Report Verification

Sgs hong kong limited’s report on sustainability activities in The sustainability report 2023 of architectural services Department of the government of the hong kong special Administrative region

• Nature of the Assurance/Verification

  SGS Hong Kong Limited (hereinafter referred to as SGS) was commissioned by Architectural Services Department (hereinafter referred to as ArchSD) to conduct an independent assurance of the Sustainability Report 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the Report). presented from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.

• Intended Users of this Assurance Statement

  This Assurance Statement is provided with the intention of informing all ArchSD’s Stakeholders.

• Responsibilities

  The information in the Report and its presentation are the responsibility of the governing body and the management of ArchSD. SGS has not been involved in the preparation of any of the material included in the Report.

  Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the text, data, graphs and statements within the scope of verification with the intention to inform all ArchSD’s stakeholders.

• Assurance Standards, Type and Level of Assurance

  The SGS ESG & Sustainability Report Assurance protocols used to conduct assurance are based upon internationally recognised reporting and assurance guidance and standards including the principles of reporting process contained within the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) GRI 1 Foundation 2021 for report quality, GRI 2 General Disclosure 2021 for organisation’s reporting practices and other organizational detail, GRI 3 2021 for organisation’s process of determining material topics, its list of material topics and how to manage each topic, and the guidance on levels of assurance contained within the AA1000 series of standards.

  The assurance of this report has been conducted according to the following Assurance Standards:

  Assurance Standard

  SGS ESG & SRA Assurance Protocols (based on GRI Principles and guidance in AA1000)

  Assurance has been conducted at a limited level of scrutiny.

• Scope of Assurance and Reporting Criteria

  The scope of the assurance included evaluation of quality, accuracy and reliability of specified performance information and evaluation of adherence to the following reporting criteria:

  Reporting Criteria

  GRI Standards 2021 (In Accordance with)

• Assurance Methodology

  The assurance comprised a combination of pre-assurance research, interviews with relevant employees, documentation and record review as well as data validation.

• Limitations and Mitigation

  Financial data drawn directly from independently audited financial accounts has not been checked back to source as part of this assurance process. Note here any other specific limitations for the assurance engagement and actions taken to mitigate those limitations.

  Some statements and data within the scope were not assured during the timescale allowed for assurance.

• Statement of Independence and Competence

  The SGS Group of companies is the world leader in inspection, testing and verification, operating in more than 140 countries and providing services including management systems and service certification; quality, environmental, social and ethical auditing and training; environmental, social and sustainability report assurance. SGS affirms our independence from ArchSD, being free from bias and conflicts of interest with the organisation and stakeholders.

  The assurance team was assembled based on their knowledge, experience and qualifications for this assignment, and comprised auditors and sustainability professionals specializing in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and nominated trainer of GRI Standards.

• Assurance Opinion

  On the basis of the methodology described and the verification work performed, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the specified performance information included in the scope of assurance is not fairly stated and has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.

  We believe that ArchSD has chosen an appropriate level of assurance for this stage in their reporting.

For and on behalf of SGS Hong Kong Limited

Miranda Kwan
Director
Knowledge Solutions
13 November 2023
WWW.SGS.COM