Data-center law in Hong Kong

Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131), ss. 4, 16 and 21

Applies to private

A draft plan may show zones or districts set apart for use for residential, commercial, industrial or other specified uses. Where a plan provides for the grant of permission for any purpose, an application for the grant of that permission must be made to the Board.

Under section 21, added by Ordinance 4 of 1991, while a plan of a development permission area is effective a person must not undertake or continue development in the area unless it is an existing use, is permitted under the latest plan, or permission has been granted under section 16. A person who contravenes that prohibition is liable to a fine of 500,000 dollars on a first conviction and 1,000,000 dollars on a second or subsequent conviction. The Ordinance commenced on 23 June 1939; section 21 was added to it later.

Source: Full text of law

Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499), ss. 5, 9 and 26 and Schedule 2

Effective 1998-04-01 · Applies to both

A person must not construct or operate a designated project listed in Part I of Schedule 2, or decommission one listed in Part II, without an environmental permit or contrary to its conditions. A person planning a designated project applies to the Director for an environmental impact assessment study brief, or for approval to apply directly for an environmental permit.

Schedule 2 lists an electricity power plant running on fossil fuel with a production capacity of more than 100 megawatts as a designated project. Schedule 2 also lists a 400 kV electricity substation and transmission line.

A contravention of section 9 is punishable on a first conviction on indictment by a fine of 2,000,000 dollars and imprisonment for 6 months, and on a second or subsequent conviction on indictment by a fine of 5,000,000 dollars and imprisonment for 2 years, with a fine of 10,000 dollars for each day a continuing offence goes on. An action taken in response to an emergency and in the interests of public safety or public health is not an offence. The Ordinance commenced on 1 April 1998.

Source: Full text of law

Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 406), ss. 21, 22 and 55

Effective 1990-11-02 · Applies to private

The owner of a generating facility that is in use or on standby use must register it with the Director, unless a listed exception applies. No person may use an unregistered generating facility that is required to be registered. The registration duty does not apply to a facility that forms part of an electrical installation requiring a periodic test certificate, or that only supplies electricity to an installation owned by the facility's owner.

The owner of a registered generating facility, and the owner of a facility exempt from registration on either of those grounds, must maintain it in continuous safe working order. A contravention of section 21(1), (3) or (4) or section 22 is an offence, and a person who commits an offence under section 55 is liable to a fine at level 3. The Ordinance commenced on 2 November 1990.

Source: Full text of law

Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 358), ss. 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12

Applies to both

A person commits an offence who discharges any waste or polluting matter into the waters of Hong Kong in a water control zone, or who discharges any matter other than domestic sewage into a communal sewer or communal drain in a water control zone (section 9). The Ordinance commenced on 1 April 1981, but the prohibition applies to a new discharge only from the day the Chief Executive appoints by order for the zone.

It is a defence that the discharge is made under, and in accordance with, a licence granted under section 20. An offence under section 8(1) or 9(1) is punishable by imprisonment for 6 months and a fine of 200,000 dollars for a first offence and 400,000 dollars for a second or subsequent offence, plus 10,000 dollars for each day a continuing offence goes on.

Discharging poisonous or noxious matter carries a fine of 400,000 dollars and imprisonment for 1 year for a first offence, and 1,000,000 dollars and imprisonment for 2 years for a second or subsequent offence.

Source: Full text of law

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610), ss. 2, 7, 8, 21 and 22 and Schedules 1, 4, 5 and 6, as amended by Ordinance 24 of 2025

Effective 2026-09-20 · Applies to both

The Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance defines a data centre as a place for housing and operating computer systems, servers, telecommunications equipment and associated support components in a secure and controlled environment principally for providing data storage, data processing and data distribution services. A building occupied principally as a data centre, and a portion of an industrial building so occupied, are prescribed buildings in Schedule 1.

Part 2 of the Ordinance applies to such a building only where consent to the commencement of building works for superstructure construction is given after the relevant date. The developer must submit a stage one declaration within 2 months after that consent is given, and a developer who fails to do so is liable to a fine of $500,000 and a further $10,000 for each day the offence continues.

The owner of a building must cause an energy audit of its central building services installations at the intervals Schedule 5 specifies. Schedule 4 lists a building occupied principally as a data centre, and a portion of an industrial building so occupied. For a data centre in a portion of an industrial building that starts operation on or after the relevant date, the first energy audit is due 5 years after the date the data centre starts operation.

A data centre in such a portion that started operation before the relevant date must have its first energy audit within 1 year after the relevant date. A building occupied principally as a data centre takes its first energy audit on the timetable in Parts 3 and 5 of Schedule 6, and for both kinds of data centre each later energy audit is due within 5 years after the preceding one.

Part 4 does not apply to a building if the head of a Government department advises the Director in writing that an energy audit would be contrary to the interests of national security. The registered energy assessor sends the Director a Data Disclosure Form for publishing the technical information contained in the energy audit report. An owner of a building who contravenes the energy audit requirement commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 5. The data centre provisions came into operation on 20 September 2026.

Source: Full text of law

Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), ss. 2 and 13 and Schedule 1, item 7

Effective 1983-10-01 · Applies to both

The owner of premises must not use them, or permit them to be used, for the conduct of a specified process unless the owner holds a licence for that process. A specified process is a process specified in Schedule 1. Schedule 1 lists electricity works in which fossil fuel is burnt, wholly or as part of electricity generation, where the installed generation capacity of the works exceeds 5 MW.

An owner who contravenes the licence requirement is liable to a fine of 200,000 dollars and imprisonment for 6 months, plus a daily fine of 20,000 dollars while a continuing offence goes on. The Ordinance commenced on 1 October 1983.

Source: Full text of law