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HOUSING
Through its leadership and encouragement, the authority also helped pave the way for more than 20 building contractors, including those on its own approved list of contractors, to be certified to ISO 9000, raising the overall standard of building construction in the territory.
The attainment of ISO 9000 certification by the construction industry, following audits carried out by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency during the year, clearly demonstrates the progress that has been made in building construction. This is expected to further develop, giving assurance that all objectives pertaining to good professional services are achieved.
PASS System
Since the Performance Assessment Scoring System (PASS), which objectively monitors the performance of building contractors on the authority's projects, went into full operation in April 1991, the benchmark Target Quality Score (TQS) for contractors has been moving upwards to a high of 92 per cent. This indicates that the contractors are achieving better quality.
As an incentive towards better quality, contractors were selectively invited during the year to tender for new building contracts on the basis of their performance as measured by the scoring system.
Site Safety
Site safety has always been of major concern to the authority and stringent measures are enforced on all its sites in the interest of workers.
Site safety campaigns have been held in collaboration with the Labour Department and employer and workers' groups with much success, and will continue to be an yearly event.
Management
Visits to the estates are made regularly by the chairman and members of the authority to meet tenants and community representatives, and exchange views.
These visits are in addition to regular meetings with the community representatives, either at the authority's headquarters or at other venues. Open meetings of the authority are also held regularly, so that the public may attend and observe the proceedings.
Tight control is exercised over the cleansing services provided by contractors to ensure that a high standard of service is maintained.
Information Centres
For the benefit of residents of private buildings affected by redevelopment, the authority has established two Housing Information Centres in conjunction with the City and New Territories Administration. With the support of the Social Welfare Department, Labour Department, Education Department and Rating and Valuation Department, these centres provide enquiry and advisory services to the residents on matters relating to public housing, education, employment, social welfare, and their rights under existing tenancies.
The two information centres, at the Mongkok and Wan Chai District Offices, have proved popular and there are plans to provide a similar service in Tsuen Wan.