Private building development continued to slow down, though at a much reduced rate. The number of building plan submissions decreased by some five per cent from 13 178 in 1999 to 12 104 in 2000. A total of 642 buildings with a total floor area of three million square metres were completed at a cost of $36.51 billion, compared with 664 buildings with a total floor area of 4.9 million square metres built at a cost of $64.51 billion in 1999.

The number of building sites on which superstructure works started decreased from 184 in 1999 to 162 in 2000, involving total floor areas of 3 919 996 square metres and 3 052 793 square metres respectively. The Cyberport project at Telegraph Bay was among the notable developments approved and under construction.

The Buildings Ordinance was amended to require provision of access facilities for telecommunications and broadcasting services in new commercial, industrial, residential and hotel buildings and facilities for recovery of recyclable materials in new buildings according to their type and size.

The Buildings Department was reorganised along clearer functional lines to enhance efficiency and provide better customer service. A Building Innovation Unit was formed to assist the building industry to identify and adopt designs, technologies and materials that will lead to innovation and excellence in the construction and environmental performance of new buildings.

As an incentive, 'green' facilities, such as energy-saving designs for lighting and ventilation, extra space for trees and greenery at street level, sky gardens on upper floors and balconies will be exempted from gross floor area calculation.

Steps were taken to enhance further the safety and quality of building construction. The site safety supervision plan system, implemented in phases since 1997, has proved effective in improving general site safety conditions. A similar supervision system was introduced in August to enhance supervision of the quality of foundation works and ground investigation works. The Buildings Department is considering further measures to improve quality control for all types of construction works, including a more detailed and less predictable strategy for auditing piling and superstructure works.

The Buildings Department's largest ever clearance operation was launched in September 1999, targeting 307 buildings with some 14 000 unauthorised building works (UBWs). As a result, some 70 per cent of these unauthorised works were removed within 12 months. This 'blitz' approach induced a high rate of compliance with removal orders and will now become a regular feature of the Buildings Department's enforcement strategy.

Preparatory work for the next 'blitz' clearance of UBWs started in the last quarter of 2000, with notifications sent to owners of 404 target buildings in 16 districts throughout Hong Kong. The Buildings Department intends to clear 900 buildings of such works in 2001 and a further 1 000 in 2002. The department is also continuing to clear illegal rooftop structures, giving priority to single staircase buildings as these pose the greatest fire hazards. It took action on 220 such structures in 2000.

During the year, 15 860 reports on UBWs were processed, 18 297 UBWs were removed and 242 prosecutions were instigated against offenders for erecting UBWs or failing to comply with removal orders. These resulted in 185 convictions with fines totalling $1,712,405.

Joint inspections with the Fire Services Department were made on 180 prescribed commercial premises (banks, betting centres, jewellery shops, shopping arcades, supermarkets) and specified commercial buildings, under the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance. A total of 127 Fire Safety Directions were served to require improvement of fire safety measures in these premises. Another 1 598 Fire Safety Improvement Directions were issued against 160 specified commercial buildings built before 1973.

The Buildings Department provides emergency services to deal with dangerous buildings and advertising signs. A total of 634 calls were received under the 24-hour service for emergencies during the year, and 99.1 per cent of the cases were attended to within three hours. A further 4 613 reports on potentially dangerous building elements were received. Some 23 per cent of the emergency calls and other reports concerned danger from external building elements and loose finishes. Surveys of advertising signs continued with 37 971 signs inspected, resulting in the removal or repair of 646 signs.

The Co-ordinated Maintenance of Buildings Scheme was introduced to provide better co-ordinated support to building owners in tackling their building management and maintenance problems. A pilot scheme, targeting 150 problematic buildings, was launched in September. Under the scheme, the Buildings Department co-ordinates input from all participating departments, including the Home Affairs Department, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, Fire Services Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Water Supplies Department, to advise or assist the building owners in addressing problems of repair or maintenance of their buildings.

In 2000, 281 applications were approved and loans totalling $102 million were granted under the Building Safety Improvement Loan Scheme that was set up in 1998. Consideration is being given to broadening the ambit of the loan scheme to promote greater use of the fund.

With the completion of the five-year Accelerated Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme, a 10-year Expanded LPM Programme from 2000 to 2010 has been committed by the Government to enhance proper maintenance of slopes. In 2000, 155 statutory orders were served on building owners requiring them to investigate and upgrade their substandard slopes under this programme. In addition, investigations of a cumulative total of 1 093 filled slopes were completed with 73 orders issued requiring owners to carry out investigation and repair of buried water-carrying services affecting private slopes.

Proper management and timely maintenance are key to the continuing health and safety of buildings. Responsibility for management and maintenance rests with owners. The Government's role is to assist and support them. In February, the Government set up a task force under the Secretary for Planning and Lands to work out a strategy for promoting timely maintenance, tackling unauthorised building works and controlling advertisements signboards. As the issues are complex, the task force has since November been consulting the Legislative Council in a series of sessions and seeking views from District Councils, and professional and other bodies concerned. Ideas put forward include enhanced government support for property owners in need, a new approach to enforcement against illegal building works, devolution of authority to building professionals and contractors, recourse to market forces and sustained public education. The Government will later prepare an action plan to ensure public safety, arrest dilapidation, prevent premature ageing of buildings and foster a culture of building care.

The Buildings Department appointed a consultant in August to carry out a comprehensive review of the Buildings Ordinance and its regulations. The objective of the review is to modernise the legislation and create a regulatory environment that is more supportive, streamlined and user-friendly, yet deals more effectively with contraventions. This will involve, on the one hand, changing the existing prescriptive rules into performance-based requirements, removing barriers to innovation and devolving more responsibility upon building professionals in the private sector, while, on the other hand, widening the department's enforcement powers and increasing the maximum penalties for offences. The first batch of legislative amendments is expected to be introduced into the Legislative Council in 2001.