Hong Kong can adopt mainland building material standards to cut costs, experts say

Hong Kong could adopt mainland Chinese standards for construction materials, rather than use European benchmarks, to help reduce building costs that are the highest in Asia, industry leaders have said.

Godfrey Leung King-kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Construction Association, said on Sunday the requirement to follow British and European Union standards for most local construction projects had driven up material costs due to increased transport fees for items mainly sourced from overseas.

“Using standards from China could help reduce costs,” he said.

The International Construction Cost Index showed Hong Kong ranked ninth globally in 2024. The city was among the top three most expensive in the world from 2016 to 2020.

Last year’s ranking, which was compiled by consultancy firm Arcadis, also found the city had the most expensive construction costs in Asia.

Leung explained that even if builders were approved to use mainland-standard materials for a project, they currently needed to apply again to use the same items for another project. But such measures did not apply to materials that met British or European standards, he added.