Facilitation of Urban Renewal with Building Safety and Conditions Index

Daniel Chi•wing Ho, Department of Real Estate of Construction, The University of Hong Kong Danny Shiem•shin Then, Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Yung Yau, Department of Real Estate of Construction, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

High•density high•rise building development is the most spectacular feature of Hong Kong’s urban areas. However, fire safety and conditions of these buildings become major concern of occupants and the government as the majority of the territory’s population live in high•rise apartment buildings. There is increasing pressure on maintaining the level of safety performance in buildings. The recent occasional accidents of falling concrete pieces and windows in Hong Kong have aroused public concern over the possible dire consequences of building neglect. In view of Hong Kong’s growing problem of urban decay and building dilapidation, urban renewal has become a matter of great urgency.

In the current economic climate, however, budgets for urban renewal are unlikely to meet the ever•increasing needs. Although it is unlikely that this problem can be overcome completely within an injection of further resources, it is possible for the government to improve the situation by ensuring that the best solution in terms of ‘value for money’ is achieved in the urban renewal programme. The Building Safety and Conditions Index (BSCI), developed by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong, can indeed help to solve the contemporary building problems.

The BSCI is a benchmarking tool for classifying buildings in respect of safety and physical conditions of buildings. Objectiveness can be achieved in the formulation of the BSCI by adopting rigorous multi•attribute decision•making techniques such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Through the BSCI, occupants and the public will be informed of the safety risk associated with their living environments. In view of the monetary benefits, the building owners will upkeep their properties in serviceable conditions. For the government, the BSCI can serve as a priority setting tool to facilitate resource allocation to repair or upgrade buildings with the most urgent needs. Also, with reference to the results of the BSCI assessment, an alternative strategic solution can be achieved.

Keywords: Benchmarking; building labeling; building classification; poli; safety and conditions

475 1. Background

High•density high•rise building development is the most spectacular feature of Hong Kong’s urban areas (Choy, 1998). In Hong Kong, there are now around 42,000 private buildings territory•wide (Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau, 2004). About one quarter of these buildings are 20 to 40 years old and are more susceptible to maintenance problems, particularly those without proper management. This accounts for about half of the residential building stock in Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, the problems of building disrepair and unauthorized building works (UBW) have long been the eyesores of the cityscape in Hong Kong, like many other developed cities. From 1990 to 2002, accidents related to UBW resulted in at least 21 deaths and 135 injuries (Leung and Yiu 2004). In addition, as the majority of population in the territory live in high•rise apartment buildings, the occupants are highly prone to hazards like fire and structural stability. Several tragic fires in recent years have illustrated the gravity of the situation. Requests for addressing the prolonged problems of inadequate building management and maintenance in Hong Kong have become more frequent than ever and any further delay to solve the problem of building neglect cannot be tolerated in any means.

In view of Hong Kong’s growing problem of urban decay and building dilapidation, urban renewal has become a matter of great urgency. Urban renewal includes processes ranging from rehabilitation to comprehensive redevelopment. As advocated by Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2005), enhancing the distinctive characteristics of our territory through urban renewal, which is conducive to the development of local community economy, should be put at the top of agenda. However, upholding the public safety in respect of building conditions is costly. This can be exemplified by the recurrent expenditure of Buildings Department, which is the local authority controlling new development and existing building stocks. As shown in Figure 1, the expenditure has risen from HK$470 million in 1999/2000 to HK$743 million in 2003/2004 (Audit Commission, 2003).

In expectation, budgets for urban renewal cannot meet the ever•increasing societal needs. The problem of deferred actions for achieving better living environment which is common in many countries is resulted eventually. It is clear that increasing pressure is being brought to bear on the government resources available for urban renewal and the process of setting priorities has always been a problem for policy•makers. Although they are aware of the benefits of setting priorities, little effort has been put into the development of a systematic approach for prioritizing works.

476 800

700

600

500

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million) 300

200 Annual Recurrent Expenditure (in HK$ 100 470 512 640 701 743 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/02003 2003/2004 Year

Figure 1: Annual recurrent expenditure by the Buildings Department in the past five years (Source: Audit Commission, 2003) Therefore, there is an outcry for policy•making tool for better resource allocation for arresting the problems of building neglect in Hong Kong. Indeed, the Building introduced by Ho and Yau (2004) as a benchmarking tool for maintenance managers can help to bridge the gap. Not only can the BSCI assessment framework and the index itself promote private incentives in the upkeep of building conditions by market force, but also serves as a decision•making tool for the government. This paper studies the applicability of the BSCI for facilitation of urban renewal in Hong Kong.

2. The Building Safety and Conditions Index (BSCI)

The BSCI is a benchmarking tool, developed by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong, for classifying apartment buildings in respect of their safety and physical conditions in view of the need to enhance the living environment of our city. It serves to indicate the level of achievement of individual buildings in enhancing the safety of both occupants and the general public. The assessment scheme of the BSCI is backed up by rigorous and sound theoretical foundation so its creditability and practicality can be achieved. Besides, what makes the BSCI distinguishable is that its assessment framework is bespoke for the mass assessment of buildings.

2.1 Features of the BSCI

The BSCI assessment framework is intended for first•tier screening of building safety and physical conditions. Thus, a wide coverage of buildings within a short period of time at a reasonable low cost is a must. Accordingly, the assessment framework should be applicable to most apartment buildings, be they low•rise or high•rise. In addition, the factors to be considered should be directly related to building safety and conditions that pose hazards to occupants and the public. These factors should also be measurable and verifiable so objectiveness can be maintained. However, subjective judgments are unavoidable in most cases of condition

477 assessment. In this regards, validation with documentary evidence such as record photos is necessary.

Moreover, the assessment methods should be practicable and simple, and only characteristics of buildings easily assessable by the public are acquired, measured, and assessed. Whenever possible, a building is assessed with reference to its basic configurations and conditions. On•site assessment is generally confined to common areas and the external environment only so no inspection to individual flats is required. Last but not least, the BSCI is the aggregation of the performance of individual building factors into a simple and user•friendly index for each building. For the easy consumption of ordinary people, the index can be presented in various forms such as numeric index or grades A, B, and C. Based on the index or grade, the general public can be better informed of the performance of buildings in respect of safety and physical conditions.

2.2 Construction of the BSCI

From above, the BSCI is defined and it is essentially an aggregate figure of ratings and weightings of all building factors directly related to safety and conditions of a particular building. Mathematically,

BSCI = g (w1, w2, … , wn; F1, F2, … , Fn ) (1)

th where wi (i=1, 2, … , n) denotes the relative importance (weighting) of the i building factor in th affecting the safety and conditions of that building; Fi denotes the rating of the i building factor collected using the above assessment framework; n is the total number of building factors; andg is a function that combines all wi’s and Fi’s. The simplest form is the weighted arithmetic mean, with all wi’s summed to unity:

n BSCI = å wi Fi (2) i=1

2.3 Hierarchy of Building Factors

The building factors,Fi, in equations (2) have been identified through literature reviews and workshops with relevant professionals and experts. For the purposes of the BSCI, a number of safety attributes have been first made out. Fire hazard should take a place because it has long been regarded as one of the most threatening hazards to the building occupants (Chow et al., 1999 and Lo, 1999). The fire safety ranking system developed by Lo (1999) is apt for Hong Kong’s situation and provides valuable guidance for identifying fire safety attributes. Yet, building safety embraces not only fire safety, but also many other factors such as structural integrity and falling objects (Buildings Department, 1997 and Choy, 1998).

478 Finally, eight key safety attributes, namely fire resistant construction, means of escape, means of access for fire•fighting, fire services installations, internal conditions, external conditions, density, and special hazards are identified. To come up with a practical assessment scheme for building classification, the safety attributes are decomposed into a list of building factors that can be, as far as possible, objectively measured. The building factors relevant to the safety attributes are shown in Table 1 for illustration.

Table 1: List of building factors that affect safety attributes 1. Fire Resisting Construction 5. Hazards l compartment volume l incompatible uses l staircase opening l electrical installations l fire•resisting doors gas installations 2. Means of Escape 6. Density l travel distance l population per floor l direct distance l number of flat per floor l discharge value l obstacles l exit and directional signs 3. Means of Access for Fire•fighting 7. External Conditions l emergency vehicular access l conditions of canopies l fireman’s lifts l unauthorized building works l distance between fire services protruding from the external walls access point and fireman’s lift l finishes l falling objects 4. Fire Services Installations 8. Internal Conditions l fire extinguishers l debonded tiles l hose reels and fire hydrants l cracks l emergency lighting l spalled concrete

The list is not exhaustive. Some strategic building management factors which apply to all safety attributes, namely management organization (e.g. deeds governing common areas, owner’s corporations, and property management companies), documentation (e.g. the keeping of building records), emergency preparedness (e.g. plans for emergency situations, the provision of contingency funds), and post•occupancy evaluation systems (e.g. occupant survey), are not included. These factors should not be ignored because building safety is inseparable from building management (Choy, 1998).

For facilitating the determination of weightings of different building factors, the relationship between the safety attributes and various aspects of building factors is then mapped together to develop a hierarchy of building factors. Intuitively, poor conditions of building are attributed to misuse and the lack of maintenance. However, much literature (for example, Van Erdewijk, 1988; Heimplaetzer and Goossens, 1991 and Al•Homoud and Khan, 2004) pointed out poor design is one of the causes of building•related accidents. Therefore, building design should play an

479 important role in building safety. In this regard, building factors are grouped into two main categories, namely Design and Management at the top level, as shown in Figure 2. Each of the building factors at the bottom level will be assessed in accordance with a scoring table, which was designed after a thorough consultation with experts in the relevant fields.

With reference to the hierarchy,Design factors include three categories, namelyArchitecture, Building Services, and External Environment). Architecture mainly deals with the provision of passive systems like means of escape and means of access for fire•fighting and rescue to protect the occupants in case of fire. Also, this category is assessed on the measures against falling objects such as the provision of utility platforms. Similar to Architecture, Building Services, such as fire services, electrical installations, and fuel supply, are included because their designs also have a direct influence on the safety of building occupants. As for External the Environment, hazards like the presence of a petrol filling station in the neighbourhood are considered. With regard to these design aspects, the safety issues of buildings can be addressed at the outset of a development project.

Building Safety

Design Management

Building External Operations & Building Architecture Services Environment Maintenance Management

Density Fire Services Locality Structural Condition Owner’s Institution Density Cleaning Organization Configuration Hazard Bldg. Ser v. Condition FM Arrangement ElectricalDrainage Supply Adjacent use Pest control Documentation

Escape Routes Fuel Supply Exit Route Condition Emergency Plan Refuse disposal Refuse handling Emergency

Fire Separation Appendages

Height & Deposition

Amenities Figure 2: Hierarchy of building factors for safety and conditions assessment

Likewise, building factors underManagement are grouped into two categories, namely Operations & Maintenance and Building Management. Maintenance is the inspection and upkeep of various building fabrics and services whileOperations refers to the tidiness and integrity of the exit routes and presence of UBW in the building. Building Management, regarded as the software for improving the safety and condition of buildings, embraces strategic issues such as owner’s institution, arrangements of facilities management, emergency preparedness, and post•occupancy evaluation.

480 2.4 Determination of Weightings

Step 1 The interviewee completes the questionnaire in a laptop computer.

Step 2 The ranking, weighting and internal consistency ratios are calculated using the computer packageExpert

Choice 2000 2nd Edition.

Step 3 The analyzed results, i.e. the weighting and ranking of each building factor are reported to the interviewee.

Step 4 If the internal consistency ratio in any category level is not lower than 0.1 which is the accepted level of

internal consistency as suggested by Saaty (1982), the computer package will locate the likely source of

inconsistency. Without influencing the interviewee’s decision, the interviewee is allowed to revise their

response either following the suggestion of the computer package or filling in the questionnaire again.

Step 5 After the interviewee completes the revision in the laptop, an instantaneous feedback on the internal

consistency ratio is shown to the interviewee on the computer.

Step 6 If the internal consistency ratio is still not lower than 0.1, the interviewee can follow Steps 4 and 5 again for

further revision. The process will continue until the interviewee does not wish to make any further changes.

Figure 3: Procedures of the AHP interview Turning to the determination of the relative importance of the building factors in equation (2), multiple decision criteria systems, such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) developed by

Saaty (1982), will be adopted to calculate the weightingwi. The hierarchal representation facilitates the assessment of the relative importance of the building factors using the AHP. Workshops are organized to interview representatives from relevant professional bodies and universities to determine the weightings of building factors perceived by these interviewees. Through a pairwise comparison of the relative importance of all factors at the same level of the hierarchy, the building factors can be prioritized. The detailed procedures of the interview are shown in Figure 3. With the use of AHP, more reliable weightings can be achieved, which is one of the most crucial aspects of the BSCI assessment framework. When all wis and Fis are found, the overall index BSCI, which is a single measure of the performance of building safety, can be computed.

481 3. Applications of the BSCI

Ho and Yau (2004) stated that safety is an abstract concept which attracts diverse perceptions to different people. With the integration of people’s perception with different background in a scientific manner, the BSCI provides a means of objective and widely acceptedinter•building comparison for distinguishing the good from the bad. It serves as a benchmarking tool to measure and compare building performance in terms of safety and conditions. It is believed that a well•publicized and well•received BSCI can facilitate the urban renewal in Hong Kong. On one hand, it promotes the private sectors to voluntarily maintain the buildings by market force. On the other hand, the government can make use of the BSCI for its decision•making process.

3.1 Promotion of building care by market force

A safe home is a good one. Buildings with better safety performance should be valued higher. Other than the longevity of assets, it is because less risk premium will be paid by the potential buyers for the unforeseen problems brought about by the disrepair of the purchased properties. These buyers may risk paying a large amount of damages, ranging from approximately HK$60,000 to HK$350,000 per unit, as compensations for the victims in future building•related accidents (Leung, 2003). This amount constitutes quite a substantial portion of the average value of the units. Furthermore, well•maintained buildings may attract more favourable mortgage terms, insurance premium and rental income. However, there is asymmetric information regarding the building safety performance during property transactions. Therefore, the public places a high emphasis on the building age which is taken as a proxy for the safety performance of a building.

The BSCI now provides a useful tool for evaluating safety aspects of a building that are not easily observable. According to such previously hidden information provided by the index on how each building performs in terms of safety, the public can distinguish buildings of similar ages with different safety performances. The BSCI creates labelling effects on those better•performed buildings and these will be translated into higher property values. With a view to the prospective monetary benefits, most property owners would voluntarily exercise their management and maintenance responsibilities. With a reassessment mechanism, property owners of buildings with lower grades could implement improvement projects to their buildings in consideration of the potential monetary benefits. As empirically shown by Chau, et al. (2003 and 2004), improvement works brought about a substantial increase in property value which far exceeded the cost of upgrading.

At the same time, the BSCI can serve as a useful performance evaluation tool for the maintenance managers so that the continual maintenance performance can be evaluated by tracking the BSCI of the relevant buildings periodically. In other words, the BSCI can be used as a key performance indicator for maintenance services providers (Ho and Yau, 2004). The same is

482 applicable to the developers and designers, with the incorporation of design factors in the BSCI assessment scheme. This is because higher grades obtained for their housing products or managed buildings can be a powerful marketing tool, especially when concerns over the quality of our living environment continue to surge. More importantly, the BSCI offers information on good design, maintenance and management practices. Designers and maintenance services providers can cross•check their practices with the criteria set for the scheme, and follow the practices to improve their services.

Eventually, positive recognition is awarded to well•designed, managed and maintained buildings through the BSCI. The desire of owners, developers, designers and maintenance services providers for more benefits, be in monetary terms or not, will bring market forces into play to foster a culture of building care. This would attract more resources from private sectors to be invested in the upkeep of private apartment buildings.

3.2 Decision•making tools for government

It is not uncommon for government budgets to hardly meet the ever•increasing societal needs of urban renewal. Hence, it is essential to ensure that the best solution in terms of ‘value for money’ is achieved in an urban renewal programme. The BSCI can be used as a priority setting tool for decision making and budget planning, providing a basis for allocating and directing funding to specific building•related problems. The value of the BSCI becomes more apparent when the number of problematic buildings in Hong Kong is so large and fiscal resources for urban renewal are limited and must be spread out over extended periods.

Needless to say, the grade or numeric figure of the BSCI can tell how a building performs on safety aspects. This priority setting function of the BSCI can help the government efficiently allocate resources to the areas where action is most needed. Apart from simply classifying buildings into grades A, B, and C, the government can make the full advantage of the assessment framework for decision making. Using the rates obtained from actual assessment and the hierarchy in Figure 2, scores can be for the Operation and Maintenance and theBuilding Management. The former reflects the existing conditions of buildings while the latter measures the potential for good safety performance to be achieved. The pair of scores of all buildings in Hong Kong can be mapped in a 2•dimensional matrix, as illustrated in Figure 4.

483 Highest III II

Building Management Building IV I Score on Score

Lowest Highest Score on Operation and Maintenance Figure 4: Connection between Operation and Maintenance and Building Management

Owners of apartment buildings with poor existing conditions but with high potential to achieve good safety performance (i.e. buildings in Quadrant III) will be encouraged to undertake improvement works to their buildings in return for higher rental or value of their properties. For buildings with good existing conditions but lacking potential for future safety performance (i.e. buildings in Quadrant I), the government should put more resources to educate the owners on the importance of building care. For instance, assistance should be given to these owners in forming owner’s corporations.

Because of the lack of potential to achieve good safety performance, improvement to buildings with poor existing conditions (i.e. buildings in Quadrant IV) may not be practical. Resorts like government loan for improvement works and government•led improvement works should be opted for these buildings although the money will come from the public purse. Redevelopment may be also considered for buildings of this end. To the other extreme, the public resources to be allocated to well•conditioned buildings with potential for future safety performance (i.e. buildings in Quadrant II) should be minimal.

4. Concluding Remarks

The purpose of creating a building is to provide an improved environment for individuals, organizations, and communities (Halliday 1997). It is a common belief of ours. Paradoxically, the problems associated with building safety do not only affect property occupants or users, but also problematic results and their costs are spread across the society. Failure of the general public to undertake systematic and planed preventative maintenance to privately owned buildings has

484 led to a substantial maintenance backlog and provided a contributing factor to the continued proliferation of unauthorized building works, incidence of canopy collapses and fatalities from fire (Choy, 1998). Undoubtedly, these problems should be properly addressed without further delay but incremental remedies have been criticized for the lack of forethought. A long•term view and sustainable solutions should be taken. The BSCI developed by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong can serves these purposes. The implementation of the BSCI is beneficial to all parties. For the general public, the assessment scheme provides a useful tool for building performance evaluation. For developers, designers, building owners, and maintenance and management services providers, the information provided by the assessment scheme encourages better design, construction and maintenance of their buildings. As a result, the BSCI assessment scheme will serve to foster a culture of constructing and maintaining good quality buildings. Resources from private sectors are pumped into urban renewal. For the government, the results of the BSCI can be used as a policy tool. Such benefits become more noticeable especially during the time of government’s financial stringency.

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