Streamlining Should Not Mean Self-Certification
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Hong Kong has long been criticised for its prolonged development timelines and complicated statutory requirements. Under the government's land supply initiatives—aimed at enhancing quantity, speed, efficiency, and quality—a proposal has emerged to streamline administrative processes through self-certification. While the intent may be sound, this approach generates severe professional liability risks and negative consequences for the industry.
Statutory requirements are designed to establish minimum standards, but they cannot account for every project scenario. Under a self-certification model, professionals would assume the added responsibility of navigating these ambiguities, including instances where compliance variations or contradictory circumstances arise. It remains unclear whether professionals would have the authority to issue statutory waivers or modifications, creating potential legal and operational implications.
Another concern is the gap between how statutory requirements are interpreted by professionals versus regulatory authorities. These discrepancies pose high risks for both professionals and building owners. To protect themselves, architects tend toward overly conservative certifications laden with caveats. This cautious approach does not just undermine the intent of streamlining, but also creates an unfair and high-risk burden on those facing future disputes or mismatched interpretations.
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The Real Path to Streamlining
True streamlining should focus on eliminating redundant statutory procedures, which are the primary cause of inefficiencies. In a city like Hong Kong, ready-to-develop land parcels are increasingly rare. Often, potential development sites require both planning applications and lease modifications due to mismatches between land lease terms and zoned planning uses.
The problem is exacerbated by repetitive circulation procedures. These involve submitting proposals to the same technical departments multiple times, only to receive identical reviews and similar comments. Such duplication consumes significant time without any meaningful results.
Case in point: recently a prominent hotel investor withdrew plans to convert an existing office building–located in a planned residential zone within the CBD–into a hotel. While a hotel project is neither problematic nor unsuitable in a densely populated commercial area, the lengthy and cumbersome approval process effectively blocked the project from happening. This shows how procedural inefficiencies can hinder business opportunities and weaken Hong Kong’s reputation as an international city.
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A Call for Genuine Reform
For Hong Kong to remain as a world-class city, the government must pursue genuine streamlining: removing outdated and repeated requirements, and rationalising statutory procedures. The answer is not to shift certification liability onto professionals while the underlying inefficiencies remain untouched.
By focusing on genuine reform, Hong Kong can enhance development efficiency, attract investment, and strike a better balance between regulation and business facilitation.
–Thomas
