Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities today announced the launch of five pilot projects in Qianhai that will adopt Hong Kong’s New Engineering Contract (NEC) form or the Smart Site Safety System (4S).
The announcement was made by the Development Bureau (DEVB), the Department of Housing & Urban-Rural Development of Guangdong Province, and the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Co-operation Zone of Shenzhen Municipality.
The launch ceremony of the Qianhai NEC and 4S pilot projects was held at the NEC Forum for Project Leaders.
Of the five projects, the “11th Road Space Redevelopment Project” and “Guiwan Three Innovation Corridor, Guiwan Three Hub East Corridor & Tinghai Qianwan Four Corridor Project” will adopt the NEC form to optimise their contract management systems.
With the aim of strengthening digital safety supervision, the three 4S projects include the “Tonggang Street (Mawan Second Road to Mawan Avenue) Road & Utility Corridor Project”, “Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Plaza Project (Phase 1) – Trading Plaza Section & Jingxing Jilang Section”, and “Mawan First Development Area 01 Plot East Tower Project”.
The NEC form has been applied to over 850 public works projects in Hong Kong, with a total contract value exceeding $550 billion, since it was introduced in 2009.
Other public organisations, such as the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the MTR Corporation, have also adopted the NEC form.
To promote the use of 4S, the DEVB, in collaboration with the Construction Industry Council, launched a labelling scheme to award a label to construction sites that have been inspected on-site and assessed as having properly applied the 4S.
To date, over 800 public and private projects have received such labels. Following the 4S adoption, the overall accident rate in the construction industry has been reduced by about 20%.
