Electronic Reporting Form BD0002

Matters to note:

Before starting to complete the E-form, you should read carefully and understand the following paragraphs.

1. In line with the enhanced enforcement against unauthorised building works ("UBWs") in New Territories Exempted Houses ("NTEHs") which is also referred to as village houses and with a view to curbing the emergence of new UBWs and safeguarding the structural safety of NTEHs, the Buildings Department ("BD") implemented a Reporting Scheme for UBWs in NTEHs ("Reporting Scheme") from 1 April to 31 December 2012. The reporting period of the Reporting Scheme for UBWs in NTEHs had ended on 31 December 2012. Effective from 1 April 2026, the Reporting Scheme will be re launched to allow new entries of reported UBWs.
2. Owners of the NTEHs with the UBWs reported in 2012 should follow the requirement to conduct safety inspections every five years, and do not need to resubmit information in the relaunched reporting scheme.
3. UBWs eligible to join the Reporting Scheme -
   UBWs that satisfy the following criteria may be reported to the BD under the RRS:
   1. The UBWs are completed before 28 June 2011;
   2. The types of UBWs are eligible to join the Reporting Scheme;
   3. No enforcement action has commenced by the BD against the UBWs before 28 June 2011;
   4. The UBWs are not within the first round enforcement targets;
   5. The UBWs do not constitute an obvious hazard or imminent danger to life or property; and
   6. The UBWs are demonstrated to be structurally safe.
4. If the property is owned by Tso Tong, the owner’s declaration shall be signed by an authorised manager of Tso Tong. Otherwise, the owner’s declaration will not be processed.
5. Appointment of Qualified Personnel
   Owners are required to appoint a technically competent person of grade T2 (TCP-T2) (or above) to conduct inspections and verify the safety of the reported UBWs and their effect on the parent structures concerned every five years. If the enclosure of, partition walls or appendages on balconies are involved, unless it complies with the provisions of footnote 4(a) of guideline GL01 RRS, the owners are required to appoint a registered structural engineer or a registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) to carry out regular inspections and verify the structural safety of the balconies by conducting structural assessment of the enclosure of, partition walls or appendages on the structures concerned and to submit the safety certification.
6. Requirements for Safety Certification
   Owners are required to appoint qualified personnel, including a technically competent person of grade T2 (TCP-T2) (or above), a registered structural engineer or registered professional engineer ( specialised in civil/structural/building works) (as the case may be), to verify the safety of the existing reported UBWs to be reported and their effect on the parent structures concerned. The qualified personnel should conduct on site thorough on site visual inspection and any necessary assessment. The following scope of survey should be covered for the different categories of UBWs listed below:
   1. For lightweight canopy, metal supporting rack for air conditioning unit, signboard, unenclosed rooftop structures, enclosed rooftop structure of less than 50% roofed over area, single storey ground floor extension, ground floor canopy with pillars, lightweight enclosure of balconies etc.:
      1. The layout and general conditions of the village house;
      2. The structural conditions of the UBWs to be reported;
      3. The interface connections between the UBWs to be reported and the parent structures; and
      4. The effect of the imposed load from the UBWs to be reported on the load carrying capacity of the village house. The inspection should identify any sign of defect due to overloading such as appearance of structural cracks, excessive deflection or deformation of the structural elements, angular distortion or undue settlement of the building.
      The technically competent person of grade T2 (TCP-T2) (or above), the registered structural engineer or the registered professional engineer ( specialised in civil/structural/building works) shall make a declaration and sign on the safety certification to certify that in accordance with the requirements of safety certification under the RRS, he has completed the inspection and assessment of the UBWs to be reported and their effect on the parent structures concerned and, in his opinion, the UBWs to be reported are safe based on the findings of the inspection and assessment.
   2. For UBWs involving balconies# such as partition walls on adjoining balconies, the enclosure of or appendages on balconies etc., unless it complies with the provisions of footnote 4(a) of guideline GL01 RRS:
      
      The registered structural engineer or the registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) shall conduct detailed inspection with the scope of survey in paragraph 3 (a)(i) to (a)(iv) above and structural assessment based on the following criteria:
      
      (Footnote#: balconies of beam and slab type construction may be first inspected and assessed by a TCP T2 provided that the enclosure of partition walls or appendages are constructed of lightweight steel, aluminum structural elements, metal plates or glass, and no such balconies shall be used or adopted to be used as a store room, kitchen, bathroom or water closet. Should no sign of apparent defect be noted during the first inspection, the appointment of a registered structural engineer or registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) to conduct detailed inspection and structural assessment is not required. For balconies of cantilevered slab type construction, a registered structural engineer or a registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) must be appointed to conduct detailed inspection and structural assessment. The first inspection of the balconies and the subsequent detailed inspection and structural assessment may be conducted by the registered structural engineer or registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) without the need to appoint the TCP T2.)
      1. Layout and dimensions of the cantilevered balconies structures;
      2. Conditions of the structural elements, joint connections; results of the strength tests of the construction materials; and details of structural analysis provided for the representative structural elements;
      3. Conditions of the interface connections between the UBWs to be reported and the parent structures; and
      4. Structural survey and safety assessment on the stability of the cantilevered balconies concerned.
      The registered structural engineer or the registered professional engineer (specialised in civil/structural/building works) shall make a declaration and sign on the safety certification to certify that in accordance with the requirements for safety certification under the RRS, he has completed the inspection and assessment of the UBWs to be reported and the balconies concerned and, in his opinion, the UBWs to be reported and the balconies concerned are structurally safe and have an adequate margin of safety. Documents on details of the structural analysis and the assessment report together with the annex diagrams, if any, should also be enclosed with the safety certification.
   3. During the above inspection and assessment, the qualified personnel appointed should use his expertise and consider alternative methods as appropriate for the inspection and assessment that are both pragmatic and viable having regard to the limitations on site.
   The qualified personnel appointed by the owner shall submit the safety certification together with the relevant documents as well as documents certifying his qualifications and experience. The BD will conduct audit check on the safety certification of the reported UBWs by the qualified personnel to ensure compliance with the relevant requirements. If safety of the reported UBWs or the parent structures is found to be in question during the inspection or assessment, the qualified personnel should notify the owners concerned and the BD as soon as possible.
7. Cycle of inspection and certification
   To address problems on ageing and material deterioration of buildings, owners of the NTEHs are required to appoint qualified personnel to carry out the safety inspection and certification every 5 years until such time when the BD takes progressive enforcement action in accordance with the enhanced enforcement strategy against UBWs in NTEHs.
   
   IMPORTANT NOTES:
   If the owners fail to appoint suitable qualified personnel to conduct safety inspection of the reported UBWs and submit the safety certification to the BD before the end of the 5 year cycle counting from the date when the Qualified Personnel completed the inspection and assessment of the reported UBWs and their effect on the parent structures concerned in accordance with the requirements for safety certification under the RRS, i.e. within 5 years from the inspection date, it is considered that they no longer have the intention to join the RRS. The reporting status of the reported UBWs will be automatically cancelled and the BD will take necessary enforcement action against the UBWs concerned in accordance with the enhanced enforcement strategy against UBWs in NTEHs.
8. Modification carried out to the reported UBWs
   If the reported UBWs have been modified , the BD may cancel the status of the reported UBWs and take enforcement action according to the enhanced enforcement strategy against UBWs in NTEHs.
   Normal maintenance or repair works using the similar material for the upkeep of the structure are generally not regarded as modification works.
   Owners who have joined the RRS shall comply with the following requirements when carrying out normal maintenance or repair works to the reported UBWs:
   1. Dimensions and structural form of the reported UBWs shall remain unchanged;
   2. Only localised repair works without any alteration or addition of the reported UBWs are allowed; and
   3. No re construction of the reported UBWs are allowed.
9. Reporting Period
   1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
10. Application Fee
    Hong Kong Dollar $600.
    Submission without payment of application fee will not be processed.
11. Enquiry
    For any enquiries on the RRS or the requirements for safety inspection, please visit BD's website www.bd.gov.hk or contact the BD by the following means:
    
    Telephone Hotline: 2626 1616 (Handled by "1823 Call Centre")
    Email address:enquiry@bd.gov.hk
    Postal address:Buildings Department Headquarters North Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei , Kowloon