Dr. Ho is the Principal Lecturer and former Head (2007 - 2012) of the Division of Buildin Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong. He is a professional quantity surveyor by profession. Before joining the City University, he has worked as a project manager with leading property developers for many years.

He is an active researcher and has published a number of research papers. His current research interests include real estate development, project management, construction economics, building information modelling and sustainability. He was awarded the Academic Award 2007 conferred by the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS). He has served as a member of PAQS’s scientific/technical committees and editorial boards of various international conferences and academic journals. He is also a reviewer of a number of international refereed journals.

He has enthusiastically contributed to the relevant professional institutions and the community. In particular, he has served as the Chairman, Quantity Surveying Division, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS) in 2005 - 2006. He has also served on several government committees relating to the harbourfront, construction workers registration, building appeal tribunal and revitalisation of historic buildings. Currently, he is serving as the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council and HKIS’s SMM Committee.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has come to the particular attention of quantity surveyors (QS) in Hong Kong for over five years. Although there are not many full swing BIM projects, QSs actively explore the best practices in adopting BIM in various quantity surveying services such as quantity takeoff, cost planning and estimating and value management. Continuous interactions with clients and other professional disciplines are still in progress to identify the best way to collaborate in order to maximize the benefit brought by BIM. The Standard Approach of Modelling as well as Levels of Development will give a clear guideline on the information to be provided by BIM models. However, the Hong Kong construction industry still lacks the “thread and needle” to integrate various BIM standards and requirements together for an effective implementation.

The Quantity Surveying Division of HKIS has taken the initiative to create the “thread and needle”, i.e. the Proposed BIM Contract Conditions, to lay down the obligations and liabilities of contracting parties in a construction contract using BIM. This will cover topics such as general principles, priority of contract documents, obligations of the project participants, digital data and BIM management, BIM execution plan, risk allocation, intellectual property rights, indemnity and insurance, and termination, rescission or expiry of the agreement.