HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 3719 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Wednesday, 17 May 1995 The Council met at half-past Two o’clock PRESENT THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE SIR JOHN SWAINE, C.B.E., LL.D., Q.C., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE MRS ANSON CHAN, C.B.E., J.P. THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE SIR NATHANIEL WILLIAM HAMISH MACLEOD, K.B.E., J.P. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE HONOURABLE JEREMY FELL MATHEWS, C.M.G., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALLEN LEE PENG-FEI, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE HUI YIN-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, Q.C., J.P. THE HONOURABLE PANG CHUN-HOI, M.B.E. THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE RONALD JOSEPH ARCULLI, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN GILBERT BARROW, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS PEGGY LAM, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. 3720 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JAMES DAVID MCGREGOR, O.B.E., I.S.O., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS ELSIE TU, C.B.E. THE HONOURABLE PETER WONG HONG-YUEN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG HOI-CHUEN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MOSES CHENG MO-CHI THE HONOURABLE MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG REV THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-WOOD THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY HA WING-HO, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA DR THE HONOURABLE HUANG CHEN-YA THE HONOURABLE SIMON IP SIK-ON, O.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LAM KUI-CHUN DR THE HONOURABLE CONRAD LAM KUI-SHING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING THE HONOURABLE MAN SAI-CHEONG THE HONOURABLE STEVEN POON KWOK-LIM THE HONOURABLE HENRY TANG YING-YEN, J.P. HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 3721 THE HONOURABLE TIK CHI-YUEN THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN DR THE HONOURABLE SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI, M.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE ZACHARY WONG WAI-YIN DR THE HONOURABLE TANG SIU-TONG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE LOH KUNG-WAI THE HONOURABLE ROGER LUK KOON-HOO THE HONOURABLE ANNA WU HUNG-YUK THE HONOURABLE JAMES TIEN PEI-CHUN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALFRED TSO SHIU-WAI THE HONOURABLE LEE CHEUK-YAN ABSENT DR THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, O.B.E., LL.D., J.P. THE HONOURABLE NGAI SHIU-KIT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WAH-SUM, O.B.E., J.P. IN ATTENDANCE MR MICHAEL SUEN MING-YEUNG, C.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL SZE CHO-CHEUNG, I.S.O., J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE MR DOMINIC WONG SHING-WAH, O.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOUSING 3722 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 MRS KATHERINE FOK LO SHIU-CHING, O.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE MR BOWEN LEUNG PO-WING, J.P. SECRETARY FOR PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT AND LANDS MR JAMES FRANCIS MORRIS DEPUTY SECRETARY FOR SECURITY THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MR RICKY FUNG CHOI-CHEUNG THE DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL MR LAW KAM-SANG HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 3723 PAPERS The following papers were laid on the table pursuant to Standing Order 14(2): Subject Subsidiary Legislation L.N. No. Pilotage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 1995 ............................................................................... 160/95 Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Waste) Regulation................................................................................ 161/95 Consular Relations (Privileges and Immunities) (Commonwealth Countries and Republic of Ireland) (Amendment) Order 1995........................................... 163/95 Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of Second Schedule) Order 1995 .............................................................. 164/95 Hospital Authority Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) (No. 2) Order 1995............................................................... 165/95 Official Languages (Alteration of Text) (Immigration Ordinance) Order 1995....................................... 166/95 Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1994 (L.N. 639 of 1994) (Commencement) Notice 1995................................................. 167/95 Industrial Training (Clothing Industry) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (2 of 1995) (Commencement) Notice 1995 ........................................ 168/95 Rating (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (22 of 1995) (Commencement) Notice 1995 ........................................ 169/95 Declaration of Increase in Pensions Notice 1995................................. 170/95 Widows and Orphans Pension (Increase) Notice 1995...................................................................... 171/95 Official Languages (Authentic Chinese Text) (Limited Partnerships Ordinance) Order.............................. (C)33/95 Official Languages (Authentic Chinese Text (Partnership Ordinance) Order......................................... (C)34/95 3724 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 Official Languages (Authentic Chinese Text) (Transfer of Businesses (Protection of Creditors) Ordinance) Order ..................................................................... (C)35/95 Official Languages (Authentic Chinese Text) (Immigration Ordinance) Order ....................................... (C)36/95 Sessional Paper 1994-95 No. 87 — Hong Kong Monetary Authority Annual Report 1994 ADDRESSES Building (Energy Efficiency) Regulation PRESIDENT: We will start with two addresses, but under Standing Order 14(5) no debate may arise upon these addresses DR SAMUEL WONG: Mr President, I thank you for allowing me to place on record my misgivings on the wording of the Building (Energy Efficiency) Regulation now tabled. The Regulation, gazetted on 21 April 1995 and to be operational on 21 July 1995, imposes energy efficiency requirements. They require the external walls and roofs of a commercial or hotel building to be designed and constructed to have suitable overall thermal transfer value, known as OTTV. A Code of Practice has been published to provide technical guidance for such design and construction. When building plans are submitted, they will now have to be accompanied by information and calculations as required by Building (Energy Efficiency) Regulation 5. Information and calculations will be required to be submitted on standard forms — OTTV 1 to 4 — as set out in the schedule to the OTTV Code. In the past four years, professional mechanical and building services engineers were heavily involved in the drafting of this OTTV Code. In July last year, I had had the opportunity of going over the Code. Subsequently, I recommended to the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands that the OTTV Code should require design, calculations and certification of OTTV to be carried out by registered professional engineers in the mechanical or building services disciplines, namely those whose expertise was required to prepare the Code in the first place. My belief was that the person who prepared and certified OTTV calculations should be responsible for that certification. HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 17 May 1995 3725 The whole point of creating a Register of Engineers of the various disciplines was to bring under regulatory and disciplinary control those professionals responsible for safety and economic matters, whose competence to practise could be updated annually to keep pace with the accelerating advances in technology. This is not the case with Authorised Persons, who are in overall control of any building project and are not legally subject to such restraints. If left free to obtain OTTV calculations from any source, they could well choose badly simply because of a lack of incentive to keep up to date with developments outside their own specializations. If litigation subsequently arose because a completed building failed to meet its thermal design criteria, the Authorised Person could use his own or his adviser’s incompetence in the field of building services as a defence, since neither is required by law, and the Engineers Registration Board might have no means of disciplining the building services adviser. I believe in an extreme case the Government might be found liable for providing inadequate control. Regrettably my recommendation was not accepted. Instead, the Buildings Department merely mentioned in the Practice Note for Authorised Person that “Authorised Persons are encouraged to consult a Registered Professional Engineer in assessing the design assumptions adopted in the evaluation of energy efficiency in buildings, and the services of a Registered Professional Engineer would contribute to a comprehensive approach to energy conservation”. In the OTTV summary sheet, only a small box is provided for stating who calculated the OTTV. A Registered Professional Engineer is only one of the options. Mr President, I would draw you attention to the fact that OTTV control is only a first step in the preparation of several building services regulatory matters, including lighting, fire services, pressurization of staircases, smoke extraction and indoor air quality and, if the same lack of professional concern is shown to these, public safety in buildings will