Architects Registration Board, HKSAR (“ARB”), is invited by the Building Authority (“BA”) to nominate 3 Registered Architects (“RAs”) for BA’s consideration for appointment to the Geotechnical Engineers Registration Committee (“GERC”) Panel and GERC to assist him in considering applications for inclusion in the geotechnical engineers’ register. The tenure of appointment will be 2 years commencing 1 January 2022.
The functions and composition of the GERC are listed in Appendix A for your easy reference.
Criteria as set by the BD
The nominees should satisfy the following criteria:
| a. | MUST be an Authorized Person; |
| b. | Must NOT be a member of the Authorized Persons’, Registered Structural Engineers’ and Registered Geotechnical Engineers’ Disciplinary Board Panel; |
| c. | Should be an experienced practitioner in the construction industry; |
| d. | Should be available for attending the GERC meetings which may be held once or twice a month; |
| e. | Should NOT be serving more than 6 government boards or committees concurrently (including the proposed nomination to serve on the GERC); |
| f. | Should NOT be a government officer; |
| g. | Younger person where appropriate is preferred; and |
| h. | Should NOT have sat in the GERC Panel for more than 4 consecutive years by end of December 2021. |
ARB’s Recommendation
ARB regards that GERC is an important external representation and prefers the nominees to possess at least 15-year RA experiences.
Points to Note
| 1. | ARB would consider gender balance in participation and contribution to community service as suggested by the Buildings Department. |
| 2. | An honorarium will be given to GERC members to reimburse the travel, out of pocket and related expenses incurred by serving the GERC. They are taxable income and are reflected in the annual tax return to Inland Revenue Department. Currently, the remuneration is HK$1,040 per meeting. |
| 3. | Reference should be made to the guidelines on declaration of interests by GERC members as recommended by ICAC. Please refer to Appendix B for details. |
| 4. | GERC is a public body under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (PBO). GERC members are therefore public servants and have to abide by the relevant clauses in the PBO. |
| 5. | Information about the appointed members and meetings may be disclosed to the public without necessarily obtaining GERC members’ prior consents. Please refer to Appendix C for details. Mailing list of APRC members will be sent to the Secretary for Home Affairs (SHA) for him to invite GERC members to provide their personal particulars which will be stored in the Central Personality Index database keeping by the SHA. |
| 6. | An undertaking letter at Appendix D for the potential candidates’ advance information of the need to hold information in confidence, to declare conflict of interest and to inform the BA when they become no longer suitable to be appointed. The undertaking letter will only be required to be signed and returned to the BA before appointment. |
Expression of Interest of Being Nominated
For the RA who would like to put forward his/her nomination, please provide the following documents to ARB for consideration by fax (No.2519 6011) or by email (arbsec@arb.org.hk) by 19 August 2021:
- BD’s designated nomination form at Appendix E;
- An up-to-date CV; and
- ARB’s designated declaration and nomination form at Appendix F
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours faithfully,
Queenie WONG (Ms)
Registrar
Enc: Appendices
