Building Management (Amendment) Bill 2023 gazetted
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The Bill seeks to amend the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) (BMO) in the following three areas:
- imposing voting-in-person and disclosure requirements for "large-scale maintenance procurement", and imposing additional requirements for other "high-value procurement";
- imposing or adjusting certain requirements in relation to financial statements and other accounting documents of buildings; and
- introducing criminal sanctions against failure to keep certain documents concerning building management.
A Government spokesman said, "With a growing number of aged buildings in need of repair and renovation, owners are increasingly concerned about major building maintenance. There has also been a strong call from the community for better control over how the management committees (MCs) of owners' corporations (OCs) handle day-to-day management of OCs. To address these public concerns, the Bill proposes amendments to the BMO to require the personal participation of a certain number of owners in decisions on 'large-scale maintenance procurement', to improve the transparency and accountability of the operation of MCs, as well as enhancing deterrence against non-compliance with the BMO."
The spokesman continued, "Private buildings are the property of owners and it is the owners' responsibility to manage their buildings properly. The BMO provides a legal framework for owners to form OCs, and sets out the powers, duties and operation of OCs, so as to facilitate the day-to-day operation of OCs."
The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first reading on December 13 this year.
Ends/Friday, December 8, 2023
Issued at HKT 12:00
Issued at HKT 12:00
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