Site visit: Housing Authority Building Committee Chairman Ip Kwok-him (third from right) and member Rebecca Chiu (second from left) examine a rock sample at the former Chai Wan Estate's piling site.

The performance assessment scoring system, when applied to work monitoring, can help ensure proper work procedures and quality, and compliance with occupation safety and health requirements, the Housing Authority says.

The system was first introduced in 1990, aimed at building and maintenance contractors to ensure effective monitoring. It has been refined over the years and extended to building services sub-contractors in 2002, and to piling contractors last year.

The system offers a contractors' comprehensive track record, enabling the authority to assess tenders in a balanced approach based on the combined score which comprises price, corporate and performance scores.

With its application in work monitoring, the system provides an objective and measurable system for performance assessment, and defined specifications and standards encouraging contractors to make improvement. It also helps monitor the construction process to ensure proper work procedure, compliance with occupational safety and health requirements, environmental protection and work quality, as well as providing training for sub-contractors and workers.

At the Aldrich Bay Phase 5 site today, authority members saw a demonstration of how the assessment process is applied on site.

Comprehensive system

Deputy Director of Housing Ada Fung told members that a comprehensive range of items covering structural and building elements will be assessed under the system. Structural elements include reinforcement bars, formwork, finished concrete and construction quality. Building elements cover floor, internal and external wall finishes, ceiling, windows, plumbing and drainage, precast components, waterproofing, shop front and cladding.

To develop a set of objective and fair assessment standard, the assessors including project team members and independent assessment teams, will rate contractors' performance in terms of output, progress and input of works.

A public rental housing block with 716 flats and a market complex will be built on the Aldrich Bay Phase 5 site, scheduled for completion in March 2008 and September next year. The domestic building has been completed to the 26th floor and the market complex's concrete structure will be finished soon.

Continuous assessment

At the former Chai Wan Estate's piling site, the piling performance assessment scoring system has been introduced to rate workmanship.

Ms Fung pointed out the site has implemented quality reform measures that were launched in 2000 to boost site inspection and acceptance requirements of piling works. These include sending a resident engineer to strengthen site supervision, carrying out tests on all bored piles and conducting final pile acceptance tests done by the Housing Department's own testing contractors.

"Since full implementation of reform measures for piling works, noticeable improvements are observed in assuring built quality, time of completion, control of variations and contract budgets, fostering partnering culture and control on sub-contracting," she added.