I was invited by the President of BSOMES (Building Services Operation and Maintenance Executives Society), Mr Jonathan Lee, to join its Annual Dinner on 1st November. I was given the impression that many of its members were working in PFM companies rendering technical expertise for building services operations and maintenance. In this respect, I foresee that closer collaboration between BSOMES and the HKIS PFMD could mutually benefit all of our members. I am glad that Jonathan raised the idea and look forward to exploring collaborative opportunities in the future.
Members may be aware that the substantial changes to both the structure and standards of members’ admission into the RICS have induced serious concerns over how it affects the Mutual Recognition Agreement between the HKIS and the RICS. I am especially concerned about the recent reciprocity agreement of members between both organizations. As a result, the HKIS/RICS Liaison Committee has been formed and chaired by Sr Wong Bay with an aim to closely monitor and communicate with the RICS over this matter. Recently, the committee was invited to have lunch with the President of the RICS, Mr Alan Collett, and other key members of RICS Hong Kong. Besides exchanging the latest news from both institutes, we expressed our worries and concerns over the deterioration of professional standards of RICS members under their new structure and examination routes, particularly their reciprocity institution choices. Although we did not receive a convincing answer to substantiate the RICS’s course of action, we shall continue to monitor its developments and be kept informed of the substantial changes it undergoes in the future.
Invited by Professor Dr Daniel Ho, I joined Sr Peter Wong (BSD representative) and Sr Frankie So (RICS FM Chairman) to meet a group of HKU BSc/MSc Surveying students. The meeting was intended to give students an opportunity to understand their career and professional prospects after graduation. I was impressed with their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn about how to join the FPMD and its respective career path of FPDM surveyor. This was a fruitful meeting with our future probationers and I hope they gained a better grasp of their career plans.
On 16 November, I had a lunch meeting with the President, other ExCom Members, and Mr Paul Tang Kwok Wai, the Secretary for the Civil Service. The members raised their concerns about the progress of more permanent civil servant posts opening up in different government departments, especially the Buildings Department and Lands Department, and the prerequisite requirements for employing professional surveyors in government tenders, etc. The Secretary briefed us on the latest developments of the government’s recruitment process and concurred with our stance on the importance of the professional involvement of government tenders in bids to keep the highest standards of quality.
The PFMD’s 2012 Annual General Meeting was successfully held on 20 November. Since there was no election for the coming council year, it was a smooth meeting in which members could enjoy the small chow of a council reception after the meeting was adjourned. To those who could not attend the AGM, below is my Chairman’s Report for your perusal.
Chairman’s Report - Annual General Meeting (20 November 2012)
Legislation to License PropertyManagement Companies and Practitioners
A task force was formed during our Council Meeting at the beginning of the year and three members, namely Sr Gary Yeung, Sr Edmond Cheng, and Sr Eric Chan, were appointed by the Home Affairs Department (HAD) to join the advisory committee for the preparation of legislation to License Property Management Companies and Practitioners.
The Advisory Committee for the regulation of the Property Management Industry has been working full speed to prepare the draft legislation. Our representatives have raised our concerns over the proposed prerequisites on academic and professional qualifications for the registration of property management practitioners. We still believe that it is not appropriate to mandate licensing for property management practitioners, but if the Committee chooses to go ahead with it, then we will recommend a two tier system (i.e., a general and a professional grade). Moreover, the HKIS, being a reputable professional institute, should be granted exemption from examination to acquire the license. Another very important aspect is how to clearly delineate the obligations and liabilities of a licensed property management practitioner (licensee) and the penalties that will be charged to licensees who contravene the provisions of the proposed Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation. Our Council has been making every endeavor to reflect our concerns regarding the aforementioned issues to the HAD. According to the announced schedule, the draft bill will be put to LegCo by mid-2013.
Networking and Members’ Outreach
Our division has been maintaining close contacts with universities and educational institutes. In November 2011, I was invited to meet a group of around 30 HKU BSc Surveying Students and a few Master’s degree students. I also met with the programme team and 35 students studying for the Bachelor of Arts in Housing Management at PolyU’s School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED) in March 2012. On both occasions, I introduced the history and structure of the HKIS, in particular the PFMD, the bright career prospects of being a professional PFM Surveyor, and the development of our division. The talks were well received and all participants were eager to find out more about the path to becoming a PFM surveyor and related
career prospects.
Also on that month, more than 100 students from two IVE Higher Diploma (Real Estate and Facilities Management) programmes visited HKIS headquarters. After the sharing session, we invited the IVE to apply for accreditation for the aforesaid two diplomas so that its graduates could access Part I of our APC. Pursuant to the new APC structure, candidates who possess relevant
training experience and have passed Part I of the APC will be eligible to become our Associate Members.
Membership Growth
Membership growth is always our division’s concern. In 2012, five new members joined our division and total membership has now increased to 740. In addition, we welcomed 17 new probationers for a total of 42 as at November 2012. With the efforts made to publicize ourselves to undergraduates, we expect more young graduates to join our division by virtue of the bright career prospects for PFM Surveyors.
CEPA
On 25 November 2011, I joined the CEPA Committee at a meeting with the Development Bureau and reported the results of our meetings to the China Property Management Institute and Beijing Property Management Institute during the CEPA Committee Beijing Visit (1-4 November 2011). Later, another task force was formed to establish closer relationships and cooperation with our Mainland counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong under CEPA arrangement. We are planning several visits to Beijing and Shanghai.
In early April, I expressed our concerns to HAD regarding our struggle over the past few years for the mutual recognition of qualifications with the China Property Management Institute under the CEPA Agreement. I also brought up the confusion created by the CEPA supplement Agreement VI under Clause III, Sub-clause 3, Item 2, which stated that Members of the Hong Kong Institute of Housing could also start technical exchanges on the mutual recognition of the qualifications of Certified Property Managers. I wanted closer collaboration between the Development Bureau and HAD to clear the way forward for us in this respect.
I again expressed my frustration during the meeting with the Development Bureau on 22 August over not being able to open a dialogue with the China Property Management Institute. The official in-charge of the Development Bureau raised deep concerns about the difficulties we encountered and promised to assist us in overcoming them in any way it could. Our last request to the Development Bureau was our desire to restart the Annual CEPA Meeting in Beijing, which has been put off for years.
CPD Event
This year’s highlight for CPD events are ‘Enhancing Land Supply Strategy, Reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and Rock Cavern Development’, ‘Introduction of Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance, Building Energy Code and Energy Audit Code’, and ‘Seminar on the HKQAA Sustainable Building Index (HKQAA SBI)’. The talks were all well-received and members gave enthusiastic responses during the Q&A sessions. A joint BSD/PFMD CPD event on the ‘Voluntary Building Assessment Scheme’ was successfully held on 15 August. It received an overwhelming response from the 65 members who attended.
Earlier this year, on 16 June, I and 18 fellow members attended a Site Visit CPD to a graded building, Lui Seng Chun. Due to the overwhelming response to the event, we will organize more visits to other historical buildings in Hong Kong and Macau in the coming year.
I am committed to arranging more CPD events and cooperating with universities to organize short courses to provide probationers with structured trainings covering core and non-core competency subjects under the APC regulations in the coming year.
Way forward
Next year will be a challenging year, as we are going see the introduction of legislation to License Property Management Companies and Practitioners. With more environmental-related legislation being enacted, PFM surveyors should take the lead in implementing the process and I strongly recommend that members acquire BEAM Pro as a start in order not to miss the opportunities that will open up in the future. Finally, I must thank Council Members for their valuable contributions to and unfailing support for the growth and development of the division. Without their efforts, the achievements of the Council would not have been attained. Also, thanks to the support of fellow members and the Council, I will continue my visionary leadership to steer the Council to cope with the upcoming challenges and opportunities. I look forward to the continued success of the division in the coming year.
