Provisional Property Management Practitioner Licence
The first three years after the implementation of the licensing regime (i.e. from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2023) is a transitional period during which any person acting as a property management company (PMC) or property management practitioner (PMP) will not be required to be licensed, in order to facilitate the industry to adapt to the new regime.
During the transitional period, those who do not meet the criteria for academic and/or professional qualifications but possess the specified work experience may apply for a provisional licence. A person who applies for a provisional licence must possess work experience in property management Note 1 in assuming a managerial or supervisory roleNote 2 in the provision of property management services for properties in Hong Kong, as follows:
- For a provisional PMP (Tier 1) licence: at least a total of 10 years of experience within the 15 years immediately before 1 August 2020 or prior to the licence application (the countable period); or if an applicant has been engaged in property management work in places in China other than Hong Kong Note 3 (the job) within the countable period and was engaged in property management work in Hong Kong immediately before the job, he/she is required to have at least a total of 10 years of experience in property management in Hong Kong within the period which is a sum Note 4 of the countable period plus the number of years (subject to a maximum of 4 years) of the aforesaid work experience in property management in places in China other than Hong Kong.
- For a provisional PMP (Tier 2) licence: at least a total of 5 years of experience within the 8 years immediately before 1 August 2020 or prior to the licence application (the countable period); or if an applicant has been engaged in property management work in places in China other than Hong Kong Note 3 (the job) within the countable period and was engaged in property management work in Hong Kong immediately before the job, he/she is required to have at least a total of 5 years of experience in property management in Hong Kong within the period which is a sum Note 5 of the countable period plus the number of years (subject to a maximum of 4 years) of the aforesaid work experience in property management in places in China other than Hong Kong.
The said experience must have been gained from full-time work and involved the provision of two or more categories of property management services. Applicants are required to provide documentary evidence (e.g. written confirmation from employers) to substantiate their work experience.
If you are a provisional PMP licence applicant, in order to be eligible for applying for a formal PMP licence, you have to complete the PMSA specified course (specified course) designed for provisional licencees before the expiry of the provisional PMP licence. For the sake of prudence, please obtain a provisional PMP licence before enrollment to a specified course. Those having completed a specified course before the expiry of the provisional PMP licence may apply for a formal PMP licence without meeting the academic and/or professional qualifications criteriaNote 6.
Starting from 1 August 2021, applicants of provisional PMP licence are allowed to choose licence validity periodNote 7 of either 12 months, 24 months or 36 months. There is no mechanism for renewal of provisional PMP licences.
After the transitional period, any business entity carrying on the business of providing more than one category of property management services must hold a PMC licence, and any individual assuming a managerial or supervisory role in the property management services provided by that PMC to a property must hold a PMP licence.
Note 1: The work experience in property management means full time work experience in property management for properties in Hong Kong and involving the provision of services under two or more categories of property management services.
Note 2: Generally, a person assumes a managerial or supervisory role if he / she has responsibility to manage or supervise subordinates.
Note 3: In terms of this criterion and for the avoidance of doubt, places in China other than Hong Kong include the Mainland, Macau and Taiwan.
Note 4: That is, not more than 19 years, whichever is less.
Note 5: That is, not more than 12 years, whichever is less.
Note 6: After completion of a specified course, an application for a formal licence must be made during the validity of the provisional licence or within three years from the expiry of the provisional licence. A new application accompanied by the relevant fee (i.e. full application and licence fee) must be made, but documentary evidence for work experience is not required.
Note 7: This arrangement also applies to applications for provisional PMP licence which have been submitted before 1 August 2021 and are still being processed.