Property Management Services Authority’s “Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance” (Revised),
“Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging” (Revised) and “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy” (Revised) Codes of Conduct to be Gazetted Tomorrow and Take Effect on 13 July 2025
The Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) issued earlier the “Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance”, “Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging” and “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy” Codes of Conduct and relevant Best Practice Guides (Codes and Guides) pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626). These Codes and Guides aim to provide practical guidance to licensees regarding their obligations under the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) (BMO), carrying out procurement for clients and prevention of bid-rigging, and representing owner(s) to attend owners’ corporation (OC) meeting or owners’ meeting and voting on agenda items. In response to the Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (Amendment Ordinance), gazetted on 12 July 2024, which will take effect on 13 July this year, the PMSA has formulated the revised version of the aforementioned three Codes and Guides, and the revised Codes concerned will be gazetted tomorrow and take effect on 13 July, allowing the property management (PM) industry to familiarize themselves with the new requirement under the Amendment Ordinance soonest possible and to effectively comply with such requirement once the Amendment Ordinance comes into effect.
The Amendment Ordinance covers various aspects including procurement, financial statements, keeping of documents, criminal sanctions and other miscellaneous amendments, etc. The new requirement regarding two categories of high-value procurement and large-scale maintenance procurement, as well as financial statements related to properties will be incorporated into Schedule 7 to the BMO as mandatory terms in the deed of mutual covenant of a building, which the PM company acting as the manager of the property has to comply with. The PMSA, in preparing the aforementioned three sets of revised Codes and Guides, not only made reference to the Amendment Ordinance and collaborated closely with the Home Affairs Department, but had also consulted with PMSA Recognized Professional Bodies, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the PM industry and owners’ organizations. Their feedback has been appropriately reflected in the Codes and Guides. The aforementioned three sets of revised Codes and Guides can be downloaded from the PMSA webpage (https://www.pmsa.org.hk/en/regulatory-framework/codes-of-conduct).
Dr James Wong, Chairperson of the PMSA, said, “The BMO mainly sets out the legal framework for matters related to incorporation of OC and its operation. In order to improve the transparency and accountability of the operation of OC, and address societal needs, the Government has amended the BMO. Licensees have to pay attention to the new requirement under the Amendment Ordinance and their obligations under such requirement, and have to assist and remind owners or owners’ organizations (including OC and owners’ committee) to deal with PM matters in accordance with the new requirement of the Amendment Ordinance.”
Dr James Wong added, “The PMSA reviews and updates the issued Codes and Guides from time to time and as necessary, and assists the Government in explaining the requirement of the new legislation to stakeholders, enabling the industry to act accordingly and provide the public with higher-quality professional PM services.”
The PMSA has already issued a total of 24 Codes and Guides (including the aforementioned three Codes and Guides) covering various PM areas, including “General Code of Conduct”, “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies”, “Effective Control over Property Management Business by Property Management Companies”, “Handling Moneys Received on behalf of Clients by Property Management Companies”, “Obligations of Property Management Companies regarding the Ending of their Appointment”, “Prevention of Corruption”, “Prescribed Conditions on Licences”, “Protection on Personal Data”, “Handling Payment for or Arranging Payment to be Made by Clients”, “Provision of Prescribed Information and Financial Documents to Clients”, “Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging”, “Handling Emergencies”, “Handling Scaffolding Works”, “Handling Suspended Working Platform Works”, “Handling Outsourced Property Management Services”, “Prevention of Corruption – Staff Recruitment and Management”, “Distribution and Display of Promotional Material”, “Tree Management Work”, “Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance”, “Handling Building Works”, “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy”, “Handling Fire Safety Work”, “Slope Management Work” and “Handling Drainage Work”.
The PMSA will continue to issue various Codes and Guides, covering other PM areas in order to provide guidance to the industry, and will review and update the issued Codes and Guides from time to time to stay in line with the latest development.
Ends/Thursday, 23 January, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:00
NNNN
