Why ISO 14001 Certified? Answers from those who were certified

NGO KEE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LTD.

Introduction

Ngo Kee Construction Company Ltd. (Ngo Kee) is one of the members of the publicly listed New World Services Holdings Ltd. (HK Stock Code: 0659), specialised in design and construction of building and civil construction projects in Hong Kong. Ngo Kee was found in China in 1923 and established in Hong Kong in 1948.Ngo Kee is one of the leading building contractors in Hong Kong and undertaking a wide variety of projects including major public housing projects, large-scale residential development projects and office development projects

Ngo Kee obtained ISO 14001:1996 certification in July 2003 and ISO14001:2004 in March 2005.Ngo Kee is the first building construction company awarded with ISO14001:2004 certificate by HKQAA.

Reasons for Implementing ISO 14001

As one of the leading construction companies in Hong Kong, Ngo Kee has long recognised that the activities of the construction industry have the potential to have a significant effect on the environment. With extensive effort on development and implementation of Environmental Management System based on the ISO 14001 standard requirements, it is paid back by the significant minimization of environmental impact of the company's operations.

Today, environmental management is firmly integrated within the company’s management and reporting systems. Ngo Kee’s Integrated Management System has also been certified by HKQAA since August 2003.We will continuously improve our environmental performance and enable our operations to be in line with our company's mission and the spirit of Integrated Management.

Benefits of ISO 14001 Certification

The formal certification of environmental management system according to ISO14001 is beneficial to our company in following aspects:

1. The Environmental Management System could act as a framework for implementing of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle in our company as well as the project sites.Environmental aspects would be identified in the planning stage as well as statutory compliance and contract requirements.Budget and resources would be carefully planned, hence cost for extra labour and time can be greatly reduced because any problems anticipated can be tackled at the construction design stage.
2. The implementation of the ISO 14001 could never succeed without strong commitment from top management and involvement from staff at all levels, including subcontractors and suppliers. Green and environmentally friendly image of our company could help enhancing client's credibility and public reputation.
3. With better environmental awareness of the frontline staff, the environmental performance could be greatly improved, hence, statutory compliance could be ensures.Clean record of environmental conviction could be an advantage for tender competition.
4. Continual improvement is one of the key issues in an ISO14001 Environmental Management System Programme.Therefore, it enables the company as well as the project sites to develop their own objectives and targets for continuous improvement. In such a way that more innovative ideas at the operational levels, especially in the areas of resources conservation and waste reduction could be stimulated.
5. All of the above add values to our process control and management, hence the cost-effectiveness in our operations could be enhanced.

Kenneth Mok
Quensh Manager and Director