FUNERAL PARLOUR (REGIONAL COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

FUNERAL PARLOUR (REGIONAL COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

FUNERAL PARLOUR (REGIONAL COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

ARRANGEMENT OF BY-LAWS

By-law Page
1. Citation ... 1 .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD2

2. Application ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 2

3. Interpretation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 2

4. Licensing of funeral parlour businesses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 2

5. Refusals and revocations ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 3

6. Requirements as to posting of licensees' names, etc. ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 3

7. Funeral parlours to comply with certain provisions ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 3

8. Embalming, etc . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 4

9. Reception and retention of human remains ... ... ...---... ... ... ... AD 5

10. Bodies of persons dying while suffering from quarantinable diseases ... ... ... AD 5
11. Use of rubber gloves, etc . ... ... ... ... ... ... ...---... ... ... ... AD 5
12. Cleanliness of premises ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. AD 5
13. Registers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... AD 5
14. Offences and penalties ... .. 1 ... ...---. ... ... .. ... ... ... ... AD 6
is. Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought ... 1 .. ... ... ... AD 6





FUNERAL PARLOUR (REGIONAL COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

(Cap. 132, section 123)

[1 June 1982.1

1. These by-laws may be cited as the Funeral Parlour (Regional
Council) By-laws.

2. These by-laws apply to the Regional Council area only.

3. In these by-laws, unless the context otherwise requires-

'body' means the dead body or part thereof of any human being or any
still born child, but does not include ashes resulting from the
cremation thereof,

'burial' includes cremation;

'Council' means the Regional Council;

'funeral parlour' means a mortuary, but does not include

(a)any place set apart under the provisions of the Coroners
Ordinance for the reception of dead bodies for the purpose of
post mortem examination;

(b)any mortuary situated within the precincts of any hospital or
similar institution which is maintained or controlled by the
Crown or by The Chinese University of Hong Kong provided
for by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Ordinance;

(c)any mortuary situated within the precincts of any hospital
carried on by a person duly registered in respect thereof under
the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes
Registration Ordinance; or

(d)any mortuary which is designated as a public funeral hall
under section 123A;

'quarantinable disease' has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(1)
of the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance.

4. (1) Save under and in accordance with a licence granted by the
Council, no person shall carry on the business of a funeral parlour.

(2) Every such licence shall be valid for a period of 1 year from the
date of issue.





(3) The grant or renewal of any such licence shall be subject to
the payment in advance to the Council of a fee of $15,750

5. The Council may refuse to grant or renew a licence, or may
revoke a licence granted, to a person if he is under the age of 21 years or
if, in the opinion of the Council, such refusal or revocation is in the
public interest.

6. The licensee of every funeral parlour shall cause his name and
the words -Funeral Parlour' to be posted, in English lettering and
Chinese characters not less than 100 mm in height, in a conspicuous
place on the outside wall or door of the premises to which his licence
relates.

7. The following provisions shall apply to every funeral parlour--

(a)every part of the premises shall be adequately lighted and
ventilated to the satisfaction of the Council, either by natural
means or mechanical means or partly by natural means and
partly by mechanical means;

(b)no part of the premises shall have direct access to any
premises used for domestic purposes or to any premises not
wholly concerned with and used for the purposes of the
funeral parlour; and

(c)not less than one room shall be used exclusively for the
purpose of embalming any body or preparing any body for
burial, encoffining or cremation, and every such room shall
comply with the following requirements

(i) a rectangular area of floor space, not less than 3 by 4.5 m,
shall be provided for each embalming or preparation table
installed in the room;

(ii) the floor shall be surfaced with smooth nonabsorbent
material and the junction between the walls and the floor shall
be coved;

(iii) the floor shall be laid with proper falls so that liquid may
drain towards one or more vents in the walls of the room, and
each such vent shall be so constructed as to discharge by
way of a covered surface channel or waste pipe into one or
more trapped gullies situated in the open air and within the
curtilage of the funeral parlour and shall, at all times, be
protected by a removable grating;

(iv) the internal surface of the walls shall be tiled or faced
with smooth impervious material to a height of not less than 2
m;

(v) ventilation of the room in' compliance with paragraph (a)
shall be by a separate system of ventilation which has direct
access to the open air and does not connect with





or give or have access to any room in, or the means of
ventilation of any other part of, the premises;
(vi) no window shall open, and no exhaust fan shall
discharge, otherwise than directly into the open air at a
height above ground level of not less than 2 m and so as to
ensure that no nuisance is caused to any neighbouring or
adjoining premises or in any public place;
(vii) every door shall be fitted with a self-closing device
and screened or otherwise rendered fly-proof, and every
window shall be screened or otherwise rendered fly-proof;
(viii) every door opening into any part of the premises
to which the public have access shall be clearly, marked on
the outside in English and Chinese-

'No ADMITTANCE

(ix) not less than one embalming or preparation table
shall be provided therein;
(x) the surface of every embalming or preparation table
shall be not less than 2 100 by 750 mm, and every such
table shall be so sited in the room as to leave an unobstruc-
ted space of not less than 600 mm on every side thereof,
(xi) every such table shall be constructed of or lined
with smooth impervious material and shall be fitted with a
raised edge on every side not less than 50 mm in height,
and the whole table shall slope towards one end so as to
drain any liquid falling thereon towards a waste pipe or
channel so constructed as to lead into vents required by the
provisions of sub-paragraph (iii) to be provided;
(xii) in respect of each such table, there shall be pro-
vided one washhand basin of glazed stone ware, which shall
be supplied with water from the public mains or from such
other source as the Council may approve and drain either
into the vents required by the provisions of sub-paragraph
(iii) to be provided or into a trapped gully situated in the
open air and within the curtilage of the funeral parlour;
and
(xiii) one tap therein shall be so constructed that a
hose-pipe may be fitted thereto so as to enable every part of
the room to be hosed down as necessary, and a hose-pipe
suitable for such purpose shall be kept available at all
times.

8. (1) No body shall be embalmed or prepared for burial,
encoffining or cremation in any funeral parlour otherwise than in a
room used exclusively for such purpose.

(2) At all times during which any body is retained in any such
room, the windows thereof shall be kept fully opened and, if the
room is ventilated wholly or partly by mechanical means, the





ventilating system shall be kept in operation, but where an
airconditioning system is installed which services such a room, the
windows thereof, shall be kept closed and the air-conditioning system
shall be kept in operation.

9. (1) No body in an advanced state of decomposition shall be
received into any funeral parlour unless encoffined in a hermetically
sealed coffin.

(2) No body shall be retained in any funeral parlour for a longer
period than 48 hours unless the same is encoffined in a hermetically
scaled coffin or is embalmed.

(3) Save with the permission in writing of the Council, no body
shall be retained in any funeral parlour for longer than 7 days.

10. Where it appears to the licensee of any funeral parlour that the
body of any person who has died while suffering from any
quarantinable disease has been received into such funeral parlour, he
shall forthwith notify a health officer or health inspector of the fact.

11. (1) No person shall handle, or carry out any process of
embalming, preparing or treating, the body of any person who, to the
knowledge or belief of such person, died while suffering from a
quarantinable disease, unless he is wearing a rubber apron, or other
protective clothing of a type approved by the Council, and rubber
gloves.

(2) Any such rubber apron, protective clothing and rubber gloves
shall be disinfected immediately after the same has been used.

12. The licensee of any funeral parlour shall, at all times, keep the
premises, including all fittings, equipment, furniture, utensils and
apparatus therein, in a clean and sanitary condition to the satisfaction
of the Council.

13. (1) The licensee of any funeral parlour shall keep a register in
English or Chinese in which he shall correctly record the following
particulars

(a) the name and address of the deceased;

(b) the age or approximate age of the deceased;

(e) the sex of the deceased;

(d) the date, place and cause of the death of the deceased;

(e)the date on, and the time at, which the remains of the
deceased were received into the funeral parlour;

the date on, and the time at, which such remains were
removed from the funeral parlour;





(g)the date and number of the death certificate and of any permit
for the burial, cremation, importation into or removal from
Hong Kong, as the case may be, of such remains;

(h)the name and address of the medical practitioner (if any) who
certified as to the death of the deceased, and of the person
signing any permit for burial, cremation, importation into or
removal from Hong Kong, as the case may be, of such
remains;

(i)the name and address of' the person (if any) who has
undertaken to pay the charges (if any) of the funeral parlour;

(j) the method by which, and, as appropriate-

(i) the cemetery and space, plot or grave number;

(ii) the crematorium; or
(iii) the location of the burial site,

where, such remains were finally disposed of after removal
from the funeral parlour; and

(k)where the deceased died from any quarantinable disease,
whether or not those parts of the funeral parlour in which such
remains were kept were disinfected after such remains were
removed therefrom.

(2) The licensee of a funeral parlour shall cause the register kept by
him under paragraph (1) to be open for inspection at all reasonable
hours by any public officer authorized in writing by the Council for the
purposes of this by-law, or any health officer, health inspector or police
officer.

14. (1) Any person who contravenes by-law 4(1) or 11 (1) commits
an offence and is liable to a fine of $2,000 and to imprisonment for 6
months.

(2) Any licensee of a funeral parlour who contravenes by-law 6, 10,
12 or 13 commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $2000 and to
imprisonment for 6 months.

(3) If by-law 7, 8, 9 or 11(2) is contravened, the licensee of the
funeral parlour in relation to which the contravention occurred
commits an offence and is liable to a fine where the
offence is a continuing offence, is liable in addition to a fine of $10 each
day on which the offence continues.

15. Without prejudice to the provisions of any other enactment
relating to the prosecution of criminal offences and without prejudice to
the powers of the Attorney General in relation to the prosecution of
such offences, prosecutions for an offence under any of the provisions
of these by-laws may be brought in the name of the Council.
L.N. 335/81. L.N. 212/83. L.N. 67/85. 10 of 1986. L.N. 177/82. Citation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Application. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Interpretation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). (Cap. 14.) (Cap. 1109.) (Cap. 165.) (Cap. 141.) Licensing of funeral parlour businesses. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). L.N. 212/83. Refusals and revocations. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Requirements as to posting of licensees' names, etc. Funeral parlours to comply with certain provisions. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Embalming, etc. Reception and retention of human remains. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Bodies of persons dying while suffering from quarantinable diseases. Use of rubber gloves, etc. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Cleanliness of premises. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Registers. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Offences and penalties. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2).

L.N. 335/81. L.N. 212/83. L.N. 67/85. 10 of 1986. L.N. 177/82. Citation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Application. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Interpretation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). (Cap. 14.) (Cap. 1109.) (Cap. 165.) (Cap. 141.) Licensing of funeral parlour businesses. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). L.N. 212/83. Refusals and revocations. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Requirements as to posting of licensees' names, etc. Funeral parlours to comply with certain provisions. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Embalming, etc. Reception and retention of human remains. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Bodies of persons dying while suffering from quarantinable diseases. Use of rubber gloves, etc. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Cleanliness of premises. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Registers. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Offences and penalties. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2).

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