The Public Health & Municipal Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 will come into effect on Sunday, strengthening the statutory power of the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to deal with various environmental hygiene problems.

The move will enable the department to handle problems such as water seepage in buildings, water dripping from air conditioners, the occupation of public places by miscellaneous articles, shopfront extensions, and so on, more effectively.

With the amendment ordinance, the hours public officers are allowed to enter premises to deal with public health nuisances, such as water seepage in buildings and water dripping from air conditioners, are now extended to between 7am and 10pm.

Failing to allow a public officer to enter the premises within 14 days after the issuance or attachment of the Notice of Intended Entry by the department without reasonable excuse is an offence.

The FEHD can also issue a Notice of Elimination of Vermin to a person responsible for the management of the premises such as owners' corporations and property management companies, regarding the common parts of the premises, allowing timely handling of vermin in common parts of a building.

In cases where the FEHD conducts vermin disinfestation work for infested premises without serving a vermin elimination notice, it may recover the expense incurred from the responsible person of the premises concerned. The department can also place devices and equipment in vermin-infested premises for conducting tests or assessing vermin proliferation.

As for the occupation of public places by miscellaneous articles causing obstruction to scavenging operations, the ordinance shortens the removal time to a period of no less than 30 minutes. The FEHD can exercise discretion by setting a reasonably longer time according to the circumstances.

Enforcement officers are also empowered to remove and dispose of display equipment like easy-mount frames, apart from bills or posters.

Additionally, the ordinance introduces an offence targeting shopfront extensions in the Public Health & Municipal Services Ordinance, empowering the FEHD to remove the obstructing articles constituting unlawful shopfront extensions without reliance on police power.

In cases where no claim is made for the article not of a perishable nature within seven days after the exercise of the power of removal, or within 48 hours for the article of perishable nature, the article will be forfeited.

Click here for more details about the ordinance, including the penalties for its violations such as non-compliance with designated notices and obstruction to scavenging operations.