​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).
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