185 (168)
1724,25
Q-Had that opinion been given by the Crown Solicitor to the Sanitary Board ?
A. Yes, I think so.
The Chairman.-Go on to clause 27. "External wall means any wall or vertical enclosure of any building, not being a party wall, cross wall, or other partition, nor the external wall of a verandah." That means to say you could throw in the verandah as long as the verandah is not blocked, is not that how you read it-27 modifies 26. That is the way I have always understood the law.
A. The 13 feet must be measured from the external wall.
Q-Then you have to read the definition of "external wall"?
A. Yes. (Reads clause 27).
The Chairman -But in 27, they say "external wall" does not count, and the two clash.
Mr. Shelton Hooper. It was only that point I wanted to know, whether they do pass plans which are illegal, and allow owners to go to the expense of building, and afterwards they say "we made a mistake, and you have to build again".
A.-There are points of that kind.
Q-Have you had any others?
A.-Not of that description. My plans did not shew the basement, the section shewed it, and it may have been that they did not take particular notice of this parapet wall.
Q. And an engineer could have seen that at once?
A. Yes, but even myself, in making the plans,—I did not notice the point. I was judg- ing the 13 feet from the main wall. But these Crown Solicitor's opinions would facilitate the working of the Ordinance with the Architects, if when given, they were communicated to them. For instance you have spoken of that (pointing to enclosure on verandah of Council Chamber) you must remove that. If you have solid work, it is not a window at all.
Q-None of these things are windows, according to the Ordinance, apparently.
A. Not in this case apparently.
Mr. Fung Wa Chun.-You are referring to a verandah on Government ground.
A.-Any verandah. The Ordinance does not define.
Q.-A verandah on private property can be closed, and yet this---
A.-This cannot count, unless you have got 13 feet of air. This has been decided by the Crown Solicitor also, that a window must open across a verandah. If you have anything there, it is not opening across a verandah at all, although light comes down at an angle of 50 degrees.
Mr. Shelton Hooper.-According to the law of light and air, light comes in at an angle of 45 degrees?
A-Yes.
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