Statutory framework and Hong Kong practice
Domain 5 tests the statutory map: which ordinance, which authority, which instrument, and what a licence actually requires before premises can lawfully be used.
Building control
New construction and alterations are governed by the Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123), with the Building (Planning) Regulations (means of escape, open space), the Building (Construction) Regulations (fire resisting periods, compartmentation) and the Building (Administration) Regulations (approval, consent, occupation permits). The Building Authority is the Buildings Department. Premises may not be occupied without an occupation permit or temporary occupation permit, and FSD is consulted on fire service installations and firefighting access.
Fire safety of installations and existing buildings
FSD administers the Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Service Installations and Equipment (2012) and the maintenance regime for installations under the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap 95). Fire safety construction in the existing stock is addressed separately by the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) for composite and domestic buildings, under which FSD and BD may issue Fire Safety Directions requiring improvement of installations and/or construction. That is a directions-based regime for existing buildings, not a substitute for BO approval of new works.
Licensing
Licences stack on top of building control: places of public entertainment (Cap 172), hotels and guesthouses (Cap 349), clubs (Cap 376), schools (Cap 279), residential care homes for the elderly (Cap 459). Each licensing authority seeks FSD and BD comments, and a licence is never a waiver of the building and fire safety requirements.
Worked example
An industrial building is to become a hotel. The sequence: lease and planning (a s.16 application if the use is not permitted); BD approval for change of use with FS Code 2011 compliance and FRR upgrading; FSD acceptance and commissioning of the upgraded installations; an occupation permit for the new use; and only then the Cap 349 hotel licence. Skipping the change-of-use approval is the classic error, because a licence cannot cure an unauthorised use.
Traps
Describing the FS Code as legislation; applying Cap 572 to a new building; assuming a licence from another authority overrides fire safety requirements; forgetting separate FSD acceptance and periodic certification; treating a temporary occupation permit as a waiver of outstanding items.