For discussion PWSC(96-97)28
on 1 July 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Tertiary/other
66ET - Boarding section for special school in area 25, Shatin

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 66ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $28.5 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a detached boarding section for special school in area 25, Shatin.



PROBLEM

There are insufficient boarding places for moderately mentally handicapped children in the territory.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 66ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $28.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a detached boarding section for special school in area 25, Shatin.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The project comprises the construction of a 60-place detached boarding section in area 25, Shatin for the nearby Caritas Lok Jun School for moderately mentally handicapped children and the reprovisioning of an open carpark, a refuse collection point and a parking space for refuse collection vehicle.

4. The boarding section will be a four-storey building providing the following facilities -

  1. 1 warden's office and 1 unit of warden’s quarters;
  2. 1 unit of caretaker's quarters;
  3. 2 units of barracks quarters;
  4. 1 general office/staff room;
  5. 1 conference room;
  6. 1 sickbay/quiet room;
  7. 1 nurse's duty room;
  8. 10 units of dormitories for 6 boarders each;
  9. 1 dining/multipurpose room;
  10. 1 kitchen;
  11. 1 laundry, drying area; and
  12. 1 loading/unloading area.

JUSTIFICATION

5. There are at present two special schools with boarding facilities and one with a detached boarding section for moderately mentally handicapped children, providing a total of 124 boarding places in the territory.

6. According to the Report of the Working Group on Population Distribution and the provision rate adopted by the 1990 Rehabilitation Programme Plan, the projected shortfall of boarding places for moderately mentally handicapped children in the territory will be about 160 places in mid-1998, including about 60 in the north-eastern part of the New Territories. We therefore propose to implement the proposed project in area 25, Shatin.

7. The project will provide boarding facilities for 60 children in the Caritas Lok Jun School which is located very close to the proposed boarding section. The site is currently used as an open car park, a refuse collection point and a parking space for refuse collection vehicles. We will reprovision these facilities to the adjacent sites.

8. The proposed project is scheduled for completion in 1998. This together with another boarding section for special school in Hong Kong south to be completed in 1997, will provide an additional 120 boarding places to meet the demand. We plan to meet the remaining shortfall of about 40 places by building another boarding section in the north-western part of the New Territories.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $28.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 10 below), made up as follows -


$ million

(a) Demolition and formation work

0.6

(b) Piling

1.9

(c) Building

10.0

(d) Building services

3.1

(e) Drainage and external work

3.0

(f) Furniture and equipment

1.0

(g) Reprovisioning of a refuse collection point and carparking facilities

1.3

(h) Contingencies

2.1

(i) Consultants' fees for construction stage (a breakdown by man-months is at the Enclosure)

0.3

Sub-total
(at December 1995 prices)

23.3

(j) Inflation allowance

5.2

Total
(in MOD prices)

28.5

10. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

Year

$ million
(Dec 1995)

Price
adjustment
factor

$ million
(MOD)

1996 - 97

0.4

1.07500

0.4

1997 - 98

16.0

1.18250

18.9

1998 - 99

4.8

1.30075

6.2

1999 - 2000

2.1

1.43083

3.0


23.3


28.5

11. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecasts of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 2000. We will carry out the works for the reprovisioning of the refuse collection point and carparking facilities by term contractors. We will tender the construction works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can clearly define the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

12. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for the project to be $6.84 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

13. We consulted the Sha Tin District Board in May 1996. The Board supported the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

14. D Arch S’s consultatns for 66ET completed a noise impact assessment in March 1996 to address the impact on rthe boarding section of the noise from the Kowloon Canton Railway. We have adopted a self-protecting layout design to orientate all noise sensitive rooms away from the railway line in order to reduced the noise impact to within the established noise limits.

15. For short term construction impact, we will control dust, noise and site runoff nuisance during construction in line with established standards and guidelines through the implementation of mitigation measures in relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

16. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

17. We included 66ET in Category B in September 1995.

18. We have completed site investigations and detailed design for the project. We have engaged consultants of the quantity surveying discipline for pre-contract preparatory work at an estimated cost of $0.3 million. We have charged this amount to the block allocation Subhead 3100GX "Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultants' fees selected from items in Category D of the Public Works Programme". We plan to start the reprovisioning works in October 1996 for completion in March 1997. We will proceed with the construction works in March 1997 for completion in June 1998.


Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)28

66ET - Boarding section for special school in area 25, Shatin --Breakdown of estimates for consultants’ fees

Consultants’ staff costs


Estimated man-months

Average MPS
salary
point

Multiplier factor

Estimated fee
($ million)

Quantity surveying post-contract services

Professional Technical

1.1

2.2

40

16

3.0

3.0

0.170

0.114

Total consultants’ staff costs

0.284

Out-of-pocket expenses

Printing and documentation

0.016

Total

0.300

Notes

  1. A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants’ overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants’ offices. (At 1.4.1995, MPS pt. 40 = $51,440 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $17,270 p.m.).
  2. Out-of-pocket expenses are the actual costs incurred. The consultant are not entitled to any additional payment for overheads or profit in respect of this item.
  3. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man-months and actual fees when we have selected the consultants through the usual competitive lump sum fee bid system.


Checklist for PWSC Submission 66ET - Boarding section for special school in area 25, Shatin

  1. Necessity to go to PWSC
  2. PWSC’s endorsement is necessary for upgrading the project to Category A.

  3. Authority
  4. The provision of boarding places for moderately mentally handicapped children on a territory-wide basis to meet the shortfall is an established policy.

  5. Funding
  6. An amount of $22.912 million has been earmarked in the 1996 RAE and savings of $0.388 million from 66ES - secondary school in area 49B, Fanling has been identified for this project to make up a total of the updated estimate of $23.3 million at December 1995 prices.

  7. Political assessment
  8. We consulted the Shatin District Board in May 1996. The Board supported the school project.

  9. Clearance with District Officer
  10. As the District Board supports the project, SEM considers that clearance with District Officer is not required.

  11. Consultation with LegCo Panel
  12. No consultation is required.

  13. Lobbying requirements
  14. No lobbying is required.

  15. Fallback option
  16. It is unlikely that the project is not supported by Members. We propose this project to be put to vote if there are some objections.

  17. Attendance at PWSC meeting
  18. The following officers will attend the meeting -

    Director of Architectural Services
    Mr. Kenneth CHAN

    Principal Assistant Secretary (Education and Manpower) 6
    Ms Olivia NIP

    Assistant Director of Education (Allocation and Support)
    Mr. Anthony K H TONG

  19. Special Consideration
  20. Nil.


Last Updated on 8 December 1998