Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ3: Providing barrier-free access and facilities for people with disabilities

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Fernando Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 24):

Question:

The "Design Manual: Barrier Free Access" ("Design Manual") promulgated by the Government in 1997 sets out the requirements for the design of access in buildings to cater for the needs of people with disabilities. The Design Manual is being revised by the Government now and will be finalised after public consultation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the respective numbers of the buildings currently providing government and public services, and those of the Housing Society (HS) or the Housing Authority (HA), that fully meet the existing requirements and recommendations of the Design Manual, as well as the respective percentages of these two figures in the total number of buildings of their category;

(b) as the Buildings Department has, after inspecting 66 large-scale shopping arcades or commercial buildings, found irregularities in some of the facilities designated for use by the disabled in these buildings, and issued 66 advisory letters over the past ten years, of the estimated time required by the authorities to complete inspection of all shopping arcades or commercial buildings in Hong Kong to ascertain whether the access and facilities in those places are barrier-free, and the concrete plans to strengthen the monitoring and prosecution of shopping arcades and commercial buildings that fail to meet the requirements; and

(c) of the concrete plans and implementation timetable to re-assess, on the basis of the requirements stipulated in the revised Design Manual, the buildings currently providing government and public services, as well as buildings, large-scale shopping arcades and commercial buildings of HS or HA, to ensure that they meet the relevant requirements?


Reply:

Madam President,

My reply to the triple barrel question is as follows:

(a) All government buildings and buildings of Housing Society (HS) and Housing Authority (HA) constructed after 1997 fully meet the requirements stipulated in the Design Manual: Barrier Free Access 1997 ("Design Manual 97"). Relevant figures are:

(i) about 60 government buildings (for use or access by the general public);
(ii) 16 buildings under the HS; and
(iii) 314 buildings under HA.

The government policy is to provide people with disabilities with barrier-free access and facilities, to enable their full integration into society. The government has been committed to improving the accessibility of government buildings (for use and access by the general public) constructed before 1997. In fact, improvement works have been done in accordance with the Design Manual 97 as far as possible to most of these buildings, where technically feasible. The Government will continue to upgrade the standard of accessibility of the remaining few.

(b) The Buildings Department (BD) adopts a two-pronged approach to ensure that the facilities provided for people with disabilities in accordance with the requirements of the law will remain available after the completion of a private building. On the one hand, BD will select target shopping arcades and commercial buildings for focused inspections and follow-up actions. On the other hand, BD will also actively follow up cases of irregularities reported in complaints from the public.

Since 1997, BD has been taking the initiative to select a number of large-scale private shopping arcades and commercial buildings for focused inspection each year. The inspections aim to ascertain whether any of the access and facilities provided in accordance with the law designated for use by people with disabilities in the buildings inspected have been removed, or illegally altered, or obstructed by other additional works. In case of discovery of any irregularities, BD will take enforcement actions under the Buildings Ordinance. Since 2004, BD has increased the number of its target buildings for annual inspection from 5 to 15.

In selecting shopping arcades and commercial buildings for inspection, BD will take into account the flow of visitors of the buildings and irregularities identified, having regard to the suggestions or investigation reports provided by various non-governmental organisations (including the Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong, the Joint Council for the Physically and Mentally Disabled, et al). The organisations concerned will normally conduct investigations to ascertain the existence of irregularities in the shopping arcades or commercial buildings concerned before putting forward their suggestions to BD. Through this arrangement, we select those shopping arcades and commercial buildings with more serious problems for follow up actions.

Our past experience shows that focused inspection is an effective and efficient way to address the irregularities in question. Since not all large-scale private shopping arcades and commercial buildings have irregularities, we consider that inspection of all private shopping arcades and buildings throughout the territory is neither the most efficient nor the most cost-effective way. Therefore, BD will continue its efforts in this area through focused inspections.

At the same time, BD also conducts investigations in accordance with complaints. Since December 2005, BD has accorded priority to unauthorised building works involving illegal removal of or alternation to access or facilities designated for use by people with disabilities. It has pledged to complete the investigation within 50 days from the receipt of a complaint from the public. Once a case of violation of the law is established, an order will be issued by BD requiring the owner to carry out rectification works. BD will take legal action, including prosecution, against owners concerned who fail to comply with the orders.

In addition, in order to step up efforts to combat non-compliance with removal orders issued by BD in respect of unauthorised building works, the Buildings Ordinance was amended in 2004 to raise the penalty for such non-compliance. The relevant penalty has been increased from $50,000 to $200,000 and the fine for each day during which it is found that the offence has continued has been raised from $5,000 to $20,000. Offenders may also be liable to one year's imprisonment.

(c) To make sustained improvement to the quality of life of people with disabilities, the Administration has conducted timely revision to the design requirements on access facilities of buildings in tandem with the continuous advancement in building technology. The last revision was completed in September 1997. We are now conducting a 6-month public consultation on a new round of revision before starting the legislative process. Upon the enactment of the legislation, all newly constructed buildings will be required to comply with the new design requirements, and all buildings should comply with the new design requirements by providing access and facilities when undergoing substantial alteration or renovation.

All government buildings constructed, altered or renovated after 1997 have complied with the requirements stipulated in the Design Manual 97. In addition, the Administration has been taking continuous measures to improve access and facilities of government buildings and public housing constructed before 1997 in accordance with the Design Manual 97. These measures include:

(i) allocating funds to individual government departments for carrying out modification works in their buildings;

(ii) running a modification project in collaboration with the Sub-committee on Access of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee to make improvements to government buildings that are frequently visited by people with disabilities as a matter of priority; and

(iii) carrying out a wide range of modification works for public housing by the Housing Authority.

All these are on-going measures. Housing Society will also continue to improve access and facilities of its buildings in compliance with the requirements of the Design Manual 97 as far as technically feasible.

Upon the completion of the legislative process for the new Design Manual, the Administration will explore the technical feasibility, identify the resources involved and set the order of priorities. Through the above measures, the Administration will continue to improve access and facilities of government buildings and public housing in accordance with the new design requirements.

Thank you.


Ends/Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:45

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