(Hong Kong – 30 December 2020) The Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) today announced that pursuant to Section 5(1) of the Property Management Services Ordinance (PMSO), two draft Codes of Conduct entitled “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies” and “Effective Control over Property Management Business by Property Management Companies” respectively have been prepared. In order to allow licensees of property management companies (PMCs) and property management practitioners (PMPs) licences to follow the guidelines set out in the codes in an effective and professional manner, the PMSA has also prepared relevant Best Practice Guides for licensees to follow suit. These two Codes of Conduct will be gazetted and take effect in early January.
Code of Conduct – “Complaint Handling Mechanism of Property Management Companies”
In order to allow the licensees of PMC licence and PMP licence to handle property management services (PMS) related complaints more effectively, this Code of Conduct provides the following guidelines for complaints handling, including:
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- Complaint procedures and systems,
- Appointing a person-in-charge to supervise the handling of complaints,
- Acknowledging receipt of and recording complaints,
- Handling complaints promptly,
- Notifying complainant of progress and result timely, and
- Proper record-keeping and providing complaint information.
Code of Conduct – “Effective Control over Property Management Business by Property Management Companies”
In order to improve the quality of PMS and optimise the management and operation of PMCs, this Code of Conduct provides guidelines in relation to controlling property management business, including:
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- Establishing mechanism for effective control over business
- Establishing management team structure
- Setting out work guidelines
- Providing sufficient manpower
- Providing sufficient resources
- Providing appropriate training
- Effective monitoring
- Regular assessment
- Taking appropriate follow-up actions
- Keeping records, and
- Supervising sub-contractors
Mr Tony TSE, the PMSA Chairperson said, “The Codes of Conduct and Best Practice Guides provide PMCs and PMPs with practical guidelines in complaints handling and company operation. The purpose is to enhance the industry’s operation and encourage the industry to provide high-quality PMS to the public more effectively. I hereby appeal to the industry to actively support and follow the codes and guidelines, and work together to promote the industry’s development for enhancement of quality and professionalism.”
The above codes and guidelines are formulated in consultation with the property management industry and owners’ organisations, including the holding of a focus group discussion online on 4 December, whereby views from over 20 representatives of 13 industry associations were collected. The feedback collected from consultation has been appropriately reflected in the codes and guidelines.
For details regarding the Codes of Conduct and Best Practice Guides, please refer to the following PMSA webpage: https://www.pmsa.org.hk/en/regulatory/regulating-licensees/#reg-04.
When the property management industry licensing regime was launched in August this year, the PMSA already issued the General Code of Conduct for licensees to comply with, which can be downloaded from the following PMSA webpage:
https://www.pmsa.org.hk/en/regulatory/regulating-licensees/#reg-04.
The PMSA will issue other Codes of Conduct and Best Practice Guides covering different property management areas in order to provide guidance to the industry, including:
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- Handling money received for clients,
- Obligations after the appointment of a property management company is terminated,
- Handling instrument of appointing a proxy regarding meetings of owners’ corporation / owners,
- Provision of prescribed information and financial documents to clients,
- Anti-corruption,
- Handling emergencies,
- Personal data protection,
- Managing scaffolding works to be carried out at a property,
- Carrying out procurement for clients, and
- Managing distribution of promotional material at a property, etc.
Chairperson TSE added, “Since the implementation of the licensing regime in August this year, as of yesterday (29 December), the PMSA has issued over 1,300 PMP and PMC licences.
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