The Hong Kong government has received an encouraging response from a substantial number of consultants and contractors seeking inclusion in three pre-qualified lists under a new council responsible for offering full-cycle building repairs. According to Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn, the government has received approximately 150 applications from inspection and supervision consultants and around 350 applications from contractors. Linn emphasized that the increase in applications indicates greater confidence in the future system compared to the previous one managed by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The new non-statutory Building Maintenance Support and Services Council is set to be established by the end of the year, aimed at gradually taking over the URA's building-upkeep subsidy schemes under its Smart Tender system. Linn explained that the council will prioritize approximately 1,800 maintenance projects starting with 600 projects that have yet to undergo building inspections. She noted that most of the remaining buildings have already recruited supervision consultants. Initially, the government had planned to handle the new support service through the URA or its subsidiaries but decided against it to avoid overburdening the URA, which is already responsible for numerous building maintenance projects and redevelopment tasks.
A new Public Housing Building Control Section, set to replace the URA's Independent Checking Unit in a month, has been established with a focus on enhancing supervision and oversight. Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong stated that more than 10 training classes have been conducted for about 300 staff from the unit, which was implicated in failed supervision during major renovations at Wang Fuk Court before a fire. The new section will have a dedicated team overseeing each major maintenance project, along with a project liaison officer to handle inquiries from owners' corporations. This shift is expected to bring about significant changes, according to Wong.