HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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On the other hand, as I have mentioned in my motion, we should take care not to spend a large amount of public money on this kind of work. One very important thing for the Department to study jointly with government is the formulation of a new measure requiring all new buildings to provide collector pipes for air conditioners. It will solve the problem of dripping air conditioners. Of course, at the present stage, the Buildings Department can issue a guideline to developers for installation of collector pipes in new projects, but the guideline does not have legal effect. We think that the Council should urge Government to amend guidelines and regulations for multi-storey buildings so that collector pipes can be installed for air conditioners. This will definitely reduce nuisance to pedestrians. As for existing buildings, the Council should urge Government to include installation of collector pipes for buildings over 20 years old as a part of the voluntary inspection programme to be implemented soon. This installation will resolve the problem of dripping air conditioners once and for all.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman and Members, I move the motion. I hope you will support my motion as a solution to solve the seasonal nuisance caused to our citizens. Thank you.
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
MR. CHRISTOPHER CHUNG SHU-KUN (in Cantonese);—Mr. Chairman, I should describe Mr. Wu Chi-wai's motion as timely because the Summer will soon be here, but unfortunately, the motion is divided into two parts with the last part saying, 'Concurrently, the Council should urge the Government to examine measures, including requiring new buildings to install collector pipes for air conditioners, to solve the problem of water dripping from air conditioners.'
Maybe Mr. Wu was busy so that he had not studied the issue thoroughly. We already have this measure. According to information in hand, paragraph 9 of the notes on buildings issued by the Buildings Department reads, ‘Careful consideration should be made before installing air conditioning systems in any building so as to avoid dripping. In all cases, it would be best to provide an internal system to catch or allow for evaporation of water dripped from air conditioners.'
I think Government already has this regulation. It was announced in 1985 not as a piece of legislation and then it was amended in 1995. Buildings constructed after 1995, including public housing estates, Home Ownership Schemes and private buildings, are required to install collector pipes or other kinds of systems to collect water dripping from air conditioning systems. As such, I feel that if we pass the motion, Government will be baffled. If we propose to study a measure already under implementation at a Council scale, what are we supposed to study into? Have Members of this Council looked at the matter clearly? This will tarnish the image of the Council.
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