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The complex nature of multi-ownership, multi-storey buildings requires the services of property management companies (PMCs). Naturally, homeowners favor PMCs with good performance. Yet, their performances vary. The purpose of this paper is to measure the performance of PMCs in managing high-rise flats using the logic model as the contextual framework with its indicators adapted from the building quality index (BQI) scheme.

For this pilot study, the research was based on visual inspection and interviews with building management staff for the information concerning the output and outcome indicators. The authors also tested the relationship between outcomes and outputs and other factors that affect the performance of PMCs.

Based on our pilot study of 41 high-rise residential buildings, the performance outcomes of the PMCs varied considerably. The same PMC was likely to yield different performance outcomes due to unique building characteristics. The outputs, building ages and rehabilitation statuses of the buildings were the contributing factors to the PMCs’ performance outcomes.

The performance outcomes of the logic model can help homeowners and PMCs understand current PMC performance, which can help trigger the development of a strategy to enhance the health and safety of residential buildings in the future.

Unlike traditional performance measurements that use financial figures or balanced scorecards to measure organizational performance, the authors used the logic model performance measurement system because the performance outcomes of the PMCs were explicitly reflected in the physical building conditions. This framework was relatively straightforward and could be applied to cities dominated by multi-ownership, multi-storey apartments.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Coasian interpretation of a model of sustainable development for Hong Kong that incorporates three segments, namely economy, society, and environment.

The approach is analytical, using concepts of property rights informed by Coasian neo‐institutional economics and Yu's ideas on the Schumpeterian process in innovation.

First, the sustainable development criteria must be non‐dictatorial, decentralized, and compatible with market economics. The emphasis is contractarian rather than legislative or administrative. Second, the essence of segment cooperation is to create a win‐win situation rather than an “integrated” rent seeking game, which will likely result in more values being created. Third, the requirement that it be progressive over time implies that programs and policies that are duplicative need to be avoided, and innovations are to be encouraged. Fourth, the requirement of satisfying only two aspects of the three segments of cooperation implies a less stringent standard of making stepwise improvements, and thus makes entrepreneurial efforts more likely. Last, the three segments of cooperation, if practiced simultaneously and improved over time, can achieve most, if not all, the principles in the Rio Declaration without aiming at a specific principle in the Declaration.

This paper should focus on a “win‐win” rather than a mutually exploitative approach to public participation in sustainable development promotion.

This paper should assist policymakers and politicians in understanding how sustainable development may be conceptually modelled.

The paper is the first paper that defines for Hong Kong a model of sustainable development on the basis of Coasian economics, and contrasts it with other proposed models.

This paper aims to identify the factors that affect facilities management (FM) service outsourcing.

Five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted for this study. A total of 25 professional FM managers were invited to participate in the FGDs. The qualitative data collected from the FGDs were analysed with the coding method.

FM managers commonly regard that tight budget constraints and the absence of strategic planning are two important factors that affect FM service outsourcing. Tight budget constraints reflect that clients control their service providers by constraining budgets, which creates a series of inefficiencies in the outsourcing process and thus lead to adverse outsourcing relationships. A series of strategies are recommended to deal with the challenges posed by budget constraints and the lack strategic planning.

Twenty-five Hong Kong-based FM managers were interviewed for this study. The empirical data collected mainly reflects FM service outsourcing in Hong Kong. It is important to test the findings with a bigger group of FM managers from other regions.

The managerial significance of FM service outsourcing has not yet been valued in practice. This study draws academic attention to FM service outsourcing practice and provides practical opinions from FM managers. Also, this study adopts the FGD method in data collection, which extracts to a maximum degree of authentic opinions from practitioners.

This paper aims to propose a space-oriented solution as an interface enabling the knowledge transfer between the building and the facilities management (FM) industry.

The research gap is explored based on practical investigations in six large-scale hospitals in China. The theory of engineering systems integration inspires the proposed solution. A practical scenario is demonstrated to explain the workflow of this solution.

It is founded that lagging information updates of FM systems in hospital project are one of the main reasons for inefficient and costly FM workflow. Building information modelling (BIM) model could provide accurate building information to the FM systems at the building handover stage. However, few researchers focus on the continuous information transfer solution from the BIM model to FM systems during the building in-use phase. An interface should be established for the “conversation” between the frequent changes of building and the FM systems in the post-construction period.

The information updates in three FM systems due to space changes in a hospital project is considered as a practical scenario in this paper. It is presented with the workflow and the data logic chain.

The originality of this paper is to propose a solution to integrate the space information provided by the BIM model with the parameters of particular FM systems. This solution deploys a BIM model for the FM industry. The solution could allow the FM personnel to ease operations and maintenance workflow by updating the space information in the BIM model.

Despite extensive use and ever‐increasing enthusiasm in the West, benchmarking for facilities management (FM) in the Asia Pacific region is only fledgling. The austere economic situation and fierce business competition after the Asian economic crisis of 1997, has made more companies realize that it is not only profit, but also cost‐effectiveness and the leap‐frog pattern of improvement in performance which are crucial for survival. Benchmarking is reconsidered in this context. This 1998 research project investigates the perception and current practice of FM benchmarking metrics in the region. Through critical review of the current FM benchmarking, improvement in the process will be identified. The study on the preference and use of individual metrics can be used as a guideline for the development of standard benchmarking metrics list for companies in the region.

Identifies and discusses the problems involved in maintaining Hong Kong′s older buildings: deficiencies in existing legislation, organizational difficulties, lack of public awareness, and manpower shortages. Concludes that public education about maintenance is the best long‐term solution, while in the short term rationalization of manpower and changes to legislation are needed to ease the burden to the Government.

Facilities management (FM) activities affect citizens’ health and safety, long-term urban environmental sustainability and the relationships between the built and natural environments of cities. This study aims to comprehend the status of smart FM tools application, how they are used to improve the delivery of FM services and the barriers to their implementation.

To investigate the current smart solutions that leverage the quality of FM service, a case study based on the FM practice in Hong Kong was carried out. The case study was conducted in two phases of data acquisition based on a qualitative research methodology. After conducting in-depth interviews to determine the application of smart FM tools in different types of properties and to identify the initiatives and barriers to smart FM tool application, three workshops were conducted to validate the findings and further investigate the influence of FM professionals on smart FM tools application in Hong Kong.

The findings of the case study revealed, firstly, that four types of smart FM tools – user-centric, safety and hygiene, maintenance and sustainability-oriented – are used to assist the delivery of FM services. Secondly, smart FM tools are shown to be useful in assisting FM activities. Thirdly, the existing barriers to smart FM tool application manifest differently in shopping malls, office buildings and residential buildings. Fourthly, smart FM tools are used to address the four attributes of user needs: comfort, health and wellbeing, convenience and information to occupants.

The value of this study lies in its focus on the industry level (FM industry) and the application process of smart FM tools in different types of property, revealing the benefits, initiatives and barriers to their future application. This study provides a comprehensive picture of the current status and elaborates the barriers to smart FM tool application, which will help FM practitioners to make strategic decisions on selecting and developing smart FM tools. Also, this study will facilitate smart FM tool application policy development.

The purpose of paper is to investigate the institutional features of the leasehold system of Hong Kong, which is predicated on the freedom of contract as an institutional arrangement for land management and planning that promotes sustainable development.

The approach is analytical, using concepts of property rights informed by Coasian neo‐institutional economics and the ideas of Yu et al. on the Schumpeterian process in innovation.

It was demonstrated that the post‐contractual imposition of statutory planning control on the leasehold land management system in Hong Kong has adversely affected and adaptability of the leasehold system in achieving sustainability.

This paper encourages a reinterpretation of statutory zoning in areas with a leasehold system and the reception of the land lease as a basis for innovations that help promote sustainable development.

This paper warns against legislative activism in planning controls as that can destroy or erode the basis for innovations that help promote sustainable development.

Using the idea of innovations of Yu et al. and Lai and Lorne, this paper further develops Lai theory of “planning by contract” as an alternative to “planning by edict”.

Extending the ground works of Ho (1993), Baldwin (1994), Walters and Hastings (1998a, 1998b) on property management in Hong Kong, this short paper documents the context[1] of research on illegal structures, explains the incentive for building illegal structures on government land and private property and discusses the significance of illegal structures for the proprietor and the property manager, as well as the relevant legislative provisions and policies.