Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme on Built Heritage ("FAS")

Objective

To help preserve historic buildings from deterioration due to lack of maintenance, by providing financial assistance in form of grants to the owners of privately-owned graded historic buildings and tenants, who are Non-profit-making organisations ("NPOs"), of Government-owned declared monuments and graded historic buildings for them to carry out minor maintenance works by themselves.

Amount of Grant

The amount of grant for each application will be determined based on the justifications provided by the applicant. The maximum amount of grant for each successful application is HK$6 million inclusive of both the consultancy fee and costs of the maintenance works.

Eligibility

Owners of privately-owned graded historic buildings and tenants, who are NPOs, of Government-owned declared monuments and graded historic buildings can apply for the grant under FAS. A list of the current declared monuments and graded historic buildings can be obtained from the following links:-

https://www.amo.gov.hk/en/historic-buildings/monuments/index.html
https://www.aab.gov.hk/en/historic-buildings/results-of-the-assessment/index.html

Mode of Operation

The applicants are required to refer to the Guide to Application, which can be obtained under the page "Application Arrangement", for details about FAS. The key points on the mode of operation of FAS are set out as follows:

• The Government will only provide financial support in form of grants and owners of historic buildings or NPO tenants, who have entered into tenancy agreement with the Government and are registered as a Non-profit-making organisation with charitable status under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap.112) will carry out the maintenance works by themselves.
• As pre-requisites for accepting the grants, owners of privately-owned graded historic buildings are required to agree to a number of conditions, including not to demolish their buildings, not to transfer the ownership of their buildings and to allow reasonable public access to their buildings for appreciation within an agreed period of time after completion of the maintenance works and (as the case may be) during the implementation of the maintenance works. For Government-owned declared monument and graded historic buildings, NPO tenants are required to agree to a number of conditions, including to allow reasonable public access to the declared monuments and graded historic buildings for appreciation after the completion of the maintenance works, to complete the maintenance works and to pay in full the costs for the maintenance works and submit applications for payment reimbursement within the term of the tenancy agreement.
• Selection of applications will be carried out by a Vetting Panel comprising representatives from Commissioner for Heritage's Office, Antiquities and Monuments Office and Architectural Services Department. Selection of applications will be based on a number of criteria including need for the proposed maintenance works, degree of public access allowed, benefits of the maintenance works to the community, etc.
• Due to limited resources, applications may be subject to prioritisation based on factors such as heritage value of the buildings, urgency of the maintenance works, timing of submissions, etc.
• Upon obtaining approval for Stage 1 application from Commissioner for Heritage's Office, building owner or NPO tenant can proceed with the selection of a consultant through a tendering exercise for provision of consultancy services for the maintenance works of the declared monument and graded historic building. The appointed consultant shall assist the building owner or NPO tenant to conduct a technical assessment on the historic buildings and provide a conservation proposal for the maintenance works for submission in the Stage 2 application.
• For each successful application, the Government will determine the amount of the grant and other specific conditions for receiving the grant.
• For the purpose of monitoring the maintenance works, Grantee are required to submit reports and to allow government representatives to inspect the maintenance works during their execution and after completion.
• The Grantee of FAS is required to submit a report annually within the 10-year period or the Specific Period as defined in the Agreement / Application Form after completion of the maintenance works to demonstrate the pre-requisites and other agreed conditions applicable to a specific application have been duly complied.
• The payment will be made on a reimbursement basis. Subject to conditions, the Grantee can apply for interim payment, together with supporting documents such as bills, invoices, cash memos and receipts duly certified by the Grantee and submit for processing. All reimbursement applications must be made within 2-year period starting from the date of practical completion of the works. Late submission will not be accepted.

Download

Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme on Built Heritage Pamphlet

Enquiries

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