PWSC(97-98)123
For discussion
on 11 February 1998

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Quarters - Intra - governmental services
182JB - Government quarters at Fanling

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 182JB to Category A at an estimated cost of $376.9 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of two government departmental quarters buildings at Fanling.

PROBLEM

There is a substantial shortfall in the provision of departmental quarters for staff of the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and the Immigration Department (ImmD).

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Security, proposes to upgrade 182JB to Category A at an estimated cost of $376.9 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of two 26-storey blocks to provide 173 government departmental quarter units at Fanling.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The project includes the construction of two 26-storey blocks to provide -

1. two grade 'B' ¹ and 171 grade 'D' ² government departmental quarters; and

2. ancillary facilities including a club room, two function rooms, 88 carparking spaces, 5 motorcycle parking spaces and 59 bicycle parking spaces.

JUSTIFICATION

4. It is government policy to provide, subject to availability of resources, departmental quarters for married disciplined services staff ³ in order to maintain morale and to facilitate retention. In November 1997, we were able to provide only 103 grade 'D' quarters to a pool of 314 eligible officers in C&ED and ImmD. There is still a substantial shortfall of 211 units (67%) of grade 'D' quarters for C&ED and ImmD staff. We estimate that the shortfall of grade 'D' units will further increase to 347 units by late 2000. Subject to availability of resources, Government's preference has always been to satisfy its quarters needs by construction, as this option is usually cheaper than purchasing flats on the open market. We therefore propose to construct 2 departmental quarter buildings, scheduled for completion by early 2001, to provide 171 grade 'D' quarters to alleviate the acute shortfall.

5. Since 1990, with the increase of cross boundary activities ⁴ between Hong Kong and China via Lo Wu, Sha Tau Kok, Man Kam To and Lok Ma Chau, a greater number of customs and immigration staff have to work at different control points in the New Territories North (NTN). We conclude that, putting the above requirements together, the most suitable location for the new quarter buildings will be in NTN with a view to facilitating the timely mobilisation of staff working in different control points. Furthermore, we propose to include two grade 'B' quarters under this project to accommodate senior management level officers of C&ED and ImmD so that more effective mobilisation of staff to the boundary control points could be achieved.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $376.9 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 7 below), made up as follows -

	$ million
(a) Piling	13.0
(b) Building	174.6
(c) Building services	34.4
(d) Drainage and external works	18.0
(e) Furniture and equipment	14.1
(f) Contingencies	21.7
	_____
Sub-total	275.8	(at December 1996 prices)
(g) Inflation allowance	101.1
	_____
Total	376.9	(in MOD prices)
	_____

The construction floor area (CFA) of the project is 22 880 square metres. The construction unit cost, excluding furniture and equipment but including contingencies, is $11,438 per square metre at December 1996 prices.

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

Year	$ million (Dec 1996)	Price adjustment factor	$ million (MOD)
1998 - 99	10.4	1.16358	12.1
1999 2000	120.0	1.26830	152.2
2000 - 01	84.0	1.38244	116.1
2001 - 02	32.0	1.50686	48.2
2002 - 03	29.4	1.64248	48.3
	_____		_____
	275.8		376.9
	_____		_____

8. We derived the MOD estimates on the basis of Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices over the period 1998 to 2003. In view of the tight construction programme for the project, we will tender the project as a design-and-build contract. Under this form of contract, the successful contractor will be responsible for the detailed design and construction works but they will operate within firm and precise parameters set out by the Government, including a cash-limited budget. D Arch S has defined the scope and requirements of the project in sufficient detail to ensure that there will be no areas of design that the contractor could interpret in a way that is unacceptable to the government. We intend to award the contract on a fixed-price lump-sum basis. This form of contract gives a high degree of certainty over final costs, with the contractor bearing the risk of increases due to inflation or variations in quantities.

9. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure of the project to be $6.3 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. We consulted the North Provisional District Board in July 1997. Members supported the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. The Director of Immigration completed and the Director of Environmental Protection vetted a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) in January 1997. The PER concluded that the facades of the two residential blocks facing the New Territories Circular Road would be subject to road traffic noise in excess of the criteria stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG). We will provide well-gasketted windows and air-conditioners to all affected flats to mitigate the noise impacts. We have included the cost of these mitigation measures in the project estimate.

12. We will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisance during construction to comply with established criteria through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant works contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

13. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. 182JB was previously a part of 38GQ for the construction of departmental quarters on the site at area 28A, Fanling. We upgraded 38GQ to Category A in 1989 for the construction of 120 grade G/H quarters for the rank and file staff of C&ED and ImmD. The project was completed in 1991. Project 182JB deals with the remaining portion to construct quarters for the officer grade staff of the two departments within the same site.

15. We upgraded the project 182JB to Category B in September 1995. The original scope of 182JB was to construct 2 grade 'B' and 58 grade 'D/E' departmental quarters. In December 1995, the Government Property Administrator announced new guidelines on quarter sizes. As a result, we had to reduce the size of all the quarters in the project, decreasing the plot ratio achieved from 3.236 to 2.865. In order to better utilise the site, the Secretary for Security, the Director of Immigration and the Commissioner of Customs & Excise agreed to construct more grade 'D' quarters at the site and agreed to revise the scope of project to construct 2 grade 'B' and 171 grade 'D' departmental quarters.

16. We have finished the site investigation and completed the tender documents for the project using in-house staff resources. We plan to start the construction work in November 1998 for completion in January 2001. The total gross floor area (GFA) of the project together with the existing 120 grade G/H quarters provided under 38GQ is approximately 31 430 square metres and the overall site area is 6 349 square metres. This will achieve an overall plot ratio of about 5 for the two projects. We are satisfied that the project has fully utilised the development potential of the site.

Security Bureau
February 1998

(EE1156)

1.Grade 'B' quarters, each of about 140 square metres in size, are provided for staff of the rank of Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent in C&ED and Assistant Principal Immigration Officer and Chief Immigration Officer in ImmD.

2. Grade 'D' quarters, each of about 100 square metres in size, are provided for staff of the ranks of Inspector or Senior Inspector in C&ED and Immigration Officer and Senior Immigration Officer in ImmD.

3. The term 'married disciplined services staff' refers to rank and file and the ranks of Inspector, Senior Inspector, Chief Inspector and Superintendent of the Police, and comparable ranks in other disciplined services.

4. The number of passengers crossing the boundary has increased from 29 million in 1990 to 53 million in 1996 which represent a growth of 83%, whereas the number of vehicles crossing the boundary has also increased from 5 million in 1990 to 9 million in 1996 which represents a growth of 80%.