For discussion PWSC(96-97)67
on 20 November 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Secondary
206ES - Secondary school in area 40, Fanling

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 206ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $67 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a secondary school in area 40, Fanling.

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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 standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated cost of 206ES

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PROBLEM

There will be a shortfall of 148 secondary school classes in the territory by 1998.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary of Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 206ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $67 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a secondary school in area 40, Fanling.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The proposed secondary school will be of the standard design. It will comprise -

1. 26 classrooms;
2. 14 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; and
8. an assembly hall and ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Director of Education forecasts that there will be a shortfall of 148 secondary school classes in the territory by 1998. Upon the completion of 207ES "Third secondary school in Siu Sai Wan, Chai Wan" and 210ES "Secondary school in area 25, Tseung Kwan O"¹ in 1998, the supply of secondary school places in the territory will be increased by 60 classes, resulting in a shortfall of 88 classes. As a temporary measure to meet the shortfall, we are adopting floating classes in secondary schools. In accordance with the Government policy to phase out floating classes in Secondary One to Secondary Five, we propose to construct a secondary school in area 40, Fanling to reduce the shortfall. We are planning more schools in the territory to meet the remaining shortfall.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $67 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 6 below), made up as follows -

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school with the project estimate of this school is at the Enclosure.

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

7. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 2000. We will tender the project under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can define the scope of the works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

8. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for the school to be $33.2 million. As the new school will be an aided school, the sponsoring body will bear the costs of furniture and equipment, estimated at $5 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

9. We consulted the Recreation, Culture and Social Services Committee of the North District Board in September 1996. The Committee supported the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

10. The consultants of D Arch S completed and the Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) in December 1995. The PER concluded that the proposed school would be subject to traffic noise impact in excess of the standards stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.

11. We will implement the following mitigation measures -

1. provision of air-conditioning and Type 1 openable, well-gasketted windows to all the classrooms on the eastern facade of the special classroom block and caretaker’s quarters; and
2. the use of fixed windows instead of louvre windows for the affected classrooms facing the open corridors.

We have included in the project estimate the estimated cost of $0.8 million required for implementing these measures.

12. For short term construction impact, we will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to conform to established guidelines/ standards through the implementation of mitigation measures in relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

13. Land acquisition is required for the proposed school project. We will charge the estimated land acquisition cost of $10.4 million to Head 701 Subhead 1100CA "Compensation and ex-gratia allowances in respect of projects in Public Works Programme".

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. We included 206ES in Category B in July 1996.

15. We will charge the estimated cost of $3.9 million for site formation of this project to 333CL "Fanling development, package 7, phase IV : formation and servicing, Fanling South".

16. We have completed site investigations for the project. We are finalizing working drawings and tender documents using in-house staff. We plan to start the construction works in March 1997 for completion in August 1998.

1 -- At its meeting on 6 November 1996, PWSC recommended to upgrade 207ES and 210ES to Category A. Finance Committee will consider this recommendation at tis meeting on 29 November 1996.

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)67

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated cost of 206ES

*Assumptions for standard cost

1. No site formation work/geotechnical work is required as it is normally carried out under a separate engineering vote.

2. Piling cost is based on 130 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 30 metres.

3. Cost for drainage and external works is for a standard school site area of 6 950 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. The piling cost is lower because the project requires 130 nos. of steel H-piles driving to an average depth of 25 metres only.

B. The building services cost is higher because the provision of air-conditioning is required as a noise mitigation measure.

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