For discussion
PWSC(98-99)2
on 22 July 1998

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Law and Order - Judiciary
27LJ -Fanling Magistracy Building

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 27LJ to Category A at an estimated cost of $491.6 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a new Fanling Magistracy Building.

PROBLEM

Existing facilities in the Fanling 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 27LJ to Category A at an estimated cost of $491.6 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a new Fanling Magistracy Building.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The project is to provide a 11-storey magistracy building with a construction floor area of 18 700 square metres on a reserved site of 4 800 square metres at Pik Fung Road, Fanling.

4. The following facilities will be provided in the proposed magistracy building -

1. eight courtrooms (including two specially designed juvenile courts to hear juvenile cases) with built-in facilities such as security access connecting courtrooms and custodial areas;

2. support facilities including eight associated Magistrates' chambers, eight public consultation rooms, 16 witness waiting rooms, one witness protection room, custodial areas and two secured waiting rooms for juvenile courts;

3. conference rooms, library, general offices, record storage offices, ancillary areas; and

4. 50 car parking spaces, loading/unloading facilities and operational areas at the ground floor level for the Hong Kong Police Force and Correctional Services Department.

JUSTIFICATION

5. The proposed new magistracy building is intended to replace the existing 2-storey Fanling Magistracy Building which was built in 1960. Over time, the existing building has become grossly inadequate to meet the current operational needs of the court. The building lacks essential support facilities such as public witness rooms, public consultation rooms, separate facilities for the press and lawyers, facilities for physically disabled persons and central air-conditioning for the public waiting areas. Furthermore, there are insufficient interview rooms in the custodial area for litigants to discuss their cases with their legal representatives. The building also has no specially designed juvenile court to hear juvenile cases. If the present magistracy building 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. When the existing Fanling Magistracy Building was constructed in 1960, it had two courtrooms only to serve a combined population of about 137 000 in Tai Po and the North District. To cope with increasing demand for court services, temporary structures were erected on the adjacent site in 1983 to provide two additional courtrooms, court support offices and an office for Duty Lawyers as an interim measure. By 1996, the population of the area served by this magistracy building had increased to about 516 500, representing an increase of nearly 300% over the population in 1960. It is essential to construct a new magistracy building with adequate and up-to-date services and facilities in order to provide for current needs, to reduce court waiting times and to cater for the rapid development and continually growing population in the North East New Territories.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

7. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $491.6 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 9 below), made up as follows -

	$ million
(a) Site formation works	3.5
(b) Piling	22.7
(c) Drainage and external works	8.5
(d) Building	200.0
(e) Building services	95.0
(f) Furniture and equipment	20.9
(g) Consultants' fees	4.2

(h) Contingencies	32.8
	______
Sub-total	387.6	(at December 1997 prices)
(i) Inflation allowance	104.0
	______
Total	491.6	(in MOD prices)
	______

8. The construction floor area (CFA) of 27LJ is 18 700 square metres. The construction unit cost, represented by building and building services costs, is $15 775 per square metre at December 1997 prices. We consider this unit construction cost reasonable compared with similar projects built by government. A breakdown by man months of the cost estimate for consultants' fees is at the Enclosure.

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

10. We derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government's forecasts 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.

11. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure of the project to be $9.1 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

12. We consulted the North District Board in February 1996. Members unanimously supported the project and would like to see its early completion.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

13. 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 effect of traffic noise on the internal environment of the building. We will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant works contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

14. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

15. We upgraded 27LJ to Category B in September 1996. We have engaged consultants to carry out pre-contract quantity surveying work at an estimated cost of $4.25 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 April 1998. We plan to start the construction works as soon as practicable after funding approval, in any case not later than December 1998. The works will take some 32 months inclusive from start to finish. We aim to complete the construction works by July 2001.

16. The present proposal has an achieved plot ratio of 2.5. We consider that the project has maximised the development potential of the site.

Judiciary

July 1998

(EE1199)

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Enclosure to PWSC(98-99)2

27LJ - Fanling 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)
(a) Quantity surveying discipline
Contract administration	Professional Technical	15.7 20.5	40 16	3.0 3.0	2.8 1.2
					_____
		Sub-total			4.0
					_____
(b) Structural engineering discipline
Drafting services	Technical	3.4	16	3.0	0.2
					_____
		Total			4.2
					_____

*MPS = Master Pay Scale

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 1.4.97, MPS pt. 40 = $59,210 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $19,860 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.