Licensing of Property Management Industry I have reported in the July Issue of Surveyors Times that the Home Affairs Department (HAD) had submitted a paper, in connection with a consultancy study, to the Legislative Council in respect of a proposed licensing regime to regulate property management industry. On one occasion, I joined the Happy Hour Gathering of Hon Prof Patrick Lau, which was held on 27 September, and took the opportunity to speak with the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Ms Florence Hui, and Deputy Director of Home Affairs, Mr David Leung of the captioned subject. The Council’s concern of the proposed regulatory system was voiced out and a lengthy discussion was remarked with the Deputy Director. With the kind arrangement of the Deputy Director, a follow-up meeting was held in his office on 13 October. It was noted that the government intends to step up enforcement action to require building owners or owners' corporation to hire property management company. As there are currently no territory-wide standard of property management services, a statutory licensing regime for regulating property management companies becomes a compelling need of the public in order to protect the interest of private building owners. The HAD is now working out a consultation paper and public consultation intends to commence later this year. Aiming at finalizing the consultation stage early next year, it is hoped that a position paper can be put forward to the Legislative Council for discussion not later than 2012. Such statutory intention was indeed published in the Policy Address of the Chief Executive. Members are reminded to read the Policy Address, especially paragraphs 45 to 48 for more details of the intention. If members have any comments or suggestions of this proposed regulatory direction, please feel free to email to me at [email protected] Building Management Toolkit The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) jointly developed a Building Management Toolkit with the HAD, the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Housing, the Housing Manager Registration Board, the Chartered Institute of Housing Asian Pacific Branch, the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies and our Institute. Our Vice President co-officiated its Launching Ceremony which was held on 17 October at the Olympian City. The Building Management Toolkit aims at assisting owners' corporations to deal with broad property management issues and its content comprises the following Chapters. Chapter 1: Getting Started Chapter 2: Owners’ Corporation and Management Committee Chapter 3: Manager Chapter 4: Procurement of Goods Chapter 5: Selection of Service Providers Chapter 6: Monitoring of Cleaning Service Chapter 7: Monitoring of Security Service Chapter 8: Staff Administration Chapter 9: Handling of Complaints Chapter 10: Assistance Enquiry I was one of the members of the working group preparing the Toolkit and noted that the successful publication of it had been the spending of months of tremendous effort of various government departments, professional institutes and participating organizations. I strongly urge members who are providing property management service shall equip with a full set of the Toolkit. Apart from a bound hard copy document, a soft copy stored in CD-Rom and a Video on Integrity and Quality Building Management were also produced. Members may obtain the Toolkit from any ICAC Regional Offices or the Property Mnagement Advisory Centres of the HKHS. For further details of the Toolkit, members may also visit websites: www.bm.icac.hk, www.bmms.hkhs.com and www.buildingmgt.gov.hk. Information Day 2010, City University The Department of Building and Construction of the CityU invited our Institute to meet secondary school students in its Information Day which was held on 9 October. This function aims to introduce various university programmes offered by the CityU to F7 secondary students who are going to graduate in 2011. There were exhibitions showcasing the programme details as well as individual briefing session of each programme. As the BSc(Hon) Degree in Surveying was also accredited by our Division, I have such that conducted a short presentation in a lecture hall housing more than 150 potential candidates attending the briefing of the Surveying Degree. The presentation started with a brief outline of our Institute, followed with the establishment of the Property and Facility Management Division. A brief introduction of membership application procedures and experience sharing as a property manager were also discussed. I was caught by a student and surprisingly also by a parent after the briefing ended who requested for further information of qualifying as a PFM Surveyor. Fortunately I managed to let all participants to have a copy of our Division Brochure. CPD Event Update A CPD event was held on 27 September on the topic "Energy Saving Facilities - Some Effective Approaches." Mr Sunny So and his colleagues illustrated the current energy savings facilities, such as lighting and air-conditioners. Although the initial costs for replacement of the traditional facilities will be substantial, it is proven that the pay back period will be as short as 1 -2 years. On one hand, all the clients can save expenditure on energy consumption. On the other hand, we can protect the earth by reducing power consumption. Another interesting CPD event was held on 5 October which was delivered by Professor C Y Jim on the topic "Application of Tree Hazard Assessment to Property Management." Professor Jim described how to assess the trees' condition through one of his study report at Oi Man Estate. Within the Estate, there are many different species of trees and with different physical condition and environmental problems that affected the growth of the trees. Professor Jim introduced the tools and methods to assess the conditions of the trees and the remedial and follow-up measures that should be taken. The CPD event was very informative and all the audience found it useful. All the knowledge acquired can be adopted in our daily property management practice.