HONG KONG, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Hong Kong's Immediate Past Chairman, Mr KK Wong, was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Regulation of the Property Management Industry by the Home Affairs Department of the HKSAR Government. The committee is responsible for advising the Government on the formulations of the licensing regime for the property management industry and establishing licensing details. The advisory committee consists of 15 members from the property management, surveying and facility management industries, along with accountants and Legislative Council members. The first meeting will be convened in December to discuss the working plan. The committee is chaired by Mr Chung Pui-lam, JP.
RICS has proposed a series of measures regarding regulation of property management to the HKSAR Government. RICS welcomes the adoption of most of the proposed measures, including: 1) setting up a single-tier licensing regime and compulsorily requiring all property management companies to be licensed; 2) requiring property managers to be licensed; and 3) establishing an independent statutory body to handle all licensing, regulatory and promotion work for the licensing regime.
Mr KK Wong, Immediate Past Chairman of the RICS Hong Kong, said, "I am very honoured to be appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Regulation of the Property Management Industry by the Home Affairs Department. I will bring up recommendations of RICS, such as an individual practitioner licensing regime, a comprehensive training programme to groom future practitioners. This is a must to ensure enough qualified professionals to provide services for the industry in the future. With regard to exemption of owners' corporations (OCs) from the regulation, RICS is with a view that professional property management training should be provided to the OCs in order to ensure safety of the building structure and that good management practice is being followed."
About RICS & RICS Asia
RICS is the world's leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land, property and construction.
In a world where more and more people, governments, banks and commercial organisations demand greater certainty of professional standards and ethics, attaining RICS status is the recognised mark of property professionalism.
Over 100,000 property professionals working in the major established and emerging economies of the world have already recognised the importance of securing RICS status by becoming members.
RICS is an independent professional body originally established in the UK by Royal Charter. Since 1868, RICS has been committed to setting and upholding the highest standards of excellence and integrity – providing impartial, authoritative advice on key issues affecting businesses and society. RICS is a regulator of both its individual members and firms enabling it to maintain the highest standards and providing the basis for unparalleled client confidence in the sector.
The RICS Asia supports a network of over 11,000 individual professionals across the Asia Pacific region with an objective to help develop the property and construction markets in these countries, by introducing professional standards, best practice and international experience. It promotes RICS and its members as the natural advisors on all property matters. It also ensures that services and career development opportunities are provided to members.
The RICS Asia region covers national associations and local groups locating in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The People's Republic of China and the SAR Hong Kong. It also has members working across the region such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos PDR, Macao, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, The Maldives, The Philippines, Timor East and Vietnam. For more information, please visit: www.ricsasia.org.