Property Management Services Authority’s
“Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance” (Revised), “Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging” (Revised) and “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy” (Revised) Codes of Conduct to Take Effect on 13 July 2025
“Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies” (Revised) Codes of Conduct to be Gazetted Tomorrow
In response to the Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (“Amendment Ordinance”), which was gazetted on 12 July 2024 and will take effect on 13 July 2025, the Property Management Services Authority (“PMSA”), pursuant to the Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626) (“PMSO”), has earlier prepared revised versions of the “Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance”, “Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging” and “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy” Codes of Conduct (“Codes”) and Best Practice Guides (“Guides”). The revised Codes will also take effect on 13 July 2025 to tie in with the Amendment Ordinance.
The Amendment Ordinance covers various property management (“PM”) areas including procurement, financial statements, keeping of documents, criminal sanctions and other miscellaneous amendments, etc. The new requirement regarding two categories of high-value procurement and large-scale maintenance procurement, as well as financial statements related to properties will be incorporated into Schedule 7 to the Building Management Ordinance (“BMO”) as mandatory terms in the deed of mutual covenant of a building, which the PM company acting as the manager of the property has to comply with. The PMSA strongly urges the PM industry to understand the new requirement under the Amendment Ordinance and to carry out PM work in compliance with the relevant provisions. The PMSA has revised the aforementioned 3 Codes and Guides to align with the implementation of the Amended Ordinance so as to provide relevant guidance to the industry. The revised versions of the abovementioned 3 Codes were gazetted earlier on 24 January of this year.
Separately, the PMSA issued earlier the “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies” Code and Guide pursuant to the PMSO. Since the full implementation of the PM licensing regime from 1 August 2023, the PMSA and the PM industry have accumulated significant operational experience in implementing and complying with the said Code and Guide. Drawing on this experience, the PMSA has appropriately revised the said Code and Guide to further enhance operational flexibility for PM companies, thereby reducing unnecessary disputes caused by inflexibility in complaint handling mechanism. The present revisions cover multiple areas including complaint procedures and systems, appointment of person-in-charge to supervise the handling of complaints, acknowledgement and recording of complaints, proper handling of complaints, and timely notification to complainants of handling progress and outcome. The revised version of the Code will be gazetted tomorrow.
In preparing the revised Code and Guide, the PMSA conducted extensive consultation with owners’ organizations, Recognized Professional Bodies and the PM industry, and has duly incorporated their feedback into the revised Code and Guide.
The aforementioned 4 sets of revised codes and guides can be downloaded from the PMSA webpage (https://www.pmsa.org.hk/en/regulatory-framework/codes-of-conduct).
Dr James Wong, Chairperson of the PMSA, said, “Through revising the “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies” Code and Guide, the PMSA aims to provide greater flexibility for the PM industry, thereby facilitating smoother operation of PM companies. At the same time, the PMSA urges the licensees to comply with the new requirement under the Amendment Ordinance and their corresponding obligations thereunder, and to assist and remind owners or owners’ organizations (including owners’ corporation and owners’ committee) to properly deal with PM matters in accordance with the new requirement of the Amendment Ordinance.”
Dr James Wong added, “The PMSA reviews and updates the issued Codes and Guides from time to time and as necessary, enabling the industry to act accordingly and to provide the public with higher-quality professional PM services.”
The PMSA has already issued a total of 24 Codes and Guides (including the aforementioned 4 sets) covering various PM areas, including “General Code of Conduct”, “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies”, “Effective Control over Property Management Business by Property Management Companies”, “Handling Moneys Received on behalf of Clients by Property Management Companies”, “Obligations of Property Management Companies regarding the Ending of their Appointment”, “Prevention of Corruption”, “Prescribed Conditions on Licences”, “Protection on Personal Data”, “Handling Payment for or Arranging Payment to be Made by Clients”, “Provision of Prescribed Information and Financial Document to Clients”, “Carrying out Procurement for Clients and Prevention of Bid-rigging”, “Handling Emergencies”, “Handling Scaffolding Works”, “Handling Suspended Working Platform Works”, “Handling Outsourced Property Management Services”, “Prevention of Corruption – Staff Recruitment and Management”, “Distribution and Display of Promotional Material”, “Tree Management Work”, “Obligations of Property Management Company under the Building Management Ordinance”, “Handling Building Works”, “Handling Instrument of Appointing a Proxy”, “Handling Fire Safety Work”, “Slope Management Work” and “Handling Drainage Work”.
The PMSA will continue to issue various Codes and Guides, covering other PM areas in order to provide guidance to the industry, and will review and update the issued Codes and Guides from time to time to keep in line with the latest development.
Ends/Thursday, 3 July, 2025
Issued at HKT 14:00
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