For discussion PWSC(96-97)107
on 5 March 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 711 - HOUSING
Education - Secondary
B167ES - First secondary school in area 102, Tin Shui Wai
B168ES - Second secondary school in area 102, Tin Shui Wai

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of B167ES and B168ES to Category A at an estimated total cost of $157.8 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of two secondary schools in area 102, Tin Shui Wai.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND IFORMATION
A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated costs of the proposed school projects

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PROBLEM

There will be a shortfall of 604 secondary school classes in the territory by the year 2000.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Housing, proposes to upgrade the following projects to Category A at an estimated total cost of $157.8 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices -

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The two proposed secondary schools are standard design school buildings. Each school will have -

1. 26 classrooms;
2. 14 special rooms;
3. three remedial teaching rooms;
4. a guidance activity/interview room;
5. two interview rooms;
6. a staff common room;
7. a student activity centre;
8. an assembly hall; and
9. ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Director of Education forecasts that there will be a shortfall of 271 secondary school classes in the territory by the year 1999. To implement the Government policy to reduce class size and to phase out floating classes in Secondary One to Secondary Five, this shortfall will increase to 604 classes by the year 2000. To reduce the overall shortfall and taking into account the housing developments in Tin Shui Wai, we propose to construct two secondary schools in area 102, Tin Shui Wai to be completed by the year 2000. We are planning more schools in the territory to meet the remaining shortfall.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5. We estimate the capital costs of projects B167ES and B168ES to be $79.4 million and $78.4 million respectively in MOD prices (see paragraph 6 below), made up as follows -

B167ES

B168ES

$ million

(a) Piling	6.3	5.7
(b) Building	26.5	26.5
(c) Building Services	6.8	6.8
(d) Drainage and external works	9.8	9.8
(e) Contingencies	4.9	4.9
(f) Housing Authority on-cost	1.1 ____	1.1 ____
Sub-total (at December 1995 prices)	55.4	54.8
(g) Inflation allowance	24.0	23.6
	____	____
Total (in MOD prices)	79.4	78.4
	____	____

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school with the project estimate of these two schools is at the Enclosure.

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

7. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2003. In order to tie in with the public housing development programme in area 102, Tin Shui Wai, we will entrust the construction of the two schools to the Housing Authority which will incorporate the piling contracts and building contracts for the schools into the respective piling contract and main contract for phase 4 and phase 6 of the housing estate development in Tin Shui Wai. The contracts will be tendered on a lump-sum basis with provision for price fluctuation because the contract period will be over 21 months.

8. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for each school to be $33.2 million. As the new schools will be aided schools, the individual sponsoring body will bear the costs of furniture and equipment, estimated at $5 million for each school.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

9. We consulted the Social Services and Publicity Committee of the Yuen Long District Board in November 1996. The Committee supported the two school projects.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

10. The Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) vetted the Preliminary Environmental Reviews (PERs) for projects B167ES and B168ES conducted in January 1997. DEP concluded that the road traffic noise impact on the proposed schools will be below the maximum allowable levels stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.

11. For short term construction impacts, we will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to comply with established guidelines/ standards through the implementation of mitigation measures required in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

12. The two projects do not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND IFORMATION

13. We upgraded projects B167ES and B168ES to Category B in July 1996.

14. We have completed site investigation works for the projects. We are finalizing the working drawings and tender documents using in-house staff resources. The Director of Housing will start the construction works of the two schools in September 1997 for completion in October 2000 to tie in with the overall public housing development programme in area 102, Tin Shui Wai.

(DD1081)

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)107

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school project with the estimated costs of the proposed school projects

*Assumptions for standard cost

1. No site formation work/geotechnical work is required as this is normally carried out under a separate engineering vote.

2. Piling cost is based on 130 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 30 metres.

3. Cost for drainage and external works is for a standard school site area of 6950 square metres built on a flat site. No diversion of existing utilities or noise mitigation measures are required.

4. No consultancy services are required.

5. Furniture and equipment cost is excluded as it is usually borne by the sponsoring body.

Notes

A. The piling costs for the proposed projects are adjusted to suit individual site conditions and are based on the following -

There is also an increase in piling cost for contracts being tendered on or after 1 April 1997 due to the prohibition of the use of diesel hammers for percussive piling.

B. The drainage and external works costs are higher because D of H will follow the standard arrangements to apportion the drainage and external works costs of the gross estate area to the proposed schools.

C. There is a standard arrangement to reserve 2% on-cost for projects entrusted to the Housing Authority.proposed projects.

(DD1081)

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