Regulation of Private Columbaria

A private columbarium must obtain a licence otherwise it commits an offence unless the columbarium:

1. holds an exemption, and does not sell niches in compliance with the exemption conditions;
2. holds a temporary suspension of liability (TSOL), and does not sell niches in compliance with the TSOL conditions;
3. was in operation immediately before 30 June 2017 and has submitted a TSOL application on or before 29 March 2018, and the application has not been disposed of or withdrawn; or
4. falls into the category of premises in which ashes may be kept without a private columbarium licence. Please click here.

Members of the public who wish to check whether a private columbarium has obtained a licence, an exemption or a TSOL may browse the “Register of Private Columbaria” on this website (www.rpc.gov.hk)。

The permitted business activities under a licence, an exemption or a temporary suspension of liability (TSOL) are different as summarised below:

¹“Cut-off time” means 8 a.m. on 18 June 2014.

For the relevant information, please browse the “List of Applications for Specified Instruments Received by the Private Columbaria Licensing Board” on this website(www.rpc.gov.hk). Please click here.

Can ashes be interred?
Within the grace period (Note 1)	Grace period not applicable
	Holding a temporary suspension of liability (TSOL)	Holding an exemption	Holding a licence	Not holding any specified instrument
Note 2	Note 3	Note 4	Note 5

If you purchase a private niche after 30 June 2017:
If the private columbarium is issued with a licence and the niche you purchase is included in the approved plans, you can inter the ashes in the niche according to the contract terms during the validity period of the licence.

The time the Private Columbaria licensing Board (the licensing Board) takes to process a licence application depends on the actual circumstances of the case, particularly on whether the private columbarium has complied with all the requirements for licence application stipulated in the Private Columbaria Ordinance (Cap. 630) and those specified by the licensing Board (including the requirements relating to planning, land, buildings, fire safety, electrical and mechanical safety, management plan, right to use the premises, environmental protection, etc.), and whether the applicant has submitted sufficient documents to prove that the private columbarium has complied with the requirements. Upon receiving comments from the relevant departments on whether a licence application meets the requirements within their purview, the Private Columbaria Affairs Office (PCAO) will relay them to the applicant. After the applicant has taken follow-up actions and has submitted reports, the PCAO will forward the reports to the relevant departments for their vetting. After confirming that a licence application has complied with all the application requirements or all requirements except the land-related requirement, the PCAO will arrange for the submission of the application to the licensing Board for determination.

The private columbarium may newly inter ashes subject to the requirements as set out below:

¹“Cut-off time” means 8 a.m. on 18 June 2014.

For the private columbaria included in Part A of the Development Bureau’s “Information on Private Columbaria” webpage, in the views of the Planning Department and the Lands Department based on the information available to them then, these columbaria complied with the requirements in respect of town planning and the user restrictions in the land leases and they were not illegally occupying Government land, as detailed under the “Land/Lease Information” in Column 6 of Part A. However, the list does not include information on whether the columbaria complied with the other requirements under the Private Columbaria Ordinance (Cap. 630) (the Ordinance) (such as the requirements on buildings, the right to use the premises, the deed of mutual covenant, etc.). Hence, these private columbaria will not necessarily obtain a licence, an exemption or a temporary suspension of liability.

Under the Ordinance, a private columbarium must comply with all relevant requirements, including those relating to land, planning, buildings, fire safety, electrical and mechanical safety, right to use the premises, environmental protection, management plan etc. before it is granted a licence. The management plan must cover matters such as the holding capacity for visitors, admission control, traffic and public transport arrangement, as well as manpower deployment on peak grave sweeping days. The Private Columbaria Licensing Board will determine a licence application for a columbarium after considering all relevant factors, including public interest.

Information on the applications for specified instruments received by the Private Columbaria licensing Board (the licensing Board) is published on the dedicated website “Regulation of Private Columbaria” (www.rpc.gov.hk) for public information. All written opinions from the public received by the licensing Board will be recorded. Upon receipt of the application summary submitted by an applicant, a preliminary checking will be conducted by the Private Columbaria Affairs Office (PCAO) to ascertain whether the applicant has made the application in the specified format and filled in the required information. The licensing Board will then publicise the application summary on this website for public information. An application summary contains the main information about an application, such as the year of the columbarium’s commencement of operation, the name of the operator, the right to use the premises, the site plan, the layout plan, the ash interment quantity at the time of submitting the application and the ash interment capacity/quantity to be permitted. The licensing Board will also post a notice of application on this website and put up a copy of the notice at a conspicuous place at the entrance to the columbarium concerned. As stated in the notice of application, members of the public may provide their opinion on the application in writing to the PCAO within one month from the date of the notice. The PCAO will submit the written opinions received from the public to the licensing Board even for those received before the publication of the notice of application. The licensing Board will take these opinions into consideration when determining the application for specified instrument.

Members of the public may call the FEHD’s hotlines (2150 7502/ 2570 4318/ 2365 5321) or browse the FEHD’s website > Public Services > Cemeteries and Crematoria for details.

Members of the public may consider the following options on disposal of ashes:

1. scattering the ashes free of charge in the 12 Gardens of Remembrance managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD);
2. scattering the ashes at sea in the designated areas by using the free ferry service provided by FEHD or applying to FEHD for self arrangement;
3. using the temporary ash storage facilities provided by the FEHD;
4. making application to place additional sets of ashes in niches allocated by the FEHD or the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries;
5. depositing the ashes in a niche of a columbarium in a private cemetery; and
6. keeping the ashes at home

(If you have any enquiries on the above items (i) to (iv), you may contact FEHD Cemeteries and Crematoria Services Hong Kong Office, the telephone number is 2570 4318, or FEHD Cemeteries and Crematoria Services Kowloon Office, the telephone number is 2365 5321. For enquiries on item (iv) on the niches of the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, please contact: 2511 1116. For item (v) on columbaria in private cemetery, if you have any enquiries, please click here for the contact information of the major private cemeteries.)

As the purchase of niches involves private contracts, consumers will have to rely on the terms in their purchase agreement or such other documents that constitute the agreement for protection of their interests.

When purchasing niches from private columbaria, members of the public need to understand all the relevant details of their purchase. They should seek clarification on the nature of the rights or interests related to the niches they purchase, ascertain how the operators will handle the interred ashes and compensate for the loss in case the private columbaria concerned cease operation, etc.

As the purchase of niches involves private contracts, consumers will have to rely on the terms in their purchase agreement or such other documents that constitute the agreement for protection of their interests. When purchasing niches from private columbaria, members of the public need to understand all the relevant details of their purchase. They should seek clarification on the nature of the rights or interests related to the niches they purchase, ascertain how the operators will handle the interred ashes and compensate for the loss in case the private columbaria concerned cease operation, etc. Under the “Financial Mechanism for Protection of Consumer Interests” (Financial Mechanism) promulgated by the Private Columbaria licensing Board (the licensing Board), where a trust fund has been set up by a licensed columbarium according to the Financial Mechanism, eligible purchasers may receive money from the trust fund according to the relevant terms in the trust deed and on specified conditions when the columbarium concerned ceases operation or does not hold a valid licence. For details, please refer to the Appendix to Annex 16 to the “Application Guide for Private Columbarium licence and Other Specified Instruments” promulgated by the licensing Board (please click here).

Since how compensation may be dealt with will depend on the terms in the sale agreements made between the purchasers and the columbarium, purchasers should approach the operator concerned in case compensation is sought and seek legal advice if necessary.

A licence applicant is required to submit a sample of the agreement for sale of an interment right intended to be used to the Private Columbaria licensing Board (the licensing Board) for approval. Such an agreement must meet the requirements of the Private Columbaria Ordinance (Cap. 630) (the Ordinance) (e.g. the terms, information and recommendations prescribed in the Ordinance must be included in the agreement). Besides, the agreement must set out that purchasers are given a cooling-off period of 14 days.

To ensure that the private columbarium can continue its operation during the validity periods of the interment rights of niches sold and provide the committed services and fulfil other obligations stipulated in the sale agreements with the consumers, the licensing Board promulgated the “Financial Mechanism for Protection of Consumer Interests” (Financial Mechanism) in mid-November 2018. Under the Financial Mechanism, a licence applicant is required to submit specified financial information and financial projection unless one of the following circumstances is applicable:

1. interment rights of niches will be let out through “periodical rent”;
2. interment rights of niches will be sold through “average instalments”; or
3. there are no unsold interment rights of niches.

The licensing Board will consider each application according to the criteria set out in the Financial Mechanism and impose appropriate financial-related licence conditions when approving a licence application to protect the interests of consumers.

The licence holder of a private columbarium who is required to implement the financial arrangements according to the “Basic Financial Arrangements” under the Financial Mechanism must deposit 15% of all the fees collected from the sale of interment rights of niches in a dedicated account opened in a licensed bank in Hong Kong during the validity period of the licence. When the balance of the dedicated account reaches HK$5 million, the licence holder must set up a trust fund and transfer all the money in the dedicated account to the trust fund. Thereafter, the licence holder must deposit in the trust fund 15% of all the fees collected from the sale of interment rights of niches. The above arrangements aim to enable the licence holder to have a source of funds every year to maintain basic operation of the private columbarium when all the interment rights of niches have been sold (the recurrent income decreases significantly). The licence holder must submit a record of income and specified financial reports on a regular basis irrespective of which payment method is adopted.

Upon the grant of a licence, the details of the licence (including the name and address of the columbarium, the restriction(s) on sale of niche interment right, approved plans and licence conditions etc.) will be publicised in the “Register of Private Columbaria” on the dedicated website “Regulation of Private Columbaria” (www.rpc.gov.hk). Members of the public who wish to purchase or rent interment rights of niches may browse the register for more information about the columbaria concerned.

The operators of private columbaria are responsible for the proper disposal of the ashes interred in their columbaria. If a private columbarium ceases operation for whatever reasons, the operator is responsible for carrying out the ash disposal procedures set out in the Private Columbaria Ordinance (Cap. 630) (the Ordinance), including returning the ashes to the eligible claimants and delivering unclaimed ashes to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) for disposal in a manner prescribed by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (the Director). [For alternative means of disposal of ashes that have been returned to the claimant, please refer to Q&A11.]

A person-in-possession (PIP) (including owner, mortgagee, liquidator, trustee in bankruptcy, etc. in respect of the columbarium premises) must also carry out the prescribed ash disposal procedures after taking possession of the premises. (Under certain circumstances, PIP may seek the assistance of the Director with regard to the disposal of ashes.)

Any person who improperly handles the ashes interred in his/her columbarium commits an offence. He/she is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $2,000,000 and to imprisonment for 3 years, or on conviction on indictment to a fine of $5,000,000 and to imprisonment for 7 years.

If the ashes remain unclaimed after a certain period of time, the Director, as empowered by the Ordinance, may dispose of the ashes in a manner that he/she thinks fit. The Government will provide more temporary ash storage facilities and the affected ashes may be temporarily stored in these facilities.