Preventive Maintenance Subsidy Scheme
Introduction
Besides improving building conditions and safety levels through maintenance and repair, the essential way to deal with the aging problem of buildings effectively is to have good planning of building repair to achieve the effect of 'prevention is better than cure.' Therefore, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) implements the 'Preventive Maintenance Subsidy Scheme' to provide subsidies to encourage buildings to establish a periodic maintenance plan for every 10 years and a financial reserve for related repair expenses, in order to set up a special fund for maintenance work and make regular contributions, achieving the goals of 'self-initiative maintenance ' and 'preventive maintenance'.
Application Notes
Eligibility Criteria
1. A building applying for this Scheme must meet the following criteria:
a. Building usage shall be private residential or composite (commercial and residential) building (including a building held by a Civil Servants’ Co-operative Building Society (“CBS”)). Building usage shall be referred to the Occupation Permit (“OP”) of the build;
b. Building has:
i. formed Owners’ Corporation (“OC”); or
ii. been held by a CBS; or
iii. been managed by property management company with valid property management licence under Property Management Services Authority (“PMC”); or
iv. the manager who engaged for providing services to the building under DMC (“DMC manager”).
c. The average annual rateable value limit of all the domestic units in the building must fulfill the requirement of the limit for rateable value. Please refer to item 2(b) of Appendix I: Oncome & Asset Limits and Rateable Value Limit Table of Integrated Building Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme (“IBRAS”) for the limit;
d. Application shall be submitted before the tendering procedure of Authorized Person (“AP”);
e. Building has not been included as redevelopment project by Urban Renewal Authority (“URA”); and
f. Building has not received any subsidy of the Scheme.
2. The following buildings are not eligible for participating in the Scheme:
i. Building in single ownership;
ii. Building of three storeys or below (storeys shall be referred to the OP of the building).
Arrangement for Processing of Applications
The URA’s “Assessment Panel” will base on the following criteria of scoring system for assessing and prioritizing eligible applications quarterly i.e. March, June, September and December.
i. Building age;
ii. Total number of units of the building;
iii. Whether the building has formed an OC or managed by PMC;
iv. Building condition in common areas; and
v. Whether the building has had building maintenance manual or repair plan.
Successful applicant will receive Approval-in-Principal letter (“AIP Letter”) upon the application has been approved by URA. Eligible application but not yet approved by URA will be allotted to the next quarter for participating prioritization process (maximum 3 times). However, the applicant may submit updated information with supporting documents, if any, about the status of building to URA for consideration. Application will be deemed as unsuccessful if the applicant has not received AIP letter within 12 months from the submission date of application. Applicant shall submit the application again.
Owner's organisations and Applicant's Representatives
- If an OC has been formed, the OC shall be the applicant when submitting the application to URA.
- For building without an OC (including those held by CBS), all owners collectively or the CBS (if appropriate) shall be the applicant when submitting the application to URA. Please refer to the “Application Notes for building without Owners’ Corporation” in Annex I to the PMSS Application Form (“Application Form”) for the application requirements and details.
Amount and Usage of Subsidy
The eligible applicant is subsidised by URA for:
1. Appointing AP to review and collect information for the building condition, equipment and facilities in the common areas including associated works and then prepare a building maintenance manual (“BMM”) by adopting standard document provided by URA according to the Scheme requirement; and
2. Incentivizing the building owners to set up special fund and to make regular contribution to the special fund for planned maintenance works according to the BMM by providing additional contribution to their special fund in accordance with BMO.
First stage subsidy – Preparation of Building Maintenance Manual – The subsidy caps for each eligible application:
|
No. of units |
Subsidy amount |
Subsidy cap (HK$) |
|
20 units or below |
50% of consultancy fee to appoint AP for producing BMM |
$15,000 |
|
21 – 49 units |
$20,000 |
|
|
50 units or above |
$30,000 |
Second stage subsidy – Set-up of Special Fund – The subsidy caps for each eligible application:
|
No. of units |
Subsidy amount |
Subsidy cap (HK$) |
|
20 units or below |
10% of total contributed amount for first 3 years from issuance date of contribution schedule (Deposit amount in the bank account could not be less than 80% of scheduled contribution amount resolved in OGM, otherwise the subsidy for stage 2 will be rejected.) |
$2,000 / unit |
|
21 – 49 units |
$1,500 / unit |
|
|
50 units or above |
$1,000 / unit or $200,000 (whichever is the lower) |
Other Relevant Sub
To ensure no double subsidies are granted to the applicant for the consultancy fee listed in paragraph 4.2, URA will withdraw or deduct the subsidies of the same items under the Scheme which has been successfully granted with subsidies / grant under other incentive schemes, e.g. “Operation Building Bright 2.0” and “Common Area Repair Works Subsidy”, etc.
