📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Lee Chunkeung and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Mr Chris Sun in the Legislative Council today October 21
Question
A number of organisations representing persons with disabilities have reflected that barrierfree facilities in Hong Kong are not yet fully adequate Examples include discontinuities in barrierfree access routes in certain public housing estates government venues and private shopping malls barrierfree toilets being kept locked for prolonged periods lifts and ramps being out of service for prolonged periods due to maintenance works and guide paths being obstructed by miscellaneous objects or suffering from poor design In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of the respective numbers of complaints received by various government departments over the past three years concerning damage to improper design of or obstruction of barrierfree facilities in public places the average time required to complete the relevant repair and improvement works
2 given that properties completed before 2008 and not subsequently altered are not governed by the guidelines set out in the Buildings Departments Design Manual Barrier Free Access 2008 whether the Government will consider promoting the upgrading of barrierfree facilities for example by installing ramps alongside staircases by owners of older properties through measures such as a dedicated subsidy scheme or legislative amendments and providing incentives such as tax concessions to encourage owners of private shopping malls to improve such facilities and
3 whether it will establish a territorywide geographic information database on barrierfree facilities in conjunction with the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong to digitise data on such facilities in government and private premises and establish a dedicated onestop service page called Barrierfree Access Made Easy on the iAM Smart mobile application to integrate maps and realtime status information on barrierfree facilities across Hong Kong so as to facilitate persons with disabilities and the elderly in planning barrierfree travel routes in advance
Reply
President
The Government is committed to providing a barrierfree environment for persons with disabilities with a view to enabling them to have a barrierfree access to premises and make use of the facilities and services on an equal basis with others thereby helping them to live independently and fully integrate into the community
In consultation with the relevant bureaux our consolidated reply to the Members question is as follows
1 The statistics on complaints received by various government departments over the past three years regarding barrierfree facilities in public places as well as the average time required for the relevant repair and improvement works are set out in the Annex
2 Regulation 72 of the Building Planning Regulations Cap 123F prescribes the design requirements for barrierfree access to premises and facilities for persons with disabilities in private buildings so as to ensure that reasonable barrierfree access and facilities are provided in relevant premises to cater for the needs of persons with disabilities This Regulation is applicable to all new private buildings as well as alterations or additions to existing private buildings
The Buildings Department BD issued the Design Manual Barrier Free Access 2008 in 2008 to elaborate on the statutory design requirements and provide guidelines on barrierfree access and facilities With a view to enhancing the standards of barrierfree facilities in private buildings to align with the latest needs and international trends and ensuring that concepts of universal design are incorporated in a feasible and pragmatic manner suited to the local context the BD commissioned a consultant to conduct studies Following stakeholders consultations the BD issued the Design Manual on Universal Accessibility 2026 in September this year incorporating concepts of universal design with the objective of fostering an inclusive accessible safe and convenient built environment for all members of the community
Regarding buildings in old districts the Government in collaboration with the Urban Renewal Authority has launched a number of building refurbishment subsidy schemes including the Operation Building Bright 20 OBB 20 and the Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Needy Owners BMGSNO The OBB 20 provides support to eligible owneroccupiers of residential or composite buildings assisting them in carrying out major building repair works whilst the BMGSNO provides financial assistance to owneroccupiers in need to subsidise the costs of repairing their owneroccupied properties and improve the condition of dilapidated buildings The scope of both subsidy schemes covers the provision improvement and repair of barrierfree access works or the installation of barrierfree facilities in buildings
3 In July this year the Lands Department LandsD launched the web application of the WalkinHK utilising over 240 twodimensional and threedimensional datasets available in the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure Portal the Portal to help members of the public including persons with disabilities plan pointtopoint barrierfree travel routes Unlike traditional map applications WalkinHK specifically caters to the needs of persons with disabilities such as wheelchair users by providing the shortest flat surface or barrierfree routes and highlighting facilities along the way The spatial data on the Portal is available for free download and use by the public Many of these datasets are related to daily commuting and institutions outside the Government are welcome to use these raw data to develop applications that facilitate journeys for persons with disabilities
In addition the Transport Departments HKeMobility application has integrated LandsDs 3D Pedestrian Network including information of barrierfree access Whe
