For discussion EC(95-96)58
on 15 November 1995

ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 62 - HOUSING DEPARTMENT
Subhead 003 Recoverable salaries and allowances

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the creation of the following permanent post -

1 Chief Maintenance Surveyor
(D1) ( $80,450 - $ 85,400 )

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
CIVIL SERVICE BRANCH COMMENTS
RECOMMENDATION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORATE SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
List of EMB-initiated Works Programmes to be Coordinated by the Estate Management Maintenance Section
Job Description -- Chief Maintenance Surveyor / Estate Management Maintenance

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PROBLEM

The existing structure and directorate support of the Housing Department is inadequate to oversee the implementation of an enhanced system of managing minor repairs and maintenance works for housing properties managed by the Housing Authority (HA).

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Housing proposes to create one permanent post of Chief Maintenance Surveyor (CMS) (D1), to head a new Estate Management Maintenance Section (EMMS) under the Estate Management Branch (EMB) of the Department.

JUSTIFICATION

3. The EMB is responsible for the management, including the day-to-day building maintenance, of HA’s some 150 public rental estates, 40 cottage and temporary housing areas and 130 Home Ownership Scheme/ Private Sector Participation Scheme courts.

4. Previously, the estate management staff of EMB and Maintenance Division (MD) staff of the Maintenance and Construction Services Branch (MCSB) shared the responsibilities for the management duties and operational arrangements related to day-to-day buildings maintenance. Under the old system, estate management staff would, on receipt of requests from tenants, issue works orders under delegated authority to Term Maintenance Contractors, inspect repairs and authorise payments. They would, however, refer repairs of a specialist or complex nature to MD staff for action. This arrangement of shared responsibilities had reduced efficiency and sometimes caused delays in carrying out minor maintenance works requested by tenants.

5. There was also deficiency in the old contract arrangement under which the planned maintenance and day-to-day minor maintenance and repair works were covered by the same Term Maintenance Contract (TMC). These TMCs were awarded through competitive tendering. For many years, the rates quoted by the contractors for maintenance tasks, particularly for day-to-day repairs, had been very competitive and unrealistically low. Under such circumstances, some day-to-day repair works had not been given due priority and adequate attention.

6. To improve the situation, the Department has decided to implement a new system for managing minor repairs and maintenance works. Under the new system, EMB will be solely responsible for minor maintenance works and will award new dedicated minor maintenance contracts (MMC). The Department plans to implement a total of at least 12 MMCs to cover all estates (details at Enclosure 1). The estimated contract value is about $304 million per annum.

7. A Minor Maintenance Section (MMS), comprising 79 staff from different professional and general grades was set up in late 1994 to develop standard specifications for, let out and manage the new MMCs, as well as to provide technical support to the estate management staff. The Director of Housing has created a supernumerary CMS post in April 1995 under delegated authority to head the Section. His duties include developing new standards of service, a supervision strategy and guidelines for monitoring the contractors’ performance; improving in-house procedures, information and assessment systems for minor maintenance works; and assessing the future staffing requirement of the Section.

8. Experience gained in the past 11 months indicates that higher efficiency and more benefits can be achieved if the scope of the MMS is further expanded to coordinate all works issues of the EMB, such as emergency repairs, tenant-to-pay repair items, refurbishment of vacant flats, ad hoc works programmes initiated by the HA’s committees, and vetting of improvement works initiated by the EMB. Furthermore, a more proactive and customer-oriented approach should be adopted to ensure provision of quality service to tenants. In October, the MMS was reorganised and renamed the EMMS to serve as an interfacing section between EMB and MD. The establishment of the Section will increase to 116 in 1995/96 and 198 in 1996/97 to roll out the MMCs to all estates, and to provide additional staffing input for -

1. Strengthening ‘on-site’ technical support for estate management staff in diagnosing problems, providing specification for repairs, monitoring the workmanship and certifying completion - dedicated technical teams have been formed to provide necessary support and training. It is necessary to identify the training needs and design suitable training programme for the estate management and technical staff.
2. Identifying maintenance problems for early rectification - existing estate surveys on tenancy control will be integrated with other routine maintenance inspections to identify maintenance problems inside domestic units. Inspection teams comprising both estate management staff and technical staff will be set up to conduct the surveys and proper pre-survey training will be provided to the estate staff. The survey results are to be linked up with the computerised maintenance information and support system to ensure that timely remedial actions are taken.
3. Coordination and monitoring work, such as handling of emergency cases, tenant-to-pay repair items, etc - most of the work procedures have to be reviewed and modified, and new standards of service have to be established to reduce disruption to tenants and enhance the image of the HA. The EMMS will assume the role of programme manager to coordinate resource planning, work scheduling, progress monitoring and modification of working procedures and system. The total cost of projects to be executed or coordinated by the EMMS in 1996/97 is around $801 million. A list of these projects is at Enclosure 2.

9. The CMS post will continue to head the EMMS to carry out the above functions. In addition, he will act as the Contract Manager of the 12 new MMCs and be responsible for all process re-engineering, training, policy formulation, and implementation of various minor maintenance initiatives. The post is pitched at D1 level as the incumbent needs to have the proper authorities to act as the Contract Manager in managing the MMCs. He also needs to have the maturity and experience to supervise a large team of multi-discipline staff and to provide policy guidance in formulating the new procedures, standards and policies.

10. The existing three CMSs in the MD are fully engaged in duties relating to planned maintenance, the Condition-Appraisal-Repair-Examination (CARE) Programme and other improvement projects. Their work in these aspects will be more demanding as the total value of contracts managed by MD will rise by 30% from $2,376 million in 1995/96 to $3,080 million in 1996/97. The portion of minor maintenance works which has been taken out from their schedule only accounted for about 5% of the total contract value before the introduction of MMC. Redeployment of a CMS post from within the Department to meet the additional workload arising from the enhanced system for minor maintenance works is therefore not a viable option.

11. The proposed job description of the CMS post is at Enclosure 3 and the existing and proposed organisation chart of the EMMS is at Enclosure 4.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

12. The additional notional annual salary cost of the proposal at mid-point is -

In addition, the proposed CMS will require non-directorate support of one Personal Secretary II, whose notional annual salary cost at mid-point is $149,520.

13. The HA will reimburse Government the full salary costs, including on-costs, of the proposal.

14. There are no other additional resource implications.

CIVIL SERVICE BRANCH COMMENTS

15. The ranking and grading of the proposed post are appropriate having regard to its duties and responsibilities.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORATE SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

16. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service has advised that the grading of the proposed post would be appropriate if the post were to be created.

Housing Department
November 1995

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Enclosure 2 to EC (95-96)58

List of EMB-initiated Works Programmes to be Coordinated by the Estate Management Maintenance Section

Works Programmes	1996/97 Budget
Minor maintenance works initiated by tenants	139.60 million
Ad hoc improvement works for domestic properties	103.00 million
Ad hoc improvement works for commercial properties	27.60 million
Toilet improvement in HA markets	25.00 million
Installation of nests of letter boxes	20.00 million
Miscellaneous projects	11.30 million
Playground equipment, impact absorbing surfaces and fibre glass kiosks	4.20 million
Refurbishment of quarters and public housing units for Estate Assistants	3.60 million
Installation of security gates at blocks included in the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme	1.24 million
Refuse chute modification	1.20 million
* Vacant flat refurbishment	320 million
* Structural strengthening works	141 million
* Abatement of asbestoes-contained-materials	3.51 million
Total value of programmes coordinated by the EMMS	801.25 million

* Budget controlled by MD

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Enclosure 3 to EC (95-96)58

Job Description -- Chief Maintenance Surveyor / Estate Management Maintenance

Rank : Chief Maintenance Surveyor (D1)

Main duties and responsibilities

Responsible to Senior Assistant Director/Estate Management for supervising the Estate Management Maintenance Section and overseeing the implementation of the new minor maintenance initiatives. Duties include -

1. To act as Contract Manager and budget controller for 12 minor maintenance contracts and other related contracts, such as term playground equipment repair contracts and term impact absorbing surfaces installation contracts.
2. To carry out process re-engineering for defect diagnosis, site supervision, execution of minor maintenance works, and estate surveys and ensure the efficient and proper completion of the maintenance works.
3. To coordinate with various divisions/sections and streamline the existing processes in dealing with emergency works, tenant-to-pay repair items, tenants’ complaints and enquiries to steer towards a more customer-oriented approach.
4. To vet proposals, control budget, and act as programme manager for various ad hoc improvement and maintenance works of the Estate Management Branch.
5. To provide user requirement for developing and implementing the new computerized Maintenance Infrastructure Support Information System.
6. To supervise the multi-discipline Section, resolve any daily maintenance problems, provide training and formulate technical guidelines for estate management and technical staff.

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Enclosure 1 to EC (95-96)58

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