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5.04. It is the responsibility of the Authorized Architects Examination Board or the Authorized Architects Registration Committee to examine where necessary the professional qualifications and suitability of applicants who wish to practise as authorized architects in the Colony. A total of 18 authorized architects were registered during the year. The P.W.D./Authorized Architects Liaison Group consists of representatives from the Hong Kong Joint Group of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institution of Electrical Engineers, one from the Institution of Structural Engineers, two from the Hong Kong Society of Architects and three from the Department. Its purpose is to provide a practical link between Government and those in private practice through discussion of building matters; to afford a means of resolving differences arising from the application of the Buildings Ordinance; and to provide a common ground for consideration of proposed amendments to building legislation. The Group held two meetings during the year.
5.05. A working party on structural regulations consisting of two senior members of the Office with another senior P.W.D. officer and 3 authorized architects is now formulating final recommendations for revision and augmentation of existing construction regulations.
5.06. The Buildings Ordinance Office was also represented on a working party on the Pilot Scheme Area of the Urban Renewal District formed by the Superintendent, Crown Lands and Survey, and including representation from the City District Office and other P.W.D. sub-departments. The main functions of this working party were to finalize the layout of the Pilot Scheme area; to establish the precise extent of the work to be undertaken by Government; to reach agreement on areas in which private enterprise would be allowed or required to participate and, generally, to phase the work of redevelopment. In this connection, the Office was called upon to advise on such matters as maximum permissible development and the amount of new domestic and non-domestic work currently under construction.
5.07. The two organizations providing professional and technical assistance in the event of emergency were maintained in conjunction with the Police as in former years. One of these organizations provides a 24-hour service in general cases of emergency such as fires, subsidence, collapses, landslides and the like, and it was called upon frequently during the year. The other organization is put into operation on the approach of typhoons or in the event of other natural hazards.
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