Quality model: Deputy Director of Housing Ada Fung and guests officiate at the Quality Public Housing Construction & Maintenance Awards Prize Presentation Ceremony.

A new quality-oriented procurement model has been adopted to raise construction and maintenance standards for public housing developments, Deputy Director of Housing Ada Fung says.

The Modified Guaranteed Maximum Price Contracting is a procurement model designed to integrate contractors' expertise and innovation to ensure cost-effectiveness in construction projects. It seeks to drive improvements in buildability, innovation and efficiencies through reaping benefits and mitigating risks together.

The department has introduced a series of measures to raise construction and maintenance standards, such as increasing the percentage of mandatory trade-tested workers, actively promoting site safety and introducing the Total Maintenance Scheme.

"Mandatory requirement to employ 100% trade-tested workers in 32 major trades in all new projects has been introduced since May," she said, adding that similar requirement will apply to minor maintenance contracts from January.

Turning to efforts in promoting site safety, Ms Fung said the accident rate on public housing construction sites dropped from 55.8 cases per 1,000 workers in 2001 to 29.2 per 1,000 workers last year.

The Housing Authority will spend $6.3 billion over a five-year period to improve public housing estate maintenance services.