Establishment Subcommittee (Papers) 21 Apr 99

EC(1999-2000)6

For discussion
on 21 April 1999

ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 25 - ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Subhead 001 Salaries

for the period up to 31 March 2005 -
for the period up to 31 March 2003 -

PROBLEM

The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S) needs additional directorate support to oversee the implementation of the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project and the Whole-day Primary Schools Programme.

PROPOSAL

2. D Arch S, with the support of the Secretary for Works, the Secretary for Economic Services (SES) and the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to create three supernumerary posts of -

one Chief Architect (CA) (D1) for six years up to 31 March 2005 to oversee the implementation of the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project; and
one Chief Architect (Multi-disciplinary) (D1) and one Chief Quantity Surveyor (CQS) (D1) for four years up to 31 March 2003 to oversee the implementation of the Whole-day Primary Schools Programme.

JUSTIFICATION

Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2

One Additional Chief Architect Post

3. The Government is committed to ensuring the adequate provision and efficient operation of Government wholesale market facilities for fresh food produce. To this end, we completed the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 1 in 1993 at a cost of $1,193 million (at December 1998 prices). The original plan was to provide additional facilities in a Phase 2 complex to be built on an adjacent site some years later. However, to maximise site utilisation, the Government has reviewed the position and decided to amend the scope of the Phase 2 development with a view to reprovisioning the Phase 1 market, the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market (YMTFM), the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market (CSWTWPM) and the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Vegetable Market (CSWWVM) of the Vegetable Marketing Organisation ¹and providing an efficient and orderly outlet for wholesale activities under one roof in west Kowloon. Upon completion of Phase 2, we will release the Phase 1 site and the existing sites of YMTFM, CSWTWPM and CSWWVM for other development purposes.

4. The revised Phase 2 development is estimated to cost $4,554 million (at December 1998 prices). This includes the cost of reprovisioning and demolishing the Phase 1 complex. To maximise site utilisation, we will construct a multi-storey market complex with cold storage, amenity and parking facilities to facilitate the wholesale activities, and a sophisticated underground bridge structure to facilitate future maintenance of the drainage mains currently crossing the site.

5. We conducted a Preliminary Project Feasibility Study in October 1998. The preliminary traffic impact and environmental reviews indicate that we need to have a detailed traffic impact assessment as well as air quality, water quality, noise and solid waste disposal assessments. In addition, we have to gazette pier construction under the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamation) Ordinance (Chapter 127). It is necessary to complete all these prior to the tendering of the construction works in early 2000. In view of the scale of the project and the need to complete it by 2004, we shall adopt the Design and Build contract strategy, making the best use of the contractors special skills/techniques to produce an economic design within the shortest possible period, and to enable both design and construction to proceed in parallel.

6. Currently, there is no dedicated project team to plan for the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2. One Chief Project Manager and several professionals from various disciplines are working part-time on the project. To ensure that the project will be completed on time and within budget, D Arch S needs a directorate officer at the rank of CA to oversee, on a full-time basis, the implementation of the project. While the specialist services (environmental, drainage and transport assessments) will be provided by consultants, the overall planning and co-ordination of the work of allied professions and monitoring of the progress of the project require a high level of professional competence and managerial skills. The main tasks for the CA (to be designated as CA/6) include devising master plans, overseeing contractual arrangements (including the preparation of control drawings and detailed employer's requirements), supervising the performance of the contractors and the progress of works, and liaising with the departments and policy bureaux concerned. He will be supported by a multi-disciplinary project team of four senior professionals and 15 other professional, technical and support staff. The target completion date of the project is March 2004. The defect-liability period will last for a year upon completion of the construction works (during which the contractor will be responsible for completing any outstanding works and rectifying the defects). In view of the complexity and scale of the project, an officer with the expertise and authority at the chief professional level is required to monitor and oversee the completion of the project until the end of the defect-liability period.

Whole-day Primary Schools Programme

One Additional Chief Architect (Multi-disciplinary) Post

7. To achieve the Government's interim target to provide whole-day schooling for 60% of primary school students by 2002/03, we plan to build 73 new primary schools between 1998-99 and 2002-03. To achieve full whole-day primary schooling from the start of the academic year 2007/08, we need to build about 46 new primary schools between 2002-03 and 2007-08 and to conduct early investigations on the planned school sites prior to construction. In addition, to facilitate the development of quality education, especially in terms of information technology and language education, we have developed a new design for primary schools, which necessitates a 41% increase in gross floor area and a 30.8% increase in cost ² (in constant price terms).

8. Currently, we have a few project teams comprising staff of different functional streams dealing with the Whole-day Primary Schools Programme (WDPSP), but we do not have a dedicated Project Manager to oversee the delivery of school projects. A CA in the Architectural Branch (designated as CA/3), whose main professional responsibility is overseeing building works related to the WDPSP and the School Building Programme, is also looking after some project management duties related to expenditure control and works scheduling. For the period 1995 to 1997, Architectural Services Department (Arch SD) completed an average of four primary schools per year. But starting from 1998 onwards, the department is required to build 73 schools by 2002-03, that is, an average of 14.6 schools per year. This will be followed by a further addition of 46 schools by 2007-08. Furthermore, the substantially increased scope and complexity of the new school design, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, require much greater input from professional and technical staff. Given the expanded scale of the WDPSP (to complete 119 schools from 1998-99 to 2007-08, at an estimated total project cost of about $10 billion), CA/3 is no longer capable of coping with his professional responsibility and the added-on project management duties.

9. D Arch S needs an additional directorate officer at the Chief Architect (Multi-disciplinary) rank to oversee the implementation of the WDPSP and to take up the full range of project management duties. This chief professional, to be designated as Project Manager/Whole Day Primary Schools (PM/WDPS), has to assume an important coordinating role in overseeing the implementation of projects from conception to completion. His advisory role and duties are distinct from those of the existing functional sections. He has to work closely with other functional chief professionals (supported by a multi-disciplinary project team ³ ) and to resolve problems and conflicts, such as land availability, technical parameters and environmental constraints within the department and among the relevant departments, so as to ensure the timely delivery of the WDPSP within budget. We propose to classify this chief professional post as a multi-disciplinary one, so that it can be filled by the most suitable officer with proven experience and ability in the disciplines of architect, building services engineering, quantity surveying, maintenance surveying, structural engineering and landscaping architect. With the creation of this post, CA/3 will be relieved of project management duties, and will be able to concentrate his efforts on overseeing building works in respect of the WDPSP and the School Building Programme. Given the tremendous workload on school building in the coming years, CA/3 and PM/WDPS would both be fully engaged on their respective duties.

One Additional Chief Quantity Surveyor Post

10. The Quantity Surveying (QS) Branch of Arch SD currently consists of three divisions each headed by a CQS. Division 1 is responsible for the overall co-ordination, planning and supervision of quantity surveying services in connection with all works projects on which QS consultants are employed, including project estimates, expenditure reports and forecasts. It also deals with the employment, management, appraisal and payment of QS consultants. In the absence of an in-house CQS specialising in School Improvement Programme (SIP), Division 1 has taken up SIP Phases I-III since 1995-96 and has been facing a significant increase in workload. In 1993-94, the division handled 15 projects at a value of $652 million. In 1997-98, the workload has increased to 65 projects at a value of $4,008 million. CQS/1 has already been over-stretched by the continuous increase in workload on contract management. He is unable to take on further SIP projects (with Phases V-VIII involving 396 schools at an estimated value of $17,820 million).

11. Division 2 is responsible for contract documentation and preparation and settlement of final accounts as well as pre-documentation services and contract administration during construction for all new capital projects handled in-house. Its workload has increased considerably over the past two years. In areas of contract documentation and final account work alone, the workload has increased from 89 projects at a value of $5,284 million in 1997-98 to 95 at a value of $10,465 million in 1998-99. Currently, the division also undertakes new school projects and is committed to handling 19 schools in 1999-2000. CQS/2 is already fully-stretched with the present workload. Based on the latest school building programme, the number and value of schools of various types required to be built will increase from 29 at a value of $2,638 million in 1999-2000, to 35 at a value of $3,155 million in 2000-2001, 36 at a value of $3,056 million in 2001-2002 and 40 at a value of $3,580 million in 2002-2003. Given that upcoming major projects such as the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2, the Castle Peak Hospital Re-development Phase 2 Stage 2 and the Joint Departmental Depot at Chai Wan will also come under the management of Division 2, CQS/2 is unable to take on additional school projects. We need to assign the present and future school projects to another division, so as to enable Division 2 to take on increasing workload related to other major projects.

12. Division 3 is mainly responsible for contract documentation and finalisation of accounts in respect of minor works and maintenance projects. For minor works projects, the workload has increased from six projects at a value of $130 million in 1997-98 to 12 at a value of $175 million in 1998-99. For refurbishment and minor maintenance projects, the workload has increased from 431 items at a value of $325 million in 1997-98 to 538 at a value of $348 million in 1998-99. The division also needs to check 28 000 works orders at a value of $3,727 million for maintenance term contracts, and about 1 700 works orders at a value of $2,479 million for design and build fitting-out term contracts. Besides, it is responsible for the office administration of the whole QS Branch and the maintenance and development of a computer system which produces contract documents. Given CQS/3's heavy workload, he is unable to take on additional duties in respect of school projects.

13. Having reviewed the position, D Arch S considers that an additional CQS, to be designated as CQS/4, is required to oversee quantity surveying work for all school projects, including the SIP, the WDPSP, the School Building Programme and services related to the provision of information technology to schools. He will be supported by three senior professionals and 25 other professional, technical and support staff to be redeployed from Divisions 1 and 2 and a new Schools Information Technology Group (comprising five posts) created in April 1999. This will rationalise the workload of Divisions 1 and 2, allowing CQS/1 and CQS/2 to concentrate on their normal duties in respect of building projects other than those relating to schools, and enable more effective and efficient contract administration of school projects.

Creation of the Posts on a Supernumerary Basis

14. D Arch S has examined the feasibility of redeploying existing staff to cope with the additional workload on the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project and the WDPSP, but found it impossible as all existing directorate officers are fully engaged in other major programme areas, such as the delivery of Public Works Programme projects, and building projects for the Hospital Authority and the Municipal Councils, which have also increased substantially in scope and number over the past few years. To assign the extra work to any of the existing directorate officers will adversely affect the level of service of the department and delivery of the committed projects.

15. D Arch S therefore proposes to create a CA post to oversee the implementation of the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project for the period up to 31 March 2005, and a Chief Architect (Multi-disciplinary) post and a CQS post to cope with the workload generated by the WDPSP for the period up to 31 March 2003. We will review the continued need for the latter two posts in December 2002 in the light of the progress of the WDPSP.

16. The organisation chart of Arch SD is at Enclosure 1. The job descriptions for the existing CA/3, CQS/1, CQS/2 and CQS/3 posts and the proposed CA/6, PM/WDPS and CQS/4 posts are at Enclosures 2 to 8 respectively.

Encl. 1
Encls. 2-8

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

17. The additional notional annual mid-point salary cost of this proposal is $3,639,600. The full annual average staff cost of the proposal, including salaries and staff on-cost is $6,595,776. We will also create three additional non-directorate posts of Personal Secretary II to support the three chief professionals. They will also provide secretarial support for senior professionals involved in the wholesale market project and the WDPSP. The additional notional annual mid-point salary cost of these posts is $545,760 and the full annual average staff cost is $911,160. We have included sufficient provision in the 1999-2000 Estimates to meet the cost of this proposal.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

18. As announced in SES Policy Objectives of the 1998 Policy Address, the Government would implement the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project, which includes the reprovisioning of the Phase 1 facilities, the YMTFM, the CSWTWPM and the Wholesale Vegetable Market of the Vegetable Marketing Organisation, for completion in 2004. The Administration briefed the Legislative Council Panel on Economic Services in December 1998 on the revised development proposal for the project, which aims to optimise the development potential of the Phase 2 site and release the sites currently occupied by the existing wholesale markets mentioned above for other developments. We plan to submit the proposal on the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex Phase 2 project to the Public Works Subcommittee in November 1999 and the Finance Committee in December 1999.

19. In his 1997 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced an interim target to provide whole-day schooling to 60% of primary school students by the school year 2002/03. In his 1998 Policy Address, he announced the target for virtually all primary school students to enjoy whole-day schooling from the start of the academic year 2007/08.

CIVIL SERVICE BUREAU COMMENTS

20. The Administration has considered carefully alternative means to provide the level of service required, including redeployment, bearing in mind the need for greater efficiency and productivity under the Enhanced Productivity Programme. We are satisfied that the proposals contained in this paper are the most appropriate way to proceed. Civil Service Bureau considers the grading, ranking and duration of the proposed posts to be appropriate, having regard to the level of responsibility and professional input required.

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

21. As the posts are proposed on a supernumerary basis, their creation, if approved, will be reported to the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service in accordance with the agreed procedure.

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Works Bureau
April 1999

Enclosure 2 to EC(1999-2000)6

Job Description for Chief Architect/3
Architectural Services Department

Rank: Chief Architect (D1)

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible to the Assistant Director (Architectural) for planning and monitoring the work of a Division, co-ordinating the work of allied professions and overseeing building projects in respect of the Whole-day Primary School Programme and the School Building Programme. Main duties include -

devising master plans;
formulating schedules of accommodation;
examining and recommending the award of tenders and administering contracts;
advising on inspection and testing methods and programmes;
monitoring the progress and quality of building works, including holding progress meetings with consultants, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers, identifying and anticipating problems, and recommending solutions;
ensuring that all duties of consultants and contractors are completed satisfactorily during Defect Liability Periods, issuing Maintenance Certificates and releasing retention money to contractors after Defect Liability Periods; and
liaising with other departments and policy branches concerned on land and environmental issues.

Enclosure 3 to EC(1999-2000)6