Encouraging owners to maintain their buildings properly, to remove unauthorised building works (UBWs) and to ensure building safety continued to be HPLB's key area of work in the year. The bureau continued to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the "Comprehensive Strategy for Building Safety and Timely Maintenance" announced in April 2001. To step up further the work of the Buildings Department (BD) in ensuring public safety, additional resources were allocated to the department to combat UBWs further and to strengthen enforcement of the regulations.

To tackle the problem of building neglect over the long term, the bureau launched a public consultation drive called Mandatory Building Inspection in October 2006. It built the foundation for taking forward the proposed mandatory building inspection scheme and mandatory window inspection scheme by way of legislation. Under the proposed schemes, owners of target buildings will be required to inspect their buildings and windows on a regular basis and carry out necessary rectification.

More details of the bureau's work are given in the ensuing paragraphs.