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What could UK architects learn from Hong Kong’s authorised person role?

Words:
Eleanor Young

Arup Hong Kong head of design Freddie Hai talks about his role as an authorised person, which combines aspects of principal designer, building control approver and building inspector

Arup Architecture’s Oyster Bay Station, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, for majority government-owned MTR.
Arup Architecture’s Oyster Bay Station, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, for majority government-owned MTR. Credit: Arup Architecture, Ove Arup & Partners, Hong Kong

Architects, particularly those inspecting works on site, could learn from the responsibilities and skills of Hong Kong’s authorised person (AP) role. This combines something similar to the UK’s new principal designer role, combined with the role of both the new registered building control approver and registered building inspector. We spoke to Freddie Hai, who is head of design at Arup’s Hong Kong office and one of the three APs in the practice.

Authorised persons are an established part of construction in Hong Kong, they are trained construction professionals, architects, structural engineers or building surveyors, who are already qualified in their discipline but take an extra layer of training to qualify as authorised persons.

But, says Hai, as other routes to registration became available in other disciplines, APs are predominantly architects. Hai himself gained his RIBA Part 3 in 1995, then a local qualification with the Hong Kong Institute of Architects in 1998 before qualifying as an authorised person in 2001. 

APs are a critical part of business in Hong Kong. Practices are tiered according to their AP resource with this dictating which projects they can take on. To be in Band One, as Arup is, the practice must have at least three APs. Large-scale government contracts go to only Band One firms. Band Two firms with fewer APs can only work on projects up to a maximum contract sum of approximately £28 million.

Every private project has an AP as the agent of the Buildings Department to coordinate and sign off for submissions for approvals, and to carry out site safety supervision roles. Government projects are exempted from having an AP for the submission signatory but customarily have an AP as statutory compliance checker. The AP role can also be offered as a service and is typically one of the roles taken on by firms acting as executive architects. This needs plenty of early input to avoid abortive work by design architects.

So what is the AP responsible for? They act as the agents of the Buildings Department, upholding building ordinances and with a responsibility to report to the government. In that capacity, APs concentrate on the drawings submitted to the Buildings Department at schematic design stage, and ensure they all meet legislative requirements. These have to show internal layouts as well as features such as discharge capacity and fire escapes, barrier-free access and master layout plan compliance.

APs also supervise site safety, visiting regularly and inspecting according to the government’s site safety supervision framework. This ranges from hoardings to ensuring all required documents are kept in safe custody on site. For a safe site, the output should be nine ticks against various categories, but behind them are extensive negotiations, and checking them needs expert acuteness.

Interior of Oyster Bay Station, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
Interior of Oyster Bay Station, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Credit: Arup Architecture, Ove Arup & Partners, Hong Kong

The AP’s third key responsibility is coordinating compliance across many ordinances. These include not just building codes but also, for example, fire services installation requirements.

The role is personal which gives continuity. The law is that one AP must be assigned to each project. But for individuals who want to take a holiday, there is a system to declare temporary absence to the government with the AP responsible for finding a replacement. This is a role that Hai needs to fulfil from time to time. Not only does he have his own full-time AP roles for his projects, he occasionally steps in to provide cover for his other AP colleagues – taking care of anything from submission to site inspection.

There is also a system of resigning and redesignation so that the AP role can be passed on mid-project. But, says Hai, he would be very cautious about taking on such a role and would closely examine the client and the level of risk.

This is not just risk management on behalf of the firm. The AP is also personally liable for work that is signed off. There may have been few prosecutions in recent memory but, should it come to that, the AP would face government prosecution, usually on gross negligence issues.

There is a huge amount of responsibility ‘lumped’ onto APs across a wide range of technical requirements, explains Hai. The fatal collapse of a tower crane in Sau Mau Ping in 2022 led to calls for the role of APs to be further extended through site inspections. But Hai believes that responsibility for the safety of such complex pieces of kit needs to remain with the registered contractor. Hai has been representing the local Hong Kong Institute of Architects in discussions with the government about who is responsible for what.

The breadth of responsibility and the issue of liability plus the gruelling exam process are perhaps reasons why Hai finds that it is increasingly difficult to recruit APs. For him, the ideal candidate would have at least 10 years’ experience.

The Arup CPD programme and study groups encourage those already in the 30-person staff to strengthen compliance and ordinance and to explore the role. But even the most experienced architects need to take the occasional specialist CPD courses, run by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, on the path to qualification – as well as studying government building ordinances. This is not always recognised in the fees that can be earned discharging this role but, nevertheless, it is a role that Hai is proud to play.

Read more about the role of principal designer

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