For discussion PWSC(96-97)35
on 1 July 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Primary
190EP - A primary school in Ma Hang, Stanley

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 190EP to Category A at an estimated cost of $83.3 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a primary school in Ma Hang, Stanley.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A comparison of the cost of a standard primary school project with the estimated cost of 190EP

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PROBLEM

The Director of Education (D of E) forecasts that there will be a shortfall of 58 primary school classes in school zone 110 (Repulse Bay, Stanley and Shek O) by the 1998/99 school year.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 190EP to Category A at an estimated cost of $83.3 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a primary school in Ma Hang, Stanley.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The primary school will comprise -

1. 30 classrooms;
2. four special rooms;
3. three remedial teaching rooms;
4. a guidance activity/interview room;
5. two interview rooms;
6. a staff common room;
7. a student activity centre;
8. a library; and
9. an assembly hall and ancillary facilities.

4. The proposed primary school is within the public housing development at Ma Hang. The area of the site for the proposed school is 4 727 square metres which is smaller than the site area of 6 200 square metres for a standard design primary school. We will construct the primary school to a non-standard design in order to suit the congested and sloping site conditions and to integrate with the overall development. By orientation of the blocks, the current design will also enable the users to obtain the best benefit from natural sunlight, ventilation and open space. The new school will contain all the facilities of a standard design primary school. We have to use the proposed school site despite its small size because it is the only formed site readily available in the school zone.

JUSTIFICATION

5. There are at present three primary schools which provide a total of 25 classes in school zone 110 (Repulse Bay, Stanley and Shek O). D of E forecasts that the demand for primary school classes in this school zone will reach 83 classes in the 1998/99 school year. There will be a shortfall of 58 classes. The proposed school which will come into operation in early 1999 will alleviate the shortfall by providing an additional 30 classes. We will meet the remaining shortfall in the future school building programme.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $83.3 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 7 below), made up as follows -

7. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

8. A comparison of the standard cost of a primary school project with the estimated cost of the proposed school project is at the Enclosure. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 2001. We will entrust the project to the Housing Authority which will implement the works under fixed-price lump-sum contracts because we can define clearly the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

9. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for the school to be $13.6 million. As the new school will be an aided school, the sponsoring body will bear the costs of furniture and equipment, estimated at $2.1 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. We consulted the Works Projects Committee of the Southern District Board on the project on 3 June 1996. The Committee supported the proposed project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. The Director of Environmental Protection completed an Environmental Review on the school project in September 1995 and concluded that the project would have no long term environmental impacts. An Environmental Impact Assessment is therefore unnecessary. We will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to within established guidelines/standards through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

12. The Director of Lands completed the clearance and demolition for the Ma Hang phases II and III redevelopment project in May 1995 at a cost of $1.28 million charged to General Revenue Account Head 91 Subhead 121.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

13. We included 190EP in Category B in October 1995.

14. We have completed site investigation works for the project. We are finalizing the working drawings and tender documents using in-house staff. We plan to start construction works in February 1997 for completion in March 1999 in order to tie in with the completion of the associated housing estate project.

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)35

A comparison of the cost of a standard primary school project with the estimated cost of 190EP

*Assumptions for standard cost

1. No site formation work/geotechnical work is required as this is normally carried out under a separate engineering vote.
2. Piling cost is based on 110 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 30 metres.
3. Cost for drainage and external works is for a standard school of 6 200 square metres built on a flat site. No diversion of existing utilities or noise mitigation measures are required.
4. No consultancy services are required.
5. Furniture and equipment cost is excluded as it is usually borne by the sponsoring body.

Notes

A. Site formation work is required for this project.

B. The higher piling cost is due to the following reasons -

1. the school is situated on a sloping site : higher construction costs would be anticipated with allowances made for difficult site accessibility, temporary slopeworks requirements and construction site safety provisions.
2. the school has to be constructed on three different platforms due to the topography of the site. Piling costs therefore will be higher than those of a standard primary school situated on a flat site.
3. the unit rate for the foundation cost is higher because of the difficult site conditions.

C. Higher building costs are due to the following reasons -

1. the school is of a non-standard design with a total construction floor area of 7595m² this is 110m² larger than that of a standard primary school.
2. pitched roofs are constructed in order to integrate with the overall development.
3. screens/retaining walls are required due to sloping site conditions.

D. Higher drainage and external works costs are due to the following reasons -

1. additional external works are required since the school is situated on three different platforms to suit topography.
2. apportioned construction costs for the estate road (including retaining structures) for the whole housing development is included.

E. The amount of contingencies has been adjusted in line with to the total construction cost.

F. 2% Housing Authority on-cost is required.

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