Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Home Affairs Department Briefs District Council on 2024 Building Management Amendments

HK

Home Affairs Department Briefs District Council on 2024 Building Management Amendments
HK

HK

Home Affairs Department Briefs District Council on 2024 Building Management Amendments

2024-12-03 18:28 Last Updated At:18:38

Briefings and public education activities on Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024

​The Home Affairs Department (HAD) held a briefing today (December 3) on the Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 for District Council (DC) members to introduce to them the main amendments in the Amendment Ordinance. The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, attended the briefing and delivered the opening remarks, calling on DC members to take the initiative to explain the contents of the Amendment Ordinance to owners' corporations (OCs) and property owners in their respective districts.

Miss Mak said in her remarks that DC members were an integral part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's initiative in improving district governance, and had the responsibility to proactively assist owners and residents in need to deal with building management issues as part of their district works. While the HAD will continue to make use of various publicity channels to remind the public of the implementation of the Amendment Ordinance, DC members should also help promote good building management in the district to enhance the efficacy of district governance.

The Amendment Ordinance was published in the Gazette on July 12, 2024, and will come into effect on July 13, 2025. The major amendments in the Amendment Ordinance include requiring owners to participate in major procurement decisions; adjusting the threshold for auditing financial statements; and criminalising the failure to keep certain documents concerning building management.

The HAD is launching a series of publicity and public education work initiatives to assist OCs, property owners and property management (PM) companies to understand and comply with the requirements of the Amendment Ordinance, including production of publicity materials such as brochures and posters; organisation of briefings for DC members, OCs and property owners, and PM industry practitioners, etc; producing and broadcasting a TV Announcement in the Public Interest (API) and a radio API; and updating a series of guidelines and booklets including the Code of Practice, Best Practices in Building Management and Checklist on Procedural Propriety on Building Management to help property owners, OCs and PM companies better understand the contents of the amendments.

For the contents of the Amendment Ordinance, please refer to HAD's dedicated webpage (www.buildingmgt.gov.hk/en/Policy_and_Legislation/2_10.html).

Briefings and public education activities on Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024  Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Briefings and public education activities on Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Briefings and public education activities on Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024  Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Briefings and public education activities on Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

GREEN@COMMUNITY has taken over recycling service of waste plastics

​The "Pilot Scheme on Collection and Recycling Services of Plastic Recyclable Materials" (Pilot Scheme) of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) concluded yesterday (January 18). The collection service of waste plastics in all 18 districts of Hong Kong has been taken over by the operators of GREEN@COMMUNITY.

A spokesman for the EPD said: "After the conclusion of the Pilot Scheme, the recycling service of plastics has been handed over to the GREEN@COMMUNITY recycling network in the respective districts, and the door-to-door collection service of waste plastics provided by the GREEN@COMMUNITY operators to relevant housing estates has also been successfully extended across the territory. The EPD conducted site inspections across districts yesterday and today (January 19) and found that the situation of plastic recycling of residents and housing estates is in order and the operation of GREEN@COMMUNITY recycling stations is generally smooth. The department did not receive any complaint regarding collection service of waste plastics from the relevant housing estates, nor were there any cases observed of certain types of waste plastics not being collected or left unattended. The EPD will continue to monitor the situation."

"After the taking over of waste plastic collection services by GREEN@COMMUNITY, the operators may pass the collected plastics freely to any EPD-approved recyclers for handling, from merely the three designated recyclers under the Pilot Scheme to the current 10 downstream recyclers for processing. The EPD is expediting the approval process and will gradually add more qualified downstream recyclers to the list, further opening up market competition to reduce the cost of collection and recycling of waste plastics," the spokesman added.

The EPD stressed that it will strive to ensure that the plastic collection services for housing estates will remain unaffected after the conclusion of the Pilot Scheme. GREEN@COMMUNITY operators will continue to liaise with the housing estates for more flexible collection services for plastics, as well as other recyclables, with a view to enhancing the cost-effectiveness.

The EPD will continue to strengthen collaboration with GREEN@COMMUNITY operators, downstream recyclers, and relevant housing estates to provide the required plastic recycling services, ensuring that the recycling situation of residents and housing estates remains as usual. The EPD will also step up monitoring of the work of downstream recyclers, including conducting more frequent spot checks, to ensure that all collected waste plastics are properly processed and converted from waste into valuable resources.

Recommended Articles