Change of use in a 1979 composite building: flat to furniture showroom
You are the AP appointed by the owner of Unit B, 5/F of a 22-storey composite building completed in 1979 in Kwun Tong. The unit is 340 m², currently vacant, and its occupation permit records it as domestic premises. The client, a furniture retailer, wants a showroom for 25 staff with a new internal staircase to a mezzanine, removal of a 150 mm reinforced concrete wall shown on the original plan, new toilets, and a 5 m projecting shop sign over the pavement. The Government lease permits residential purposes only. The common areas have received a Fire Safety Direction under the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance, and the owners' corporation is already disputing the cost. The client wants to open in 20 weeks, has appointed no other consultant, and says the shop next door did the same last year without anything. A construction contract for the works has already been signed with a small contractor.
1. Identify every statutory and lease approval the client needs before the showroom can open, and explain the sequence and realistic durations.
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There are three separate control regimes, and none replaces the others: lease, planning and buildings.
Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123). Section 14(1) prohibits building works without the Building Authority's approval of plans and consent to commence. Removing a 150 mm RC wall, adding a mezzanine, new toilets and a projecting sign are building works. Some small alteration may fall within the Minor Works Control System, but a mezzanine and a wall removal of this kind will normally need full plans with a Registered Structural Engineer for the structural elements. The signboard may be designated minor works if within the prescribed size and projection limits; outside them it needs approval. Expect the 60-day statutory plan period plus at least one resubmission and consent to commence - realistically four to six months before work can start, not 20 weeks.
Change of use and fire safety. Moving from domestic to non-domestic use in a pre-1987 composite building triggers assessment of means of escape, fire-resisting construction and fire service installations against the current fire safety code for the new use and occupant capacity (25 staff plus customers). The Fire Safety Direction on the common parts must be coordinated with the owners' corporation; the client cannot upgrade only inside the unit and ignore the common staircase and exit route.
Lease. The Government lease is limited to residential purposes. A change of use without a modification or waiver is a breach of lease conditions whatever the BD approves. Apply early to the Lands Department; premium and processing time, not BD, usually drive the programme.
Planning. Check the outline zoning plan. If the zone is Commercial the showroom may be always permitted; if Residential (Group A) or similar, a section 16 application to the Town Planning Board may be required.
Sequence: feasibility, lease and planning checks first; building plans next; lease modification (often conditional on planning and building compliance); construction; then completion certification. Tell the client now that 20 weeks is not achievable.
2. The client asks you to submit the plans describing the use as 'office' because that avoids the lease problem. How do you respond?
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Refuse, in writing, and explain why.
It does not work legally. Describing the unit as an office does not change the lease; the Lands Department enforces against the actual use, not the label on a plan. It also does not change the approved use or the fire safety consequences: occupant capacity, means of escape, ventilation and sanitary provisions are assessed for a showroom open to the public, not an office.
It misdescribes the works. A plan describing an office may omit what the showroom actually needs - public access, display loading, signage, fitments, escape from the mezzanine. If the plan does not reflect what is built, the approval does not cover it and the works become unauthorised.
The risks fall on the client and on you. The client risks lease enforcement, invalidated insurance, refusal of any future licence, and difficulty selling or mortgaging. You risk prosecution for submitting misleading information and disciplinary action by the Architects Registration Board under the Architects Registration Ordinance (Cap 408); professional indemnity cover may not respond to a deliberate act.
The 'next door did it' argument shows only that enforcement is often complaint-driven. It is not a defence, and a complaint from a neighbour or the owners' corporation is a common trigger.
Offer real options: lease modification or a temporary waiver; check whether the OZP permits the use; a different premises; or phasing the fit-out. Record the advice in a letter, and if the client insists on a false description, decline to act.
3. What do you advise about the 150 mm concrete wall and the projecting sign, given that no structural drawings exist?
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The missing drawings are the central problem; do not design or instruct on assumptions.
The wall. A 150 mm reinforced concrete wall in a 1979 building may be a structural shear wall, a non-structural partition, or a fire-resisting compartment wall, and each has different consequences. Obtain the approved plans from BD records and compare. Open up and have the RSE inspect, with non-destructive testing if needed, before any decision. If structural: full structural plans, temporary support, approval and consent before removal, and a check on the overall load path, not just the wall. If it is a compartment or protected wall: removal may breach fire separation to the escape route or adjoining unit and needs a fire-engineered alternative accepted by the BA and FSD. If genuinely non-structural and small, check whether it is designated minor works; if not, submit anyway.
The sign. A 5 m projecting sign over the pavement is a signboard and building works issue. Check size and projection against the Minor Works Control System limits; outside them it needs approval. Check whether it projects over government land, which needs a lease licence or waiver, and whether it obstructs the street or reduces headroom. It must be designed for wind loading with a maintenance regime.
Advice. Tell the client the 20-week target is not achievable and that the wall and sign are the two items most likely to stop the job. Recommend a survey and opening-up first, an RSE appointment and a pre-submission meeting with BD. Put the advice in writing, including the risk that the contractor's early start may have to be undone at the client's cost.