The Urban Renewal Authority said it will end its decade-old mandatory building inspection subsidy scheme starting April 1, replacing it with a preventive maintenance subsidy scheme.
Operation Building Bright 2.0 has already provided owner-occupiers with subsidies for first-time inspection fees, URA managing director Wai Chi-shing said in his blog yesterday.
Only certain non-owner-occupiers who do not meet the eligibility criteria have to rely on the mandatory building inspection subsidy scheme to receive subsidies for inspection fees, he said.
Given a decreasing need for the mandatory building inspection subsidy scheme from 2018, the URA will end the scheme starting on April 1, Wai said.
He also said the new subsidy scheme would encourage owners to establish periodic maintenance plans for buildings and to ensure sufficient financial reserves for maintenance purposes.
Wai said the new scheme will shift owners from a traditional “reactive maintenance” approach to one of “preventive maintenance.”
The new scheme will see periodic maintenance carried out while introducing preventive measures at the same time to ensure buildings are in good condition and the aging process is slowed down, he said.
Wai said teams would help owners’ corporations hire qualified professionals and develop maintenance manuals for common facilities based on a sample manual prepared by the URA.
These manuals will include detailed maintenance cycles and methods for common facilities, Wai said.
The URA teams will also assist in formulating 10-year maintenance plans.
They will cover the necessary inspection and maintenance works, as well as cost estimates and proposed funding arrangements.
The subsidy provided is half the cost of preparing the building maintenance manual, Wai said.
The maximum subsidy amount is HK$30,000 and is subjected to a unit-based cap, he added.
“Buildings are required to convene owners’ meetings to approve the establishment of a special fund and regular contribution scheme, and owners must contribute according to the approved scheme,” Wai said.
He said once the contributions to the special fund reach a minimum of three years, the URA will provide an additional lump sum subsidy to each building’s owners’ corporation.
This subsidy will be 10 percent of the total contributions made in the first three years of the special fund, Wai said.
“The URA had already allocated HK$15 million for the implementation of the scheme each year to encourage owners to reserve capital for future maintenance and contribute,” he added.
Meanwhile, the home renovation interest-free loan and owners’ corporation formation subsidies will also end on April 1.
Wai said the URA would continue to support different property owners’ needs and assist them in maintenance and repairs, through the common area repair works subsidy, building maintenance grant scheme for needy owners and building safety loan scheme.
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