Press
Release
Directors liable for repeated noise offences committed by bodies
corporate
The new provisions of
the Noise Control Ordinance holding the management of bodies corporate
personally liable for repeated noise offences came into effect today
(October 8).
The date of commencement of these new provisions was set by the
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works by notice in
Gazette on April 26, 2004.
These provisions state explicitly that where a noise offence has
been committed by a body corporate, the management of the body corporate
shall be guilty of the like offence when the body corporate commits
a further offence at the same place, a spokesman for the Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) said.
The management of the body corporate means a director or his delegated
officers concerned in the management of the body corporate.
"It is the legislative intent to hold those involved in daily management
of a body corporate personally liable for repeated offences committed
by the body corporate.
"The new provisions are to promote changes in corporate management
philosophy with regard to environmental law compliance, and to prevent
violation," the spokesman said.
A body corporate does not include any corporation registered under
the Building Management Ordinance such as Incorporated Owners. Directors
who hold non-executive posts and are not concerned with the corporate
management will not be held liable.
The directors concerned will receive warning notices from the EPD
before they are held liable for any further noise offence committed
by their bodies corporate. Each warning notice will be valid for
two years.
A defence to a charge is available to the management if it has taken
reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to prevent the
commission of the offence by its body corporate. However, this defence
is not available to offences related to construction activities
without valid construction noise permits.
Under the new provisions, the authority may issue codes of practice
to provide general guidance to industry on good management practices
to prevent violation of the Noise Control Ordinance. Two codes of
practice on good management practices, one for construction industry
and the other for industrial/commercial operations, were gazetted
today.
The codes of practice and an information note briefly explaining
the new provisions are available on the EPD website at www.epd.gov.hk.
Further enquiries on the new provisions can be made by calling 2594
6565.
Ends/Friday, October 8, 2004
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