Scope and standards

The MBIS

Under the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS), owners of buildings aged 30 years or above (except domestic buildings not exceeding 3 storeys) and served with statutory notices are required to appoint an Registered Inspector (RI) to carry out the prescribed inspection and supervise the prescribed repair works found necessary of the common parts, external walls and projections or signboards of the buildings. Where a prescribed repair is required, the owners concerned must appoint a registered contractor to carry out the prescribed repair under the supervision of an RI.

Scope of Building Inspection

Under the MBIS, the inspection shall cover the following building elements:

External elements and other physical elements;
Structural elements;
Fire safety elements;
Drainage system; and
Identification of unauthorised building works (UBW) in common parts of the building, on the exterior other than the common parts of the building (such as external wall, roof or podium, yard or slope adjoining the building) or on the street on which the building fronts or abuts.

Examples of the Building Elements within the Scope of Prescribed Inspection for MBIS

External elements and other physical elements

External walls
Fence walls
Manually or electrically operated metal gates erected at fence walls or entrance of buildings
External finishes such as tiling, rendering and cladding
Fins, grilles, and metal louvers
Protective barriers, railings, parapets and balustrades at external walls or at the edges of roofs
Curtain walls
Skylights
Appendages such as awnings, planters, eaves, mouldings, projections, architectural features, drying racks, signboards, window canopies and similar features attached to external walls

External walls

Fence walls

External Finishes

Fins

Grilles

Parapets

Curtain walls

Skylights

Drying racks

Signboards

Structural elements

Columns / Walls / Beams / Slabs
Staircases
Cantilevered projection structures
Transfer structures
Screen walls and basement walls
Hanging structures
Exposed pile caps
Other exposed structural elements

Columns & beams

Structural walls

Slabs

Cantilevered projection structure

Transfer structures

Hanging structures

Exposed pile caps

Fire safety elements

Means of escape
Means of access for fire fighting and rescue
Fire resisting construction

Means of escape

Fire resisting

Drainage system

Drainage system located at external walls of the building
Drainage system in common parts
Drainage system laid within common pipe ducts
Underground and above-ground common drainage system

Drainage system in common parts

Underground common drainage system

The BD may serve statutory notices on the owners requiring them to carry out the prescribed inspection and the prescribed repair works found necessary in the following items:

Common Parts

Except the area within individual private premises

For details, please refer to Section 2 of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344).

External Walls

Whether or not the external walls are common parts

The whole, or any part, of an outer wall of a building even though adjoining a wall of another building and includes a party wall

Projections

Each of the following is prescribed as a projection: -

a balcony;
a verandah;
a planter box;
a drying rack;
a window canopy
any supporting structure for a building service installation (excluding any drainage system);
any pipe or duct that is associated with the building service installation mentioned in item f.

Signboards

A hoarding, framework, scaffolding or other structure erected solely for the purpose of displaying any advertisement, making any announcement or notification, or displaying any visual image or other information.

The Code of Practice for the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS) 2012 (2023 Edition) specifies the technical and procedural requirements for the carrying out of the building inspection, examination or assessment, rectification and repair works under MBIS.

It also provides for the scope and requirements of inspection, rectification and repair works as well as the acceptance criteria for the quality control. The supervision requirements to be met by the RI and the RC are set out for ensuring consistency of quality and standards.