By Felix Kong｜Licensed Insurance Agent
Looper Insurance Agency Limited (GA1034)
Published: 2026-08-31｜Last updated: 2026-08-31

The envelope says Buildings Department, and inside is a statutory notice. The Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS) both operate under the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123), and once the notice is served the clock starts running. Attention usually goes to quotations and cost sharing, but over the same period the insurance position changes three times: the day the scaffolding goes up, the day the works begin, and the day the renewal form is filled in. This guide walks that sequence: what the corporation's statutory policy covers, which two certificates to collect from the contractor, and what happens to an owner's fire policy.

Table of Contents

1. The timetable the notice sets

2. The statutory cover: a floor, not a plan

3. The moment the scaffolding goes up

4. Two certificates from the contractor

5. The individual owner's fire policy

6. Non-compliance and your insurance

7. A checklist for the corporation

8. FAQ

1. The timetable the notice sets

MBIS applies to private buildings aged 30 years or above and MWIS to those aged 10 years or above, both excluding domestic buildings of three storeys or fewer. The notice is a legal document with fixed deadlines:

Once an MBIS notice has been complied with, the Building Authority may not serve a fresh notice on the same part of the building within ten years of that notice. For window inspection the interval is five years. The next notice is a decade away, and the condition of the external wall in between is the owners' own exposure. Nor do the deadlines move because the corporation has yet to hold a general meeting. The months above follow the Buildings Department time frame pages for the two schemes, but the operative date is the one printed on the notice in your hand.

2. The statutory cover: a floor, not a plan

Under section 28 of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) and the Building Management (Third Party Risks Insurance) Regulation (Cap. 344B), every owners' corporation has been required since 1 January 2011 to procure and keep in force third party risks insurance for the common parts and the property of the corporation, with cover of not less than HKD 10,000,000 in respect of any one event. The requirement is directed at death of, or bodily injury to, third parties. If the corporation fails to insure, every member of the management committee commits an offence carrying a fine of up to HKD 50,000. The secretary must also notify the Land Registry of the insurer's name and address and the period of cover within 28 days of the policy taking effect.

Here is the detail that catches many corporations out. The statutory HKD 10 million is for death and bodily injury; property damage sits outside it. Where a corporation holds a single combined limit of HKD 10 million for both and the policy does not state that it will first provide no less than HKD 10 million for third party death and bodily injury claims, the Community Legal Information Centre reading of the requirement is that the corporation has to take out a further policy or amend the existing one. On paper the limit reads as ten million. In law it may not satisfy the requirement.

3. The moment the scaffolding goes up

A prescribed inspection calls for close examination of external walls, projections and signboards, which in practice means scaffolding or a gondola. That is not yet repair work, but the scaffold, the tools, falling render and a rerouted pedestrian path are already third party exposures.

The checklist the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers supplies for owners' corporations lists what an insurer may ask for when the third party risks policy is placed: whether there is a building maintenance plan, with details if there is, whether any repair order issued by the Buildings Department remains outstanding, whether anything is attached to the external walls, whether there are unauthorised structures or alteration works, and the claims record of the past five years. A mandatory building inspection notice touches two of those items at once. Placing or renewing cover without disclosing it leaves an argument waiting at the claim stage.

Where a policy requires notice of any material change of risk, scaffolding and a major renovation are the textbook example. Notify the scope and dates in writing, and file the reply.

4. Two certificates from the contractor

Prescribed repair must be carried out by a registered contractor under the supervision of the registered inspector. Before anyone lifts a hammer, the corporation needs copies of two policies, not a verbal assurance.

Under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), primary responsibility for an injured worker rests with the employer, which is the contractor. Failure to insure as required by section 40 is a criminal offence carrying a fine of up to HKD 100,000 and two years' imprisonment. Building maintenance is often sub-let several layers deep, and where the actual employer has no valid EC cover the claim travels up the sub-contracting chain, where the principal contractor and the owners' corporation sit.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in November 2025 broke out while the estate was undergoing major maintenance works, and the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers afterwards set out the insurance coverage and claims arrangement for the incident, including a dedicated enquiry hotline and expedited, simplified claims handling.

5. The individual owner's fire policy

Not every notice lands on the corporation. Where it targets individual premises, the windows, balcony, canopy or air conditioner brackets of your own flat, the duty and the deadline are yours. Three points matter while the works run.

Notification. Whether it is the fire policy the bank requires or a home policy you bought yourself, substantial repair work normally has to be notified in advance. Where it was not, the insurer has grounds to question the basis of cover after a loss.

Unoccupancy. Some fire policies provide that cover ceases once the premises have stood unoccupied beyond a stated number of days, commonly thirty. Moving out for a large job walks straight into that condition.

Underinsurance. Fire cover is written on a reinstatement basis, and after new windows and waterproofing the reinstatement cost is no longer what it was. Policies usually carry an average condition, so a sum insured below the real cost lets the claim be reduced proportionally. If you engage a tradesman directly, ask for his EC and third party liability policies too.

6. Non-compliance and your insurance

Leave it long enough and the Buildings Department can arrange the inspection and repair itself, recover the cost and supervision charges, and add a surcharge of up to 20 per cent. The Development Bureau consulted in December 2024 on amending the Buildings Ordinance, noting a compliance rate of only about 40 per cent for MBIS notices involving common parts and proposing to raise the maximum fine for notices on external walls and projections to HKD 200,000 and for window notices to HKD 100,000. Those remain proposals; until the law is amended the table above applies.

There is a second consequence that gets far less discussion. An outstanding statutory notice is itself a disclosable fact when insurance is placed. A repair order left unattended appears on the renewal questionnaire and can affect the underwriting decision, the premium and the terms. Waiting it out costs more than the fine.

7. A checklist for the corporation

1. Put the three dates in the committee minutes: five, nine and twenty four months from the date of the notice.

2. Confirm the statutory policy carries at least HKD 10,000,000 for death and bodily injury per event, and check whether that limit is shared with property damage.

3. Check the corporation's own technicians and watchmen against a current Employees' Compensation policy.

4. Notify the insurer in writing before inspection and repair start, and file the confirmation.

5. Read the contractor's CAR and EC policies yourself: dates, sums insured, principal clause, sub-contractor extension.

6. Collect the registered inspector's professional indemnity certificate.

When we go through policies with corporations, three things come up again and again: a statutory policy on a combined limit with no order of payment stated, a renovation the insurer was never told about, and a CAR policy that expires before the works do. None of it appears on a quotation. You see it in the schedule.

FAQ

Q: How long do I have after a mandatory building inspection notice?

A: Everything runs from the date of the notice. For common parts, appoint a registered inspector within 5 months, complete the inspection within 9 months and the repair within 24 months. For individual premises the periods are 3, 6 and 12 months. Under the window scheme, private premises have 6 months and common parts 9 months.

Q: How much third party cover must an owners' corporation buy?

A: Section 28 of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) and the Building Management (Third Party Risks Insurance) Regulation (Cap. 344B) require not less than HKD 10,000,000 for any one event, for death of or bodily injury to third parties. Property damage sits outside that, and a policy combining both into one HKD 10 million limit with no order of payment stated may not satisfy it.

Q: If something goes wrong during the works, does the contractor pay or does the corporation?

A: Both can be pursued. Third party loss caused by the works is normally met by Section II of the contractor's CAR policy, and an injured worker by the contractor's EC policy. But the corporation is the occupier of the common parts, and under the Occupiers Liability Ordinance (Cap. 314) it owes visitors a common duty of care, so its own policy is drawn in too. Add it to the CAR policy by principal clause before work starts.

Q: Who is penalised if the statutory third party cover is missing?

A: Every member of the management committee, with a fine of up to HKD 50,000. A member has a defence if he can show the offence happened without his consent or connivance and that he did what he could to have the insurance effected. The secretary must also notify the Land Registry of the insurer and the period of cover within 28 days of the policy taking effect.

Q: External wall works are under way at my building. Is my home policy still good?

A: Ask the insurer. Works are a change in the nature of the risk, which most policies require you to notify in advance, and some fire policies also provide that cover ceases after the premises have stood unoccupied beyond a stated number of days, commonly thirty. Notify in writing before work starts, keep the reply, and revalue afterwards.

Next step

After the notice arrives, the useful first move is not to raise a limit. It is to check three things: how the statutory third party limit is structured, the dates and named insureds on the contractor's CAR and EC policies, and the notification condition and sum insured on the owner's fire cover. Send us the policies, schedules and works contract and we will go through them with you.

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Free Quote

Looper Insurance Agency Limited (GA1034) offers a free policy check and quotations for third party risks, Employees' Compensation, Contractors' All Risks and fire cover.
Tel: 2633 6813
Email: cs@looperin.com
Website: www.looperin.com

Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute insurance or legal advice. The deadlines and penalties are taken from the Buildings Department pages for the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (time frame, and owners' liabilities), section 28 of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) with the Building Management (Third Party Risks Insurance) Regulation (Cap. 344B), section 40 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), and the Development Bureau consultation paper of December 2024 on amending the Buildings Ordinance. The legislation itself and current Buildings Department guidance prevail. Actual coverage is subject to policy terms. For legal advice, consult a solicitor.