Alterations, Additions and Improvements
2.83. 284 items costing $688,000 were approved, an increase of $83,000 on the year before.
GRANT IN AID SCHOOLS
2.84. This office is responsible for checking of the schemes, estimates, and completed buildings for all private Grant-in-Aid schools.
2.85. Fifteen new projects, costing $2,730,000, and 19 maintenance programmes were completed, and a further 18 new projects costing $3,400,000 were commenced.
PRIVATE ARCHITECTS
2.86. Private architects were commissioned for a number of projects mentioned in this report. These are listed in Appendix E.
BUILDINGS ORDINANCE OFFICE
Assistant Director: R. FAIRBAIRN, F.R.I.C.S., M.R.S.H.
3.01. The volume of building works undertaken in the Colony remained at a high level; the capital expenditure on completed projects in the private sector was approximately $261,000,000. A considerable part of this sum was devoted to re-development of sites, the existing buildings having been made subject to an Exclusion Order under the Landlord & Tenant Ordinance. The number of cases dealt with by the Tenancy Tribunals continued to increase, and with it, inevitably, the number of applications which had to be dealt with by the Building Authority. Allowing for the increased sales of land, it seems reasonable to predict that the annual cost of private building works is unlikely, in the foreseeable future, to fall much below the present level.
3.02. It is interesting to note that the capital expenditure on piling alone during this period amounted to nearly $27,000,000, representing an increase of about 65% on the same period last year. The number of site works in progress showed a steady climb from 271 at the beginning of April to 500 at the end of March. With the increase in the number of projects and higher buildings, larger piles, new materials, and construction methods were used. This year, the Building Authority was asked to approve several new piling systems, new brands and types of high tensile steel reinforcing bars, the supply of ready-mixed concrete, and a number of new building materials.
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