The Home Affairs Department (HAD), in collaboration with the Law Society of Hong Kong, launched today (September 19) a three-year pilot Free Outreach Legal Advice Service on Building Management (FOLAS) to enhance the legal support to owners' corporations (OCs) in conducting general meetings.
Under the FOLAS, upon successful application, a lawyer experienced in handling building management matters will be assigned to the OC to provide free legal service, i.e. (i) attending the pre-meeting of the general meeting of the OC; (ii) reading relevant information about the meeting; and (iii) attending and giving legal advice at the meeting, for up to six hours.
The target beneficiaries of the FOLAS are OCs of residential or composite (commercial/residential use) buildings without retained lawyers, with the average rateable value per annum of the residential units not exceeding the specified limits.
"The launch of the FOLAS will complement our full array of support measures to address the needs of owners in different aspects of building management," a spokesman for the Home Affairs Department said. "By providing professional advice to the management committee members and owners of eligible buildings during general meetings, we hope that the FOLAS will help reduce building management disputes arising from the misunderstanding of relevant provisions in the Building Management Ordinance and the deed of mutual covenant of the buildings concerned."
Details of the FOLAS are set out in the application guide, application form and rules for the FOLAS, which can be downloaded from the HAD's dedicated website on building management. OCs may submit their applications to the District Building Management Liaison Teams from October 2 onwards. To learn more about the FOLAS, please contact the District Building Management Liaison Team of the respective District Offices.
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