Hong Kong Institute of Construction Managers (HKICM) and the Quantity Surveyors International (The QSi) jointly organised a CPD seminar, “Paying for Dis-trust: The Hidden Cost Behind Hong Kong’s High Construction Costs”, on 28 September 2026.
The speaker, Ir Tim Leung ((CEng, CSci, FICE, FIMMM, FHKIE; HKIAC Panel Adjudicator; NEC Professional), Head of Strategic Growth at Arup Hong Kong, is a widely recognised engineer and adjudicator. Drawing on more than 30 years of infrastructure delivery in Hong Kong, he presented observations supported by published cost data. These sources continue to show that Hong Kong’s construction costs remain one of the highest among major international cities, even though conventional procurement systems concentrate control on the visible elements of cost.
Mr Leung opined that a meaningful share of the cost premium does not arise solely from labour, materials or plant. It also arises from invisible costs that are not priced items in pricing documents. These include repeated checking, layered approvals and waiting time, defensive contractual behaviour, and programme float built in to absorb dis-trust. Such practices, he suggested, keep overall construction costs on an upward path even when unit rates for visible inputs are tightly managed.
Against this background, the New Engineering Contract (NEC) was presented as one of the principal instruments for change in Hong Kong. NEC encourages mutual trust, fairness and co-operation among project stakeholders, and is intended to shift behaviour away from adversarial, defensive contracting. Mr Leung highlighted that NEC can provide the foundation and framework for this transition subject to project managers’ empowerment to exercise leadership. A contract form alone cannot substitute for integrity in day-to-day decisions; leadership is what ultimately reduces hidden cost. He also drew on philosophical definitions of leadership to explain what leadership requires in practice, and how mutual trust can be built through it.
The seminar offered a timely platform for construction managers, quantity surveyors and other built-environment professionals to reflect on cost, procurement culture and collaborative contracting as Hong Kong moves toward full NEC adoption on public works. Representing the two Institutes, Cr Daniel Shum, Honorary President of HKICM; Cr Betty Lo, Chairperson of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Committee and Council Member of HKICM; Cr Alvin Man,Chairperson of the Public Relations and Liaison Committee and Vice-Chairperson of CPD Committee; and Mr Dan Lui, Board Member of The QSi, presented a certificate of appreciation to Tim Leung for his expertise and insightful sharing.
