Volume Certification of a Portfolio of Existing Properties

Terms and Conditions for Applying the Volume Certification Discounts
(Revision 1 – Changes are highlighted in yellow)

1. The discount is offered to any portfolio of properties that share common characteristics (e.g. management policy, management system, etc.) and thus are suitable for applying streamlined BEAM Plus assessment mechanism in BEAM Society Limited (BSL), namely the portfolio assessment mechanism or the pre-approved credit mechanism. Initial consultation with BSL is required to confirm the eligibility.
2. Definition of “property” shall be as follows: A property would mean a building / a group of buildings that are managed by the same management office. For example, if all buildings within an estate are managed by the same management office, they are regarded as one property. However, if the buildings are separated into several phases and they are managed by different management offices, they can be regarded as different properties.
3. Definition of “portfolio” shall be as follows: All properties within the portfolio shall be managed by the same property management company, or they shall be owned by the same owner (or owned by subsidiaries under the same parent company).
4. The discount is applicable to bulk registration of the whole portfolio of properties at the same time.
5. The same EB Scheme shall be selected for all properties within a portfolio. For example, all properties shall be registered to join either Selective Scheme or Comprehensive Scheme.
6. If Selective Scheme is selected, the same aspect (e.g. MAN) shall be selected for all properties within a portfolio.
7. Progressive registration of properties under the same portfolio within the 3-year promotion period is allowed so that the number of properties can be accumulated. At the time of first registration, the Applicant should inform HKGBC whether it intends to build up the portfolio progressively. If yes, the target final number of properties (i.e. the estimated maximum quantity of properties to be registered) should be indicated. In the initial stage of registration, the number of properties must reach or exceed the minimum threshold of 4 properties as shown in Table 1. When registration is progressively done, the initial number of properties may be smaller and as a result, the discount for the initial batch may be lesser according to Table 1. When the portfolio is finally built up or at the end of the 3-year promotion period (whichever is earlier), the registration fee to be charged to the Applicant would be finalised based on the total number of properties registered. Any necessary adjustment to previous fee collected would be made, with refund arranged accordingly.
   Illustrative examples are given below:
   Scenario One
   Assume EB Selective Scheme is used. The whole portfolio consists of 16 properties. All these 16 properties are registered in one go. They can enjoy a rate of $2,900 per property by referencing the discount table (Table 1).
   Scenario Two
   Assume EB Selective Scheme is used. The whole portfolio will consist of 16 properties. The client builds up the portfolio in two stages. In the first stage, only 8 properties are registered. These 8 properties should each pay a fee of $4,500 by referencing the discount table (Table 1). In a subsequent stage, 8 more properties are added. The cumulative total number of properties has reached 16, so these 8 properties can enjoy a lower rate at $2,900 (Table 1). Since the registration fee paid for the first batch of 8 properties is higher than the second batch, HKGBC would refund an amount of $1,600 per property for the first batch after the portfolio building process is completed.
   
8. Since the above discount is of a higher order of magnitude, they cannot be applied in conjunction with other discounts such as the discount for charitable organisations, the discount for Patron Members, the discount for EB certification before expiry of NB certificate and/or the discount for EB recertification before expiry of an old EB certificate.
9. When the above discount is used, no free plaque will be offered by HKGBC. Instead, paper certificate will be adopted. However, each property can still purchase plaque(s) from HKGBC at the unit rate published on HKGBC website.
10. One certificate will be issued either for the whole portfolio, or for each batch if the portfolio is registered by batches. The names of all the properties and their assessment result will be shown on the certificate.
11. If the client wants to have a promotion package for each of the constituent estates/buildings, an additional fee of $500 shall be charged for each package to cover the production cost. The Secretariat will produce a dedicated certificate together with a set of stickers/posters for the concerned estate/building. Two examples are given below.
    Example One
    A portfolio consists of Estate A, Estate B and Estate C. The client wants to have a promotion package for each of the estates. Additional fee of $500 per estate, or $1,500 in total shall be charged.
    Example Two
    Estate A is a constituent within a portfolio. Estate A wishes to have a promotion package for each of its buildings, and this estate has 8 buildings. Additional fee of $500 per building, or $4,000 in total shall be charged.
12. One BEAM Plus On-line Project Account will be opened for each portfolio at the completion of the portfolio certification process. If the portfolio is registered by batches, one Account will be opened for each batch when the certification of the batch is finished.
13. If certain properties are withdrawn from the portfolio/batch in the middle of the certification process, the Secretariat reserves the right to re-calculate the registration fee based on the revised number of properties. The Applicant shall then pay any necessary top-up fee.