Building maintenance projects are complicated in nature and involve different stakeholders during the process. The risks of corruption also exist in different stages, such as the appointment of consultants and contractors, evaluation of tenders, supervision of works and contract administration. The ICAC encourages participants of the building rehabilitation assistance schemes under the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to comply with the schemes’ requirements and adopt corruption preventive measures. These could also help to ensure the maintenance projects are conducted in a fair, impartial and competitive manner, avoiding possible risks of corruption and malpractice.
The URA requires all the buildings participating in Operation Building Bright (OBB) 2.0, Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme (FSWS), Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS) and Building Drainage System Repair Subsidy Scheme (BDSRSS) to join the “Smart Tender” Building Rehabilitation Facilitating Services for procurement of consultancy agreements and works contracts to obtain professional advice and technical support from the URA, including the electronic tendering platform and engagement of independent consultants to offer cost estimation of works for reference. For details, please refer to the URA’s website.
The Home Affairs Department issued the revised “Code of Practice on Procurement of Supplies, Goods and Services” (Code of Practice) under the Building Management Ordinance (BMO) (Cap 344) in September 2018. The following sessions briefly introduce the probity requirements for members of the Management Committee and its Agents (such as employees or contractors employed by OC) in respect of the Code of Practice. For details, please refer to the website of the Home Affairs Department.
To mitigate the risks of corruption in the building maintenance projects and enhance the awareness of corruption prevention when awarding building maintenance contracts and supervising projects, flat owners and OC members could refer to “Building Maintenance Toolkit” and “Building Maintenance Corruption Prevention Red Flag” published by the ICAC when carrying out their projects. The major corruption preventive advice is as follows:
Knowing the scope of services and technical support provided by various government departments and public organizations, so as to seek direct assistance and timely advice from them for better managing the projects and preventing corruption or malpractices. For details, please read “Building Maintenance Toolkit”.