As a further step to fight against the pandemic, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Hong Kong Construction Association (HKCA) jointly launched the first phase of “Construction Industry COVID-19 Testing Service Scheme” on 22 December 2020 with the support from the Development Bureau of the HKSAR Government. In the first phase, the CIC and the HKCA shared part of the service expenses, whereas a testing fee of HK$150 per person is required from developers / main contractors, so as to provide the nucleic acid COVID-19 testing services to frontline workers and site staff who voluntarily joined the Scheme, with a view to saving time and resources to collect and return the specimen, facilitating mass testing to ensure workers’ safety and health, as well as protecting their families. “Construction Industry COVID-19 Testing Service Scheme 2.0” was launched upon the completion of the first phase. The CIC and the HKCA share part of the testing expenditures whilst the Government further provides subsidies to the successful applications from private works projects, which means developers for both public and private works projects / main contractors are not required to pay any testing fee for participating workers and site staff. The abovementioned Scheme will end on 17 April 2021, and it is estimated that about 176 construction sites with about 47,000 site staff will be tested.
Services |
Service Period |
On-site testing services for larger construction sites (e.g. sites with 100 site staff or above) | From 15 March to 17 April 2021 |
Distribution and collection services of deep throat saliva specimen collection packs for smaller construction sites (e.g. sites with 1-99 site staff) | March and April 2021 |
Distribution and collection services of deep throat saliva specimen collection packs for 1,350 construction sites in Hong Kong | From 1 May to 15 June 2021 |
All three services will be subsidised by the CIC, the HKCA and the Development Bureau, which are free of charge. The decisions of the CIC and the HKCA shall be final.
A one-off on-site testing service will be provided to the workers and site staff who voluntarily join the Scheme. The CIC and the HKCA will share part of the testing expenditures; in addition to the subsidies provided to public works projects, the Government will further subsidise the successful applications from private works projects, which means developers for private works projects / main contractors are not required to pay any testing fee for the participating workers and site staff.
For any construction site interested in participating in this Scheme, its main contractor should complete the following application form and submit via email (email address: CITS@cic.hk) for arrangement of related services. The deadline for application is 31 March 2021.
APPLICATION FORM (Chinese version only)
Healthcare professionals will take specimen by combined nasal and throat swab (“CNTS”) method on site. Please refer to the following information for procedures of deep throat saliva collection provided by the Centre for Health Protection of the DH and Information Service Department of the HKSAR Government:
PROCEDURE FOR COLLECTING COMBINED NASAL AND THROAT SWABS
Since on-site testing services require sufficient space to set up mobile specimen collection stations which may not be applicable to smaller construction sites, the CIC, the HKCA and the Development Bureau will provide approx. 40,000 free deep throat saliva specimen collection packs (per month) to these small construction sites in March and April, as well as coordinate the distribution and collection services, offering free testing to the workers and site staff.
For any construction site that is interested in participating in this Scheme, please contact its respective associations.
Associations |
Contact Number |
Hong Kong Construction Association | 2572 4414 |
Hong Kong General Building Contractors Association | 2507 5088 |
The Hong Kong Registered Contractors Association | 2219 9325 |
The Hong Kong Federation of Electrical & Mechanical Contractors | 2519 3998 |
Procedures of deep throat saliva collection can be referred to the following materials provided by the Centre for Health Protection of the DH:
PROCEDURES FOR DEEP THROAT SALIVA COLLECTION
Subsidised and supported by the Development Bureau, the CIC and HKCA will extend and offer a final round of a free COVID-19 deep throat saliva specimen testing service between 1 May to 15 June 2021 where one-off distribution and collection service for deep throat saliva specimen collection packs will be arranged for 1,350 construction sites’ workers and other resident site personnel.
Construction site interested in participating in this Scheme, its developer / main contractor / contractor should complete the following application form and submit via email (email address: CITSapp@cic.hk) for arrangement of services. The deadline for application is 15 May 2021.
APPLICATION FORM (Chinese version only)
Procedures of deep throat saliva collection can be referred to the following materials provided by the Centre for Health Protection of the DH:
Hotline: 3199 7373
Email: CITS@cic.hk
Last Updated: 2021-04-13 10:03:35