For discussion PWSC(97-98)5
on 23 April 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Law and Order - Police
230LP - Refurbishment of May House, Police Headquarters

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 230LP to Category A at an estimated cost of $230.8 million in money-of-the-day prices for the refurbishment of May House, Police Headquarters.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Details of consultants’ fees

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PROBLEM

The building services installations of May House, Police Headquarters are below current standards and the interior fittings restrict the more cost-effective use of space.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Security and the Commissioner of Police, proposes to upgrade 230LP to Category A at an estimated cost of $230.8 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the refurbishment of May House, Police Headquarters at Wan Chai.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The project comprises the refurbishment of the whole of May House, Police Headquarters, with a gross floor area of 22 700 square metres and a net floor area of 13 270 square metres. The refurbishment works include the following -

1. provision of a fire protection sprinkler system and other fire service installations in accordance with the current Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Services Installations and Equipment;
2. upgrading of building services installations, including lifts, air-conditioning and electrical installations;
3. overhaul of the drainage system for wastewater disposal;
4. refurbishment of toilets, pantries, storerooms and all common areas;
5. provision of new style furniture and modern equipment;
6. upgrading the Private Automatic Branch Exchange telephone system; and
7. upgrading the mess and canteen facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. May House, Police Headquarters was completed in 1974 and has since been used to accommodate various Police Headquarters operational and administrative units. Although the building is still structurally sound after some 22 years of occupancy, many building services installations, including the electrical and air-conditioning systems and the lifts, are reaching the end of their economic life. Extensive re-wiring, re-plumbing and upgrading of building services installations will be necessary so that the building may sustain at least another 20 years of occupancy.

5. The establishment of the Police Headquarters has grown over the years. The existing office facilities as well as mess and canteen facilities are unable to meet the present demand. To achieve a better utilization of office space, we will dismantle and remove the existing partitions and fittings where appropriate and provide open plan offices and new style government furniture in line with the current Accommodation Regulations standard. The existing mess and canteen facilities will be upgraded and expanded to cater for the increased demand of the service in the Police Headquarters complex. On completion of the refurbishment work, May House will be up to modern day standards similar to newly-built government office buildings.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $230.8 million in MOD prices, made up as follows -

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

8. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2001. We will tender the works using a fixed price design-and-build contract. Under this form of contract, the successful contractor will be responsible for the refurbishment works but he will operate within firm and precise parameters, including a cash-limited budget, set out by us. The D Arch S has defined the scope and requirements of the project in sufficient details to ensure that there will be no area of design that the contractor can interpret in a way that is unacceptable to government.

9. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure to be $140,000 arising mainly from the provision of new electrical and mechanical equipment and the upgrading of the building services installations.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. District Officer (Wan Chai) considers public consultation for this project is not necessary since it will have no effect on local residents.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. In November 1995, the D Arch S completed and the Director of Environmental Protection vetted a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) of this project and concluded that the potential for the project to create adverse impacts on the environment would be limited. No Environmental Impact Assessment Study is therefore required. We will include a standard provision in the contract for a survey to check for the presence of asbestos in May House. We do not anticipate the presence of asbestos in the building. But if found, we will remove and dispose of any asbestos in accordance with the asbestos control regulations enforced under the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Ordinance 1993. We will also control dust and noise impacts during construction through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

12. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

13. We upgraded 230LP to Category B in September 1996. We engaged quantity surveying consultants to prepare tender documentation at an estimated cost of $1.56 million. We charged this fee to the block allocation Subhead 3100GX "Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultancy fees from items in Category D of the Public Works Programme" in November 1996. We plan to start the refurbishment works in August 1997 for completion in October 1999.

Security Branch
April 1997
(JJ171)

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Enclosure to PWSC(97-98)5

Details of consultants’ fees

Breakdown of estimates for consultants’ fees

Notes

1. A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants’ overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants’ offices. (At 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $18,595 p.m.).

2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man months and actual fees when we have selected the consultants through the usual competitive lump-sum fee bid system.

(JJ171)

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