon as possible.
      
     The Chief Executive announced in the 2025 Policy Address that the Government would consider extending the Pilot Scheme to other districts, subject to its implementation outcomes.
      
     The Government has since 2018 introduced a number of subsidy schemes in partnership with the URA with a total financial commitment of $19 billion to provide financial and technical assistance to owners in need. Among the schemes, those relevant to building inspection and repair works include "Operation Building Bright 2.0" and "Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Needy Owners", etc.
      
     Formation of OC is not a prerequisite for joining these subsidy schemes. In fact, these subsidy schemes also accept applications from "three-nil" buildings, provided that the unanimous consent of all owners is obtained.
 
(3) In general, when repair works to leaking communal service inside ground floor shop of a building is required, the concerned owners of the building should discuss amongst themselves on various arrangements for the repair works, such as the repair method, timing in carrying out the repairs and the financial arrangement etc., in order to mitigate the impact to various parties. During the course, the Water Supplies Department (WSD) will provide technical support and when necessary, collaborate with the District Office and DC members of the area to provide appropriate assistance such as provision of temporary water supply to the affected users etc. Once consensus is reached by the concerned parties, the contractor appointed by the concerned owners would enter into the ground floor shop to carry out repair works to the communal service.
 
     According to the WSD's record, there were two cases in the past five years where individual owners refused to grant admission to the contractor to enter into their premises for carrying out repair works to the communal service that had developed leaks or bursts, resulting in delay of works and suspension of water supply to the building. Details of the cases are as follows:
 

Date	Building	Case Details
June 2024	A composite Building at Shek Tong Tsui	In June 2024, main burst of the communal service at ground floor backyard caused serious flooding to shops of the building. For the sake of public safety, the WSD suspended water supply and provided temporary water supply to the shops and residential units of the building. Subsequently, the WSD provided technical support to the owner of the subject shop at ground floor and other owners of the residential units to facilitate their discussion to resolve the problem. The water main repair works completed in June 2024.
September 2025	A composite building at Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan	Serious leakage of the communal service inside a ground floor shop of the building has affected the nearby public staircase. For the sake of public safety, the WSD suspended water supply and provided temporary water supply to the users of the shops and residential units of the building immediately. The District Office and DC members of Central and Western District have provided their utmost effort in mediation. However, considering the time required for the property owners to reach consensus on hiring a contractor, and to restore water supply for the residents as soon as possible, the WSD has commenced repair works to the subject leaking communal service, on behalf of the responsible parties, pursuant to Section 17(3) of the Waterworks Ordinance (WWO). It is anticipated that the repair works would be completed within October.

(4) Under the Buildings Ordinance (BO), the BD will first issue statutory orders requiring owners to remove unauthorised building works or repair dilapidated private buildings/drainage. If owners lack the coordination capability, leading to prolonged non-compliance with orders, the BD will consider carrying out default works and recover the costs of such works, supervision charge and surcharge from the owners. On the other hand, if an obvious danger or emergency is identified and the owner is unable to organise emergency repairs, the BD will proactively intervene regardless of whether a statutory order is involved. The BD will arrange for government contractors to undertake emergency works to remove the danger first, and recover the costs of the works and supervision charge from the owners concerned afterwards in accordance with the BO.
 
     As for the WSD, if a consumer or agent, on receipt of a repair notice, fails to carry out the repairs specified in the notice, the WSD may carry out the repairs and the cost thereof shall be payable by the consumer or agent pursuant to Section 17(4) of the WWO. Moreover, pursuant to Section 17(3) of WWO, the WSD may repair an inside service at the request of a consumer, or a communal service at the request of an agent, and the cost thereof shall be payable by the person at whose request such repair is carried out. The WSD shall critically review the situation of each case before stepping in to carry out the repair works on behalf of the consumer or agent under relevant provisions of the WWO. The major considerations include whether the responsible parties have difficulty in coordinating themselves to appoint a contractor in a short period of time (e.g. cases of "three-nil" buildings), whether the water supply involve essential facilities (e.g. hospitals and airport), and whether the repair works involve other more complicated work (e.g. road works).

Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Issued at HKT 13:15

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