Cost of Building Factories
Sites sold by auction are normally developed into multi-storey factory buildings, which are mostly occupied by light industries. Buildings of this type may be constructed with remarkable speed in Hong Kong. Construction materials and skilled labour are readily available at a reasonable cost and, in consequence, the cost of building factories is not excessive. Most of the steel rods and bars, and much of the cement used, are produced locally. The remainder is readily available from countries such as China, USA, Britain and Japan at competitive prices. Estimates of average costs for the building of various types of factories are shown in Table 16.
The Building Authority
Plans for any building work, other than that of a minor, non-structural nature, must be submitted by an authorised architect for approval by the Building Authority before work starts. The architect must then ensure that construction is carried out in accordance with the approved plans and the Buildings Ordin-
ance.
All building work must be carried out by a contractor registered with the Building Authority. The contractor must also ensure that work complies with the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance.
Buying or Leasing Premises
Many industrialists prefer to locate their factories in rented premises in multi-storey buildings, or to buy them from private developers. Factory space, for lease or for sale, is usually available in all Industrial districts, close to pools of labour and with main services provided. The Department of Industry maintains a list of industrial premises for sale and for rent, and can give advice on the availability and selection of suitable factory premises. A forecast of available factory space is in Table 17.
Rental and selling prices of factory space vary with the type of premises and location. Table 18 gives a rough indication of the current costs of buying and renting factory premises in major industrial districts.
Ceiling heights of factory premises are usually 4.3 to 5.5 metres on ground floors, and 3 to 3.4 metres on upper floors. Floor loading is normally 1,460 kg per square metre on ground floors; and 735 kg per square metre on upper floors. Some buildings are, however, designed to take up to 1,460 kg per square metre on upper floors.
In exceptional cases, buildings with ground and upper floor loadings of 2,500 and 1,500 kg per square metre respectively are available. It is possible to find factory buildings with a minimum ceiling height of 7.5 metres.
Most landlords expect their tenants to enter into two or three-year leases. Some are prepared to negotiate a monthly tenancy, while others are prepared to offer longer leases at reduced terms.
In addition to property tax charged on land and buildings (described in Section 6), rates are levied. The rateable value of any premises is the annual rental at which the premises might reasonably be expected to be let. The present rate is 11.5 per cent, except for Tsuen Wan/Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, where it is 11 per cent.
Left: Tuen Mun New Town will accommodate 600,000 people and provide 158 hectares of industrial sites; right: public housing will accommodate the majority of the 700,000 people in Sha Tin.
20