PWSC(97-98)73
For discussion
on 26 November 1997
ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE
HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Law and Order - Judiciary
26LJ - Kowloon City Magistracy Building
Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 26LJ to Category A at an estimated cost of $444.6 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of Kowloon City Magistracy Building.
PROBLEM
Existing facilities in the San Po Kong Magistracy Building are grossly inadequate to meet current court service needs.
PROPOSAL
2.The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Judiciary Administrator, proposes to upgrade 26LJ to Category A at an estimated total cost of $444.6 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of Kowloon City Magistracy Building.
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
3.The project is to provide a 12-floor magistracy building with a construction floor area of 16 760 square metres on a reserved site of 2 780 square metres at the junction of Argyle Street and Lomond Road, Kowloon City.
4.The following facilities will be provided in the proposed magistracy building -
- ten courtrooms each with built-in facilities such as security access connecting courtrooms and custodial areas;
- the associated Magistrates' chambers, public consultation rooms, witness waiting rooms, conference room, library, witness protection rooms, custodial area, general offices, ancillary areas;
- an area to be used as general office initially but which has built-in facilities to allow its conversion into two additional courtrooms in future; and
- 34 car parking spaces, loading/unloading facilities and operational areas in the basement and on the first floor level for the Hong Kong Police Force and Correctional Services Department.
JUSTIFICATION
5.The proposed Kowloon City Magistracy Building will replace the existing San Po Kong Magistracy which was built in the early 1970s and which has become grossly inadequate to meet current court service needs. The San Po Kong Magistracy Building does not have facilities for disabled persons, public witness waiting rooms and public consultation rooms. There are insufficient interview rooms in the custodial area for litigants to discuss their cases with their legal representatives. There are no separate facilities for the press and lawyers, an insufficient number of public washrooms, no ventilation or air-conditioning for the public waiting areas and the juvenile courts are poorly fitted. If the present magistracy is to continue to be used, substantial improvements and extensive modifications will have to be carried out to bring the building up to present-day standards.
6.In 1992, the Director of Planning commissioned a consultancy study on the potential development of the San Po Kong Magistracy site located between Prince Edward Road and King Fuk Street and its adjacent areas. The findings of the study recommended that the magistracy site should be redeveloped to realise its optimum potential. Putting the two requirements together, we conclude that it is a better use of resources to reprovision the San Po Kong Magistracy elsewhere and include the San Po Kong site in the land sale programme. Therefore, we propose to construct a magistracy building in Kowloon City with adequate and up-to-date services and facilities to reprovision the San Po Kong Magistracy Building.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
7.We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $444.6 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 8 below), made up as follows -
|
$ million |
|
| (a) Site formation |
1.2
|
| (b) Piling |
28.4
|
| (c) Building |
141.0
|
| (d) Building services |
87.7
|
| (e) Drainage and external works |
1.8
|
| (f) Furniture and equipment |
29.4
|
| (g) Consultants' fees |
3.0
|
| (h) Contingencies |
29.1
|
|
Sub-total | 321.6 | (at December 1996 prices)
|
| (i) Inflation allowance | 123.0
|
| Total | 444.6 | (in MOD prices)
|
The construction floor area (CFA) of the project is 16 760 sq. m. The construction unit cost, excluding furniture and equipment and consultancy fees, but including contingencies, is $17 255 per sq. m. at December 1996 prices. A breakdown by man months of the cost estimate for consultants' fees is at the Enclosure.
8.Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -
| Year |
$ million
(Dec 1996) |
Price
adjustment
factor |
$ million
(MOD)
|
| 1998 - 99 |
24.8 |
1.16358 |
28.9
|
| 1999 - 2000 |
82.6 |
1.26830 |
104.8
|
| 2000 - 01 |
113.0 |
1.38244 |
156.2
|
| 2001 - 02 |
84.7 |
1.50686 |
127.6
|
| 2002 - 03 |
16.5 |
1.64248 |
27.1
|
|
321.6 | | 444.6
|
9.We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1998 to 2003. We will tender the works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can clearly define the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.
10.We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure of the project to be $7.404 million.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
11.We consulted the Kowloon City District Board in January 1996. Members raised no objections.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
12.The Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) study completed by the consultants engaged by D Arch S. The PER concluded and DEP agreed that no Environmental Impact Assessment was necessary. We will provide the building with central air conditioning to alleviate the traffic noise effect on the internal environment of the building.
13.We will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisance during construction through the implementation of mitigation measures in relevant contracts.
LAND ACQUISITION
14.The project does not require land acquisition.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
15.We upgraded 26LJ to Category B in September 1996. We have engaged consultants for pre-contract ground investigation, quantity surveying and structural engineering work at an estimated cost of $4.1 million and charged this amount to the block allocation Subhead 3100GX " Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultants' fees for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme " in January 1997. We plan to start the construction works of the proposed magistracy building in April 1998 for completion in December 2000.
16.The site has an area of 2 780 sq. m. and an assigned plot ratio of 5. With a gross floor area of 13 900 sq. m., the project will fully utilise the proposed site in Kowloon City.
Judiciary
November 1997
(LL283)
Enclosure to PWSC(97-98)73
26LJ - Kowloon City Magistracy Building
DETAILS OF CONSULTANTs' FEES
Breakdown of estimates for consultants' fees
Consultants'
staff costs |
|
Estimated
man
months
|
Average
MPS
salary
point |
Multiplier
factor |
Estimated
fee
($ million)
|
| Quantity surveying discipline |
|
|
|
|
|
Contract
administration |
Professional
Technical
|
12.63
16.13 |
40
16
|
3.0
3.0 |
2.1
0.9
|
|
Total consultants' staff cost
| 3.0
|
Notes
1.A multiplier factor of 3.0 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 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $18,595 p.m.).
2.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 bidding system.
(LL283)
