New procedures for investigating water seepage in private buildings
Urging owners to fulfil their responsibilities for proper maintenance of their properties, the Chief Executive announced in the 2025 Policy Address that a pilot scheme will be introduced in the mid-year of 2026 by the Joint Office to enhance inspection and testing procedures for handling water seepage problems in buildings.
Under the new procedure, the Joint Office has added the infrared thermography and used electronic moisture meter simultaneously to assess seepage conditions and preliminarily identify the source of seepage at Stage I of the investigation. If there is reasonable belief that the water seepage is caused by the upper unit, a “Notification Letter” will be issued to the owner of upper unit, requiring the owner to carry out inspection and testing and complete repair works within a specified period.
If water seepage persists after the specified period, the Joint Office will carry out Stage II and Stage III professional investigations concurrently. Once the source of seepage is confirmed to originate from the upper unit, the Joint Office will act in accordance with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) to issue a "Nuisance Notice" to the person concerned requiring the abatement of nuisance within a specified period. The Joint Office will conduct review test upon expiry of the period as well as a confirmatory test (as necessary), and for cases of non-compliance, institute prosecution based on evidence and further apply to the court for a “Nuisance Order”; The Joint Office will recover from the upper unit the costs of inspection, including the examination costs and the costs of the tests conducted during a review test.
Under the new procedures, equipped with advanced technology, the Joint Office will issue a “Notification Letter” to the owner of the upper unit at Stage I investigation, as compared with the previous procedure of issuing “Nuisance Notice” only after completing the three stages of investigation. By notifying the unit concerned much earlier, owners of the upper units can fulfill their responsibilities sooner, thereby resolving seepage problems more expeditiously. Owners who failed to fulfill their responsibility to repair, the Government will recover incurred examination cost to further strengthen the awareness of owner to conduct repair.
The Joint Office has added infrared thermography at Stage I investigation to make a preliminary judgement on the source of seepage, and will use microwave tomography in professional investigation to confirm the source of water seepage without the need to enter suspected premises for carrying out tests, to expedite the identification of source of seepage.
The Government has been actively promoting the resolution of water seepage disputes through co-ordination and mediation. FEHD has been promoting the 「Scheme of Participation by Property Management Agents in Tackling Water Seepage in Residential Building」(PMA Scheme), around 70% of water seepage cases in participating estates were successfully resolved by property management companies effectively by means of coordination. To fully utilize the function of mediation, the Environment and Ecology Bureau and FEHD, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, launched the Pilot Scheme on Community Mediation in July 2025, thereby reinforcing the role of property management personnel in resolving water seepage in buildings. The Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) has recognized the scheme as part of the Continuing Professional Development Scheme for property management personnel.
Social media (available only in Chinese version)